Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases consist of a preposition and the words which follow it (a complement). The complement is most commonly a noun phrase or pronoun, but it can also be, an adverb phrase (usually one of place or time), a verb in the -ing form or, less commonly, a prepositional phrase or a wh-clause:

-       They first met at a party. (preposition + noun phrase)

-       She was taken ill during the film. (preposition + noun phrase)

-       It’s a machine for making ice-cream. (preposition + -ing clause)

v  After verbs

Many verbs go together with prepositions to make prepositional verbs. These always have an object. Prepositional phrases can be complements of verbs. If we need a special preposition to introduce the complement of the verb, we call such verbs ‘prepositional verbs’:

-       Do these keys belong to you?

-       We’re not happy but we do approve of their decision.

-       I just couldn’t do without my phone.

-       Robert accused her of stealing his idea.

Phrasal-prepositional verbs contain a verb, an adverb particle and a preposition (underlined). We cannot separate the particle and the preposition:

-       The taxi is due any minute. Can you listen out for it?

-       I can’t put up with this noise any longer.

v  After adjectives

-       Exercise is good for everyone.

-       What’s wrong with Isabelle?

-       We were really surprised at the price of food in restaurants on our holiday.

-       Is French very different from Spanish?

v  After nouns

-       Many nouns have particular prepositions which normally follow them:

-       There’s been a large increase in the price of petrol.

-       Does anyone know the cause of the fire?