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A prepositional phrase is a group of words usually composed of a preposition and its object (either a noun, pronoun, or gerund – verbs ending with -ing). It also often includes one or more modifiers, which describe the object.

So, the construction of a prepositional phrase is something like this:

Preposition + Object of Preposition (Noun, Pronoun, or Gerund)

or

Preposition + Modifier(s) + Object of Preposition (Noun, Pronoun, or Gerund)

Prepositional phrases usually work to provide useful information in a sentence. This could include details such as where or when an event occurred, or descriptions of a person or thing.

That said, these phrases may often prevent readers from getting clarity about the essential parts of a sentence, which are the subject and verb. So, learning to identify prepositional phrases in a sentence can help readers understand sentence structure better.

Here is an example illustrating the construction of a prepositional phrase:

The man in the opposite house gardens every day.

In the above sentence, in the opposite house is the prepositional phrase where in is the preposition, the and opposite are modifiers, and house is the object of the preposition.

One important rule with respect to prepositional phrases is that the subject and verb of a sentence are never a part of the prepositional phrase. This is evident in the above example where the prepositional phrase is describing the subject of the sentence man and is followed by the verb gardens.

Examples of Prepositional Phrases

1. Simple prepositional phrases include just a preposition and its object, and are quite easy to identify in a sentence.

These examples illustrate the use of simple prepositional phrases:

  • Her mother is finally at peace.

Here, at is the preposition and peace is its object (noun).

  • Ronnie’s friends moved with her.

Here, with is the preposition and her is its object (pronoun).

  • Kids learn a lot by watching their parents.

Here, by is the preposition and watching is its object (gerund).

2. More often than not, prepositional phrases include modifiers and are hence more complex than in the above examples.

Below are some sentences with prepositional phrases that include modifiers:

  • I got these books from my father.

Here, from is the preposition, my is the modifier, and father is the preposition’s object (noun).

  • We waited in the hot sun till they met us.

Here, in is the preposition, the and hot are modifiers, and sun is the preposition’s object (noun).

  • She confirmed the project status without properly looking through everything.

Here, without is the preposition, properly is the modifier, and looking is preposition’s object (gerund).

Types of Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases serve two important purposes. They work to either modify nouns and hence act as adjectives, or modify verbs and thus act as adverbs.

1. Adjectival Phrases

Prepositional phrases that function as adjectives by modifying nouns are known as adjectival phrases, or adjective prepositional phrases. They appear immediately after the noun they modify in a sentence and usually answer the question “Which one?”

For example:

  • Are you discussing the boy in the room?

Which boy? The one in the room

The noun boy is being modified by the prepositional phrase in the room. Thus, in the room is an adjectival phrase. 

  • We know the shopkeeper with two shops.

Which shopkeeper? The one with two shops

Similar to the previous example, the noun shopkeeper is being modified by the phrase with two shops here. So, with two shops is an adjectival phrase.

2. Adverbial Phrases

Prepositional phrases that function as adverbs by modifying verbs are called adverbial phrases, or adverb prepositional phrases. They answer questions like how, when, where, or why.

For example:

  • Rita perused all the documents in an organized manner.

How did Rita peruse all the documents? In an organized manner

  • Roger plays basketball in the evening.

When does Roger play basketball? In the evening

  • Lauren sells her wares at the mall.

Where does Lauren sell her wares? At the mall

  • Rolph runs every day to stay fit.

Why does Rolph run every day? To stay fit

In each of the above examples, the underlined words are the verbs being modified by the adverbial phrases in bold.

How to Avoid Unnecessary Prepositional Phrases while Writing

It’s quite easy to overuse prepositional phrases and prepositions while writing. However, too many can make sentences choppy and confuse the reader.

As a rule, it is recommended that no more than one preposition be used every 10–15 words. However, this may vary based on the context, so it’s best to focus on flow and how the sentence reads. If there are too many prepositions/prepositional phrases, writers are advised to edit the piece and reduce their number.

Here are some tips to help writers prevent prepositional phrase overload and ensure their writing is crisp and to the point.

1. Using Possessives

Possessives indicate that something belongs to a person. Using them in sentences reduces occurrences of prepositional phrases and makes writing concise. For singular nouns, this means adding apostrophe + s.

For example:

The toys of the girl were strewn all around the room.

The above sentence can be trimmed using a possessive instead of the prepositional phrase of the girl as follows:

The girl’s toys were strewn all around the room.

2. Trimming or Eliminating Prepositional Phrases

The number of prepositional phrases in a sentence can be reduced by either eliminating them altogether or replacing them with shorter words that have the same meaning. For instance, “with regard to” can be replaced with “concerning” or “regarding” and “in order to” can be replaced with “to.”

Here is an example to illustrate this:

In the event of pipe breakage, it is best to turn off the water supply till the issue is resolved.

This sentence, although grammatically correct, can be rewritten with fewer prepositional phrases as follows:

If a pipe breaks, turn off the water supply till the issue is resolved.

Here is another example:

The opinions of your supervisor do not influence decisions with regard to other teams. 

This sentence can be rewritten by eliminating unnecessary prepositional phrases and using a possessive.

Your supervisor’s opinions do not influence decisions regarding other teams.

3. Using Active Voice Instead of Passive Voice

Passive voice usually makes writing less interesting for readers. So, another effective way to avoid using too many prepositional phrases is to write sentences in active voice.

For example:

Passive – The girl was scratched by the cat.

Active – The cat scratched the girl.

Passive – It was expected by the college that students would pay their tuition fees on time this year.

Active – The college expected that students would pay their tuition fees on time this year.

In both examples, the prepositional phrases have been trimmed by rewriting the sentences in active voice.

Other Guidelines

1. When a prepositional phrase precedes the verb, writers must be cautious of considering the noun in the prepositional phrase as the subject.

For example:

Incorrect: This box of tools are required for construction.

The subject of the above sentence is box, not tools. So, the verb must be singular in order to agree with box like in the sentence below:

Correct: This box of tools is required for construction.

2. In sentences with indefinite pronouns like some, any, none, all, and most as subjects, the noun in the prepositional phrase governs subject verb agreement.

For example:

Most of the pie was thrown out.

Since the noun pie in the prepositional phrase of the pie is singular, most is considered singular. So, the verb must also be singular (was).

Most of the pies were thrown out.

However, if the noun in the prepositional phrase is plural as above, most will be considered plural. So, the verb will also be plural (were).

3. Writers must avoid being vague while including prepositional phrases in writing.

For example:

Sally fed the tiger in the enclosure.

This sentence has the potential to confuse the reader because of the position of the prepositional phrase. It makes the reader wonder if Sally herself was in the enclosure while feeding the tiger (which means the verb fed is being modified) or if a specific tiger that is in the enclosure is being spoken of (which means the noun tiger is being modified).

This confusion can be prevented by rephrasing the sentence in either of the following two ways:

Sally was in the enclosure when she fed the tiger.

Sally fed the tiger that was in the enclosure.

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