Linguistic Overview
Prepositional Phrases are defined by the prepositions at the head or nucleus of a phrase. The meaning of the preposition determines the way that its prepositional phrase acts as a modifier. For instance: for prepositions like ‘across’ or ‘off of’, their phrases indicate a location; meanwhile, for prepositions like ‘as’ or ‘than’, their phrases introduce a comparison.
By definition, preposition come at the start of their phrases. However, there are other types of adpositions; for instance, ‘ago’ comes at the end of its adpositional phrase. The position of these terms is the only distinction; the function of all adpositional phrases is the same.
Since the term ‘preposition’ is better known by far than ‘adposition’ — and since there are so few non-preposition adpositions — we’ll continue to use the term ‘prepositional phrase(s)’ throughout this page. But know that everything stated about prepositional phrases here is also true of postpositional or circumpositional phrases as well.
Structure
Prepositional Phrase Structure
There are two components to every prepositional phrase: a preposition, which determines how the phrase modifies its target; and the nominal expression, which states what the modification is, exactly.
When the nominal is a noun phrase or Gerund phrase, it can include modifiers, objects, or whatever else might normally be included in such phrases. Here are some example prepositional phrases featuring different types of nominals:
- “with Kevin” (solo noun)
- “under the leaky faucet” (noun phrase)
- “for her” (pronoun)
- “by cheating” (gerund)
- “before visiting grandma” (gerund phrase)
Multiple Prepositional Phrases
Multiple prepositional phrases that modify the same thing and that have the same modifier classification (method, objective, place, time, etc.) can be connected with a coordinating conjunction between them. For example:
- “per your instruction and according to the rules“
- “after bedtime but before midnight“
Multiple prepositional phrases that modify the same thing but that have the different classifications don’t require any linker. The order of such phrases can almost always be rearranged without altering any of the meaning. For example:
- “after midnight in the dark” (or “in the dark after midnight”)
- “from Ruby with love” (or “with love from Ruby”)
Sometimes one prepositional phrase can modify another. In such cases, we often use a comma between them. For instance, in “before midnight, per your instructions“, we understand that part of the instructions stipulated that it had to be done before midnight.
Meaning
Prepositional phrases express the where, when, why, and how of whatever it is they modify. We might sort them into the following categories, based on which preposition heads the phrase:
- Location & Direction (when)
- ‘above’, ‘after’, ‘at’, ‘before’, ‘behind’, ‘by’, ”in’, ‘near’, ‘on’, ‘to’, ‘under’, etc.
- Time & Duration (where)
- ‘after’, ‘at’, ‘before’, ‘by’, ‘during’, ‘for’, ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘since’, ‘to’, ‘until’, ‘while’, etc.
- Reason & Objective (why)
- ‘because of’, ‘due to’, ‘for’, ‘regarding’, ‘since’, ‘to’, ‘toward’, etc.
- Method (how)
- ‘à la’, ‘against’, ‘as’, ‘by’, ‘despite’, ‘like’, ‘per’, ‘than’, ‘via’, ‘with’, etc.
- Extent (how ____; to what extent)
- ‘about’, ‘around’, ‘beyond’, ‘including’, ‘minus’, ‘plus’, ‘until’, ‘up to’, etc.
Prepositional phrases that modify verbs, modifiers, or entire clauses can be in any of these categories. Prepositional phrases that modify nouns, however, are usually limited to ones of setting (Location & Direction, Time & Direction).
Position & Modification
After Any Sentence Component
Prepositional phrases can modify nominals (including nouns, pronouns, Gerunds, and Content Clauses); verbs and verb phrases; or other modifiers (including adjectives, Relative Clauses, Adverbial Clauses, and even more prepositional phrases). They typically come immediately after whatever they modify.
Sometimes they need to contend with other modifiers — or in the case of verbs, contend with objects or complements — for order. Typically, very short modifiers will come before very long phrases for the purpose of understandability. Otherwise, modifiers that are more essential to the meaning of the sentence usually come first. Still, there is plenty of room for a speaker to decide upon the order of modifiers (such as multiple prepositional phrases) per their preference or according to flow.
Inside Verb Strings
Although it’s less common, a prepositional phrase might come in the middle of a verb string. In such cases, it probably comes right after the leading auxiliary (along with any negators). For example:
“Helen has, with some help, been recovering from her injuries.”
Notice that the prepositional phrase is set apart by commas.
If the prepositional phrase does not have commas, then it probably modifies whatever’s just before it. For instance, in “I have never in my life been so insulted!”, the prepositional phrase specifically modifies ‘never’, rather than the full verb string.
As Subject Complements
Prepositional phrases that modify subjects can come immediately after those subjects, but they can also come after Linking Verbs. These are called subject complements, and are predicative modifiers. For example:
“My favorite show is after the news.”
While most prepositional phrases are adjuncts (meaning they are not essential to grammatically completing the clause), ones that are subject complements are arguments (meaning they are grammatically essential).
At the Beginning or End of Clauses
When a prepositional phrase modifies an entire clause, it can come either at the very start or at the very end of that clause. For example:
- “At yesterday’s concert, the opening act was incredible!”
- “I’ll take my vacation at the end of summer, pending approval.”
Commas should separate such prepositional phrases from the rest of the clause.
