Prepositional Phrases Split Reduced

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PrepDsitjDna~ Phrases

Prepositional ?hras-es

A prepositional phrase is a phrase that consists of a


preposition followed by, for example, a noun, a pronoun, a
noun phrase or an adverb.

::[: Gramma r He1P::)


Who's that talking to George?
So me people believe
We saw her in town the other day
that it is wrong to
They managed it between them. end a sentence with
Shona was playing with her new puppy. a preposition.
Although there is a
Children have to learn to eat with a knife and fork.
tendency to avoid
In 1965 / was still at scnoo!. doing this in very
To whom should I address my remarks? formal English, it is
certainly not wrong
Since wnen have you been in charge here?
in normal everyday
What's in there 7 English to end a
sentence with a
A prepositional phrase may sometimes be split into two parts: preposition:
To whom should I give
Who did you give it t0 7 rhe book? (formal
English)
What can I cut it with 7 Who should I give rhe
What are we standing here for 7 book ro? (everyday
English)
To which 9YOUP do
vou belong? (formal
'3 The head of a prepositional phrase is the preposition it begins English)
with: Which 9YOUP do vou
be long ro? (everyday
English)
in silence
on the bed
from a distance
with difficulty
to my room

The rest of the prepositional phrase is called the object or


complement of the preposition:
9] in silence
on the bed .a
:!>entences
from a distance
with difficulty
t:iJ'.'fI¡~~ to my room
Objects anó
Complemef1ts: Prepositional phrases may themselves be the complements
of prepositions in larger prepositional phrases:
Up till now, we have
looked on Iy at the
There was a lot of noise coming from berdnd t:frc doo/'.
sen ten ce fU/lctions
'object' and Sorne very odd-Iooking creatures crawled out from under the
'complement', stones.
describing the roles
of words and word­
And there are other word-groups that may be the complements
groups within whole
sentences.
of prepositions:

Here, on the other In sayil1g tf1at, I don't wish to sound rude.


hand, we are dealing
From what Jolrl1 said, I don't think he was very pleased.
with a phrase
function. 'Object of
preposition' 01' 11; A prepositional phrase may be modified (that ¡s, emphasized
'complement of or limited in so me way) by an adverb:
preposition' denotes
a role played by The dog was Iying rifjfH beside the gate.
words and word­ It is quite beyond belief that you could be so stupid.
groups specifically
The dungeons are dircctfy beneat/1 uso
within phrases
rather than within I'm not doing this Siti:P[Y for my benefit.
sentences.
Therefore. in the
E Prepositional phrases sometimes come in pairs, especially in
sentence certain idioms:
The books were Iying
on rhe rabie. The dog was wagging its tail frof!'! side (o side.
the words on the I see him (rom time to time.
rabIe are a We're going to clean this house (rOi1! top te bottom.
prepositional phrase jenny was grinning frOll'l ea/' to ea/'.
functioning as an
adverbial (a sentence
function), and the
table is a noun
phrase functioning
CGrammar Help).
as the object 01' Preposrtiona! phra.ses should not be confused with comp1ex
complement of the prepositions. Complex prepositions are groups of two 01' three words that
preposition an together act as a single preposition:
(a phrase function). In spire of the rain, we still had a picnic.
The play had to be cancelled due ro the illness of the leading lady.
They were standing in fronr of the shop.
There's no-one here aparr from me.

Other complex prepositions are because 0(, by means af. except far,
in case 0(, by way of, on behalf 0(, an accaunt 0(, awing to, with respect to,
with regard ta and along with.

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[ 40
Funetions
Functions of Prepositional Phrases

• Two of the main functions of prepositional phrases in


sentences are as adverbials (adjuncts, disjuncts and
conjuncts) and as complements (both subject-complements
and object-complements):

1 Prepositional phrases as adjuncts (saying where, when,


how, with what, for whom, etc):
The cat was on the table.
In Scotland ít sorne times snows in summer.
I paint with great enthusiasm but with litrle skill.
leven baked a cake for her.

2 Prepositional phrases as disjuncts (making a comment


on the rest of the sentence):
To my surpríse, there was no-one there.
To Mrs Brown's relief, the storm hadn't damaged her fruít
bushes.
In all fairness, I don't think we can blame her for what
happened.

3 Prepositional phrases as (:0 njuncts (Iinking sentences):


You're not going diving. For a start, you can't swim.
In the first place, you don't know how to dive. For another
thing, you can't afford it.

4 Prepositional phrases as S'uhject-comple:ments:


Your work is of great value.
His opinion is of little interest to me.

S Prepositional phrases as object-comp¡ements:


We considered the information of litrle importance.
He found the work boring and beneath his dignity.

• A prepositional phrase may modify (that is to say, describe


or identify) a preceding noun in much the same way as an
adjective does:
Who is that man with red hair? (= that red-haired man)
He is aman of honour. (= an honourable man)

L· .
0]

'.
They greeted us with screams of delight. (= delighted screams)
Em
~

phrases, cla

~
Llses
and
The train at p/atform 6 is the 10.35 to London Euston.
The Iight at the front door suddenly went out.
r
¡
1
Who wrote 'The Man in the Iron Mask?

A prepositional phrase may equally modify a following noun:

~< He made a few off-the-cuff remarks and sat down again. (= a


few unprepared remarks, thought up at the time of speaking)
Notí ce that when a
e
prepositiOnal phras
These offences are subject to on-the-spot fines. (= immediate
rnodifies a followin9
n , it is always
fines)
oun
hyphenated. I don't Iike his in-your-face style of speaking. (= his rather
aggressive style of speaking)
We need an in-depth survey of the state of the roads.

