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Prepositional phrases

Prepositions and their complements​

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 after verbs​

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)
See also
  • Verbs: multi-word verbs