Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrase is the entire unit consisting of the preposition, its object, and any modifiers.  They are fragments that usually do not stand alone, except commands like "At once!" or "On your feet!"

Kinds of Phrases

There are two kinds of prepositional phrases: adjective phrases and adverb phrases.

An adjective phrase modifies a noun or pronoun.  It always comes immediately after the noun or pronoun it modifies:

Joe is the student with the highest grade.

(with the highest grade modifies student.)

An adverb phrase modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb.  It is used to tell when, where, how, or to what extent about the word it modifies:

The alligator puts the fish in its mouth..

(in its mouth tells where about the verb put.)

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