Prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrases consist of a preposition and the words which follow it (a complement). The complement (underlined below) 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)

Would you like to come with me please? (preposition + pronoun)

From there, it’ll take you about half an hour to our house. (preposition + adverb)

Until quite recently, no one knew about his paintings. (preposition + adverb phrase)

She’s decided on doing a Chinese language course. (preposition + -ing clause)

Not: … decided on to do …

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

If you can wait until after my meeting with Jack, we can talk then. (preposition + prepositional phrase)

We were really surprised at what they wrote. (preposition + wh-clause)

We can put an adverb before a preposition to modify it. This applies mainly to prepositions of time or place which are gradable (above, before, far, deep, down, opposite):

They’ve moved far into the country.

They left the party just before us.

You can’t miss it. His office is almost opposite the coffee machine.

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.

We sometimes use an adverb particle before the preposition. The verb + adverb particle + preposition structure forms a verb which has a single meaning. We call such verbs ‘phrasal prepositional verbs’. Their meaning is often not related to the meaning of the original verb:

She really looks up to her grandfather. (admires)

We’re all looking forward to having a few days’ holiday together. (anticipate with pleasure)