Prepositional Phrases – Concept and Its Types

A prepositional phrase is a gathering of words that comprise of a relational word and the object of the relational word. It can include words which modify the object. 

The object of the relational word (Preposition) is typically a thing or a pronoun. 

A prepositional phrase always begins with a preposition and ends with the object of the preposition. In order to find the prepositional phrase in a sentence, one has to identify the preposition first. 

For example: The cat is on the table. 

Here, the prepositional phrase is “on the table.” “The cat” is the subject and the verb is “is”, “on” is the preposition, “table” is the object. The object answers the question the cat is on what? 

The cat is on the round table. 

Here, the prepositional phrase is “on the round table.” “On” is the preposition, table is the object, round is the word that modifies the object. 

Types of prepositional phrases 

There are two types of prepositional phrases. They are 

• Adjective prepositional phrase and 
• Adverb prepositional phrase 

Adjective prepositional phrase 

Adjectives modify nouns. Similarly adjective prepositional phrases also modify nouns. 

For example: The story is about a beautiful princess.  

The story is the subject, about is the preposition and “about a beautiful princess” is the adjective prepositional phrase which modifies the word “story.” 

Adverb prepositional phrase 

Adverbs modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. Adverb prepositional phrases also have the same function. 

For example: My mother bakes in her new oven. 

My mother is the subject, in is the preposition and “in her new oven” is the adverb prepositional phrase which describes the verb “bakes.”