GMAT Grammar Book: Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

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Prepositional phrases are an important part of the English language. A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition. Often, the preposition shows direction, or placement, such as in, at, under, around, through, to, over, etc., but not always, such as about, of, since, till, until, etc. The preposition includes an object of the preposition, which is a noun or pronoun. (See a list of commonly used prepositions on [highlight]this page[/highlight].)

prepositional phrase = on the horse preposition = on object of preposition = the horse

The man rode on (prep.) the horse (noun phrase). OR The man rode on (prep.) it (pronoun).

Prepositional phrases can contain adjectives that modify the noun, or object.

The man rode on the brown horse.

There can also be multiple prepositional phrases used in order to give more information. Each additional phrase provides more information to the main idea of the sentence.

The man rode on the horse (prep. phrase) across the prairie (prep. phrase) in the rain (prep. phrase).

Sometimes, a prepositional phrase can be at the beginning of a sentence. If this is the case, it is followed by a comma (see more about comma usage on [highlight]this page[/highlight]).

In the first inning, he scored a goal.

Exercise 20: Identifying Prepositions and Objects of Prepositions

Underline each prepositional phrase in the sentences below and write “P” underneath the preposition and “OP” under the object of the preposition. NOTE: Some sentences may have more than one prepositional phrase.

Example: The lion roared from (P) the jungle (OP).

1. The dragon blew fire at the knight.
2. Yesterday, I saw Kathy at the store around the corner.
3. The scared rabbit ran under the porch.
4. In the beginning, John was nervous about the test.
5. The eggs were broken in the carton.
6. Sally hurt her knee on the ice from the fall.
7. Children love to play in the snow.
8. The band played passionately to the fans at the stadium.
9. The medics rushed the patient down the hall into the emergency room.
10. Carla and Amy love to go to the movies on Saturday night.



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This post is a part of [GMAT GRAMMAR BOOK]