GRAMMAR PAGE
Locating the subject and verb in a sentence
can be an easy and fun task!
First, you need to eliminate prepositional phrases by placing them in brackets or
parentheses. It's done here by placing the prepositional phrases in
boxes. Now, you may be asking, "What's a prepositional
phrase?" Good question! Believe it or not, not everyone
knows the answer (ha, ha!). A prepositional phrase is a group of words
that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (the object of that
preposition). Here, you may be asking yourself, "Okay, what's a
preposition?" What a logical question! (I hope I don't sound
patronizing--I'm not questioning the intelligence of my students; but who, other
than English professors, really spends any time discussing these crucial
issues?) So let's move on to prepositions. A preposition is a word
that introduces a phrase and shows the relationship between its object and some
other word in the sentence. You will see that many prepositions show a
relationship of space or time. The following is a list of some common
prepositions:
about
beside
inside
through according to
above besides
into
throughout because of
across between
like
till
by way of
after
beyond
near
to
in addition to
against
by
of
toward in
front of
around
down
off
under
in place of
at
during
on
unfit
in regard to
before except
out
up
in spite of
behind
for
outside
upon
instead of
below
from
over
with
on account of
beneath
in
since
without out of
Notice that those in the last column consist of more than one word. These
are called group prepositions.
Should you memorize prepositions? I think not. But do you see what
their function is? They're very small words, but they're very
important. They let us know what's going on in relation to time and space
(among other things). For example, if we were in class during an
earthquake, without prepositions I would have to say to all of you,
"Get the desks! Get the desks!" The entire class would be
running around carrying their desks with no clue! But then, I take that
one little preposition "under," and I say, "Get under the
desks!" Now you understand!! Prepositions can save
lives!!!!!!!!! Maybe, maybe not. But we realize now that language is
very important to communication. And you use prepositions all the
time. You just may not have known that that's what they're called.
When I was in third grade, a teacher taught me a how to recognize
prepositions. Here's my dog, Guenter, to help us out. You can create
sentences that show a physical relationship between Guenter and a house.
Examples: (The prepositions are in red.)
Guenter went into the house. Guenter went through the house. Guenter went out of the house. He ran throughout the house. He went behind the house. He went around the house. He went inside the house. He stood beside the house. He walked toward the house. He dug beneath the house. He leaned against the house. He sniffed between the houses. He stood by the house. He was at the house. He went below the house. He went near the house. He stood on the house (a flat roof). He jumped off the house. He went outside the house. He flew over the house (in a private plane, I don't know, whatever.) Now, not all prepositions, especially group prepositions are going to do this for you. Maybe memorize those, or at least get thoroughly acquainted with them.
So now, we ask ourselves, "What's a
prepositional phrase?" Earlier I said it's a group of words beginning
with a preposition and ending with a noun (the object of that
preposition). Here are some examples using the same sentences above.
Now the entire prepositional phrase