Prepositions Part I

Prepositions are the words which are used to connect the different nouns, pronouns and phrases in a sentence. It functions to introduce or precede the word or phrase to be connected, called the object of the preposition.

The preposition usually indicates the relation between the words it is connecting. It tells whether the words are connected in actual space or a place, or related through time or are they part of a thought or process.

 

Prepositional phrases are the preposition and its object and any adjectives or adverbs that were applied to the object. The prepositional phrase as a whole can also be used as a noun, adverb or adjective.

He found the book on the table. 

• Here the preposition is ‘on’ as it shows the relation in place between the book and the table.  
• The prepositional phrase is ‘on the table’ which is acting as an Adverb telling where the book was found.

She went to sleep early.

• In this sentence the preposition is ‘to’ which is introducing where or in what state had the noun gone into. 

Her house was beside a steep hill.

• The preposition here is beside which is telling the place where the house was.
• The prepositional phrase is ‘beside a steep hill’ which is acting as an adverb.