A prepositional phrase may also modify an adjective or the


word not or -n', (that is, it may emphasize them or weaken
their force):
Your behaviour was foolish in the extreme. (= extremely foolish)
We weren't worried in the slightest.
I am not in the least surprised.

J""'f:wfi'fftr-:·-rr:·r.:-::'~é·:l
complement of
.:.:.J A prepositional phrase may function as the
~,;.'~:i;j an adjective, a verb, a noun or an adverb. The complement
Note tha t this is yet of an adjective, verb, noun or adverb is a group of words
another sens e of the that follows it and provides further information relating to it:
vVo 'complement'.
rd
My parents are very keen on ope¡(~?
5he is very fond of her grandchiJdr.en.
There's no need to be afraid of .10EJ5.
The dog was very possessive abctlt ;t5 puppies.
My daughter is very good with hoyses. ¡
f've decided on the bJack dreno ¡
Tom insisted OH a vale.
I won't comment on that.
At this very moment there are people who are dying of hunqey.
There's no point in OUy beinq here.
What is the purpose of this visir?
I
Could we have a jug of water, please 7
I think I got an unfair share af the bJame.
I
5he shows a remarkable aptitude {ar mathematics.
1
5he quickly moved away from the wall.

'
[ 41

ftJ ,._- t .
r Haw to rlistJngulsh between similar ?rEposi!ional Phrases
Phmses and their
Funetions

:1! Prepositional phrases that function as adverbials can


sometimes look very similar to prepositional phrases that
function as complements of adjectives, verbs, etc.

Notice the differences between the following pairs of


sentences:

Mary was sick on the bus. (adverbial - says where she was sick)
Mary was sick of waiting. (complement - says what she was
sick of)
5he decided on the way home. (adverbial - says when she
decided)
5he decided on the black dress. (complement - says what she
chose)
5he shows great skill for such a young girl. (adverbial­
makes a comment)
5he shows great skill in tapestry. (complement - says what
she is ski/fui at)

4::' Gramma r He1P:;)


-. Notice that adverbials can usually move to the beginning of their
sentences:
On the bus, Mary was sick.
On the way horne, she decided.
For suclJ a young girl, she shows great skill.
Complements, however, cannot normally do this - they must follow
the words that they are complements of.
... Another difference between adverbials and complements is that
prepositional phrases functioning as adverbials can have any of a
wide range of prepositions as their heads:
Mary was sick on the bus
in the cal'
at the bus-stop
over the floor
beside rhe telephone
With complements, however, the choice of preposition is much more
restricted
Mary was sick of waiting eBUT NOT sick at waiting, sick in waiting, sick on
~Grammar Help~
waiting).
In fact, the prepositions in complements are determined by the words
that the complements are attached to. Nouns, verbs and adjectives, in These prepositions
particular, usually have one, sometimes more than one, preposition are sometimes
that they must be followed by: called customary
keen on. good at, tired of. angry with, annoyed at prepositions.
1]
&J
think about, laugh ato sneer at
belief in. fear of. aptitude foro desire foro love of
and so on.
The choice of customary preposition may depend on the sense of the
word or on what follows the preposition:
She is good ar maths.
She is good wirh children.
Fruit is good (or you.
He was angry ar the delay.
He was angry wirh you because you were late.

• Prepositional phrases that modify (that is, describe or identify)


nouns are often hard to distinguish from ones that are
complements of nouns (that is, that give more information
about what the nouns relate to).

Notice the differences between these pairs of sentences:


The bag on the table is mine. (modification - identifies which
bag)
She was holding a bag of potatoes. (complement - says what
was in the bag)

The answer in the book is wrong. (modification - identifies


where the answer is)
The answer to your problem lies in yourself. (complement­
gives information about what the answer relates to)

The problems in the office can easily be sorted out.


(modification - says where the problems are)
The problem with John is that he's too shy. (complement­
gives information about who the problem relates to)

CGra;~a~i?>
Here again. the choice of prepositions is much wider in phrases that are
modifying the preceding noun than in those that are complements of the
preceding noun:
the problems in the office
on the roads
under the sea

I:r.fA
~..

[ 42
Functions
• Two prepositional phrases may stand next to each other in a
sentence but with different functions:
Her grandmother was sitting in an aymchaiY with /1er caro
Her grandmother was sitting in an aymchaiY Witl1 old,
frayed cus/1iOtfs.

In the first sentence, both in an armchair and with her cat are
adverbials, describing where and how the grandmother was
sitting:
Her grandmother was sitting in an aymchaiy.
Her grandmother was sitting with hey cato

In the second sentence, however, the phrase with o/d, frayed


cushions is not an adverbial but is modifying (describing)
the chair. There is, therefore, only one adverbial in the
sentence: in an armchair with o/d, frayed cushions.

Similarly, in the sentence



Who lives in that house on Ore 11i1/?
I the phrase on the hil/ is modifying (identifying) the house,
I
so again the structure of the sentence is subject + verb +
I adverbial: Who / lives / in that house on the hil/?

I Of course, there may be more than two prepositional


phrases together in a sentence. Here is one with three:

Her grandmother was sitting in an aymchair wi1b hey cat


beside her.

In this sentence, beside her is an adverbial, saving where the


cat was.

In this next sentence, there are four prepositional phrases


together:
Her grandmother was sitting in an aymchair with a cup o.t
1..e.Jl in hey hand.

Here the phrases in an armchair, with a cup of tea and


in her hand are adverbials, and, in addition, of tea is the
complement of 'cup'.

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