Prepositions  connect another word in a sentence to a noun or pronoun (and its
modifiers, if any) to form a prepositional phrase.
o Will we travel beyond the Milky Way?
o What do you see over the rainbow?
 Never stand alone
 Some are compound – made up of more than one word
o Who will attend in addition to us?
 Words that are prepositions in one sentence may be adverbs in another
sentence.
o Look to see if the word is part of a prepositional phrase
o If it is not part of a prepositional phrase, it is an adverb
 Adverbs:
 Please put the package down carefully.
 We had seen her before at the football game/
 Prepositions
 Alice fell down a rabbit hole.
 She stood before the Red Queen.
Prepositional Phrases: Adjective and Adverb Phrases
Prepositional phrase –
 always begins with a preposition and ends with an object (a noun or
pronoun).
 may have a compound object.
 all modifiers of the object(s) are part of the prepositional phrase
 Example:
under the green
Prep.
Adj.
couch
Obj.
to
her and me
Prep. Obj.
Obj.
in
three
hours
Prep.
Adj.
Obj.
 adds information to a sentence by modifying the other word in the
sentence.
o Example:
 The gorilla ran. [Which gorilla? Where did it run?]
 The gorilla near the fence ran to the zookeeper with
food.
 modifies the object in a preceding prepositional phrase
 More than one prepositional phrase may modify the same word
o Example:
 For several minutes the gorilla stared at me. [Both
phrases modify the verb stared.]
Writing Hint:
Help readers visualize objects, people, and actions by using prepositional
phrases to add specific details.
 NO DETAILS:
o The man beckoned.
 DETAILS:
o The man in the black hat beckoned to me.
Some Commonly Used Prepositions:
about
against
at
beside
but (meaning “except”)
by
for
into
of
out
since
toward
up
with
above
along
before
between
across
around
below
beyond
during
from
like
off
outside
through
under
upon
without
except
inside
near
on
over
to
until
Some Common Compound Prepositions:
according to
apart from
as to
instead of
in place of
because of
in addition to
along with
aside from
due to
in front of
in spite of
out of