Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1. Aprepositionisawordthatconnectsanounorapronountoanotherword
inthesentence.
CommonPrepositions
(Medial)Iwaswalkingrapidly,throughthesnow,andIwasgettingcold.
(Final)Alislumpedlikeabrokendoll,afterthefight.
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5. Aprepositionalphraseusedasanintroductoryelementthatbeginsasentence
andmodifiesawordorwordsinthemainclausethatfollowsisusually
followedbyacomma.Example:
Inadebatethathaslastedcenturies,scientistsuseidentical
twinstoarguefororagainstgeneticdestiny.
6. IdiomswithPrepositions
Idiomsaregroupsofwordsthat,whenusedtogether,donotfittherulesfor
meaningorgrammar.Peoplewho"runforoffice,"forexample,neednotbetrack
stars;thisidiommeanstheyareseekingpublicoffice.Combinationsofverbsor
adjectivesandprepositionscanbeconfusingforbothnativeandnonnative
speakersofEnglish.Examplesofidiomswithprepositionsare:
abidebyarule(adecision)
differwith(aperson)
accountablefor(actions)
differfrom(somethingbeing
accountableto(aperson)
compared)
agreeonaplan(terms)
involvedin(atask)
involvedwith(aperson)
agreewith(aperson) liablefor(actions)
agreeto(aproposal) liableto(anauthority)
arguefor,against(apolicy) partfrom(aperson)
arguewith(aperson) partwith(apossession)
compareto(anunlikething) sensitiveabout(anoffense)
comparewith(athingofthe sensitiveto(anexternalcondition)
samekind) unequalin(qualities)
differaboutorover(anissue) unequalto(achallenge)
7.TheSubjectandPrepositionalPhrases
Thesubjectofasentenceisneverpartofaprepositionalphrase.Asyou
lookforthesubjectofasentence,itmayhelptocrossouttheprepositional
phrases.Forexample,lookatthefollowingsentence.Findthepreposition
andcrossouttheprepositionalphrases.Then,underlinethesubject.
Example:Astudentintheclassfellasleepduringthelonglecture.
Inandduringareprepositions.Youshouldcrossouttheprepositionalphrases
intheclassandduringthelonglecture.Whenyoudothis,youareleftwith
thesentenceAstudentfellasleep.Askyourself,Whofellasleep?The
answer,student,isthesubjectofthesentence.
ExerciseCrossouttheoneprepositionalphraseineachsentence.Then
underlinethesubjectofthesentence.
Example:Thepackofcookiesdisappearedquickly.
1.Theblueberriesinthispiearebitter.
2.Leavesfromourneighborstreecoveredourlawn.
3.Oneofmybestfriendsisacomputerprogrammer.
4.Acrowdswarmedaroundtheinjuredboy.
8.TheObjectandPrepositionalPhrases
Thenounorpronounthataprepositionconnectstoanotherwordinthe
sentenceiscalledtheobjectofthepreposition.Agroupofwords
thatbeginswithaprepositionandendswithitsobjectiscalled
aprepositionalphrase.
Example:Amaninthebuswassleepingsoundly.
Thewordsinthebus,forexample,areaprepositionalphrase.
Example:Themanwiththelongbeardlefttherestaurantquickly.
Thenounbeardistheobjectoftheprepositionwith.Theprepositional
phrasewiththelongbearddescribesthewordman.Ittellsusexactlywhich
manlefttherestaurantquickly.
Exercise:Ineachslot,insertthefollowingprepositions:of,by,with,in,
without.Useeachprepositiononce.
1.Theletterfromhisgirlfriendhadbeensprayed__________perfume.
2.Donhungrilyatetwohelpings_________frenchfries.
3.____________givinganynotice,thetenantmovedoutoftheapartment.
4.Theweedkillerquicklydestroyedthedandelions__________ourlawn.
5.Thecrates_________thebackdoorcontainoldmagazines.
9.TheAdjectiveandPrepositionalPhrases
Itseasytofindhowprepositionalphrasesareusedinsentences.Allprepositional
phrasesareusedaseitheradjectivesoradverbs,andtheadjectiveandadverb
questionswillidentifythemforyou.Forexample,prepositionalphrasesused
asadjectives:
SUBJECTVERB OBJECT
. . .
. .
.
AdjectivesAdverbs Adjectives
Whenprepositionalphrasesactasadjectives,theyansweroneofthefour
adjectivequestions:Which?Whatkind?Howmany?Whose?
However,mostadjectiveprepositionalphrasesanswerthequestionwhich?
Considerthefollowingsentence:
Thehorseinthethirdstallismine.
Inthissentence,theprepositionalphraseinthethirdstall(prepositionin;
objectstall)answersthequestionwhichhorse?Therefore,
Adjectivequestion:Whichhorse?
Answer:Thehorseinthethirdstall
ExerciseInthesentencesbelow,theverb,subject,andobjectorcomplement,if
any,havebeenmarkedforyou.Markeachadjectiveprepositionalphrase
withparenthesesandanarrow.
Example:Thesign(onthelawn)isnew.
1.Themenfromhisdepartmentwillarrivesoon.
2.AbraceletwithemeraldswasshownSaturday.
3.Theanswerstothesequestionswillbediscussedtomorrow.
4.Mr.Baxterjustchangedthescheduleofdeliveries.
