Prepositional Phrases
Verbal and Adjectival
Earlier in our grammar lessons, we learned
about both adverbs and prepositional
phrases.
We are going to revisit both of these, put
them together, and go into more detail.
Adverbs were words that helped us know
when, where, how, or to what extend a
verb was happening.
Example: Bob was running.
When? Bob was running yesterday.
How? Bob was running awkwardly.
To what extend? Bob was running a lot.
Where? Bob was running homeward.
That last one answered where and I used a
one-word adverb. Notice it sounded weird.
We don’t usually use one-word adverbs for
where (except for here and there, which
are pretty general).
Store-ward, school-ward, Sarah’s houseward. These all sound pretty awkward.
We use a phrase most of the time to
describe where. A prepositional phrase to
be exact. So…
Bob was going to the store.
Bob was going to Sarah’s house.
Adverb Phrases
Because they are used like adverbs, they
are called adverb phrases.
Other examples:
The dog went under the bed.
The deer jumped over the fence.
Other examples:
The dog went under the bed.
The deer jumped over the fence.
The boy looked through the window
blinds.
Adjective Phrases
However, prepositional phrases are not just
used in adverbial situations—to help out
verbs. They are sometimes used to help out
with nouns.
Because words that help with nouns are
called adjectives, whole phrases that help
modify nouns are called adjective phrases.
Consider this sentence:
Bob gazed at his picture of Sarah.
Our prepositional phrase (of Sarah) helps us
describe a noun. Particularly, picture.
Here’s another:
Sarah drives a car with spinning hubcaps.
Our prepositional phrase (with spinning
hubcaps) helps us describe car.
Review
So, in review, there are two types of
prepositional phrases: adverb and adjective.
Adverb phrases are a group of words that
together modify verbs.
Adjective phrases are a group of words that
together modify nouns.