5.Oneofthegraduatestudentswillhelpyou.
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6. Thepaperhasprintedmostofherletters.
7. OneofusshouldanswertheletterfromDr.Jones.
10. TheAdverbandPrepositionalPhrases
Prepositionalphrasescanalsoactasadverbsdescribingverbs:
SUBJECTVERBOBJECT
. . .
. . .
AdjectivesAdverbs Adjectives
(wordorphrase)(wordorphrase)(wordorphrase)
Whenprepositionalphrasesactasadverbs,theyansweroneofthefive
adverbquestions:When?Where?Why?How?Underwhatconditions?
Example:Westoodintherainforhours.
Thissentencecontainstwoprepositionalphrasesusedasadverbs.
Intheraintellsuswherewestood,andforhourstellsuswhenwestood.
Example:CongresspassedtheMiningActforthewrongreasons.
Adverbquestion:Passedwhy?Answer:forthewrongreasons.
PrepositionsusedasAdverbs:Keepinmindthatmanyoftheprepositions
listedonPageOnecanbeusedbythemselvesasadverbs.Forexample,the
followingsentencedoesnotcontainaprepositionalphrase:Turnoffthelight.
Offisanadverbthatdescribestheverbturn,andlightistheobjectoftheverb
(notthepreposition).Lightanswersthequestionturnwhat?,notthequestion
offwhat?
ExerciseInthesentencesbelow,theverb,subject,andobjecthavebeenmarkedfor
you.Whichofthefiveadverbquestionsdoeseachprepositionalphraseanswer?
Markeachadverbprepositionalphrasewith(parentheses)andanarrow.
Example:Thelaundryroomislocated(intheback)(ofthehouse).
1. ThemailisusuallydeliveredinthemorningonSaturdays.
2.Shelookedatthebabyforhours.
3. Inafewminutesthecandlewillburnoutcompletely.
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4.Thisweekournewteachercanceledallofhisclasses.
5.Thestudentspassedinthefinalcopiesoftheiressays.
11.IndirectObjectsandPrepositions
Anotherphrasewithahiddenprepositionistheindirectobject.
Anindirectobjectlookslikeanobjectoftheverb.
Example:Mr.Pottershowed(to)Ms.Calendarabetterway.
Anindirectobjectisreallyanobjectofthehiddenprepositionto,for,orof.
Usetheindirectobjectquestion:
Indirectobjectquestion:
Showedtowhom?
Answer:
ToMs.Calendar
Markindirectobjectslikeotheradverbphrases,with(parentheses)andanarrow.
Thenwritethehiddenprepositionaboveitsobject.(Thiswillmakeyoumore
awareofindirectobjectsinothersentences).Example:
Mr.Portershowed(Ms.Calendar)abetterway.
ExerciseThesubject,verb,andobjecthavebeenmarkedforyou.
Usetheindirectobjectquestiontoavoidmarkingindirectobjectsasobjects
oftheverb.Inserthiddenprepositions.Add(parentheses)andarrowsfor
prepositionalphrases.
Example:Theygave(him)theircompleteattention.
1.Heaskedusseveralunusualquestions.
2.HissuperiorsofferedColonelJohnsonseveraloptions.
3.Ourmathinstructorawardedeachofhisstudentshighgrades.
4.Wewrotethedistrictmanagerastrongletterofprotest.
5.Abonuswasofferedtheproductioncompanyforanearlycompletion.
6.ThepoliceofficerhandedMr.Thompsonaticketforspeeding.
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7.Sheofferedthemafairsettlement.
12.FindingSubjectsinDifficultSentences
Manysentencescontainaprepositionalphrasebetweenthesubjectandtheverb.
Example:Thecolorofmybrotherstennisshoesisbrown.Is=thelinkingverb.
Whatisthesubject?Becauseshoesisanounclosetotheverb,youmaytryto
selectshoesasthesubject;however,shoesistheobjectoftheprepositionof.
Prepositionalphrase::ofmybrotherstennisshoes
Objectquestion:Ofwhat?
Answer:shoes
Thesubjectofaverbisnevertheobjectofapreposition.Wecanavoid
mismarkingthesubjectbyfindingandmarkingtheprepositionalphrase
ofmybrotherstennisshoesfirst.Thenwecanfindthecorrectsubject
colormoreeasily.Correctlymarked,thesentencelookslikethis:
Thecolor(ofmybrotherstennisshoes)isbrown.
Resources
Aaron,JaneE.TheLittle,BrownCompactHandbook,3rded.NewYork:
AddisonWesleyEducationalPublications,Inc.,l998.
Ebest,SallyBarr,et.al.WritingfromAtoZ.MountainView,California:
MayfieldPublishingCompany,1997.
Harris,Muriel.PrenticeHallReferenceGuidetoGrammarandUsage,3rded.
UpperSaddleRiver,N.J.:PrenticeHall,1997.
Hecker,Diana.TheBedfordHandbookforWriters,4thed.Boston:Bedford
BooksofSt.MartinsPress,1994.
Neuburger,_____.Foundation:BuildingSentenceSkills,3rded.Boston:
HoughtonMifflinCompany,1989.
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Smith,R.Kent.BasicWritingSkillswithReadings.Marlton,N.J.:Townsend
Press,1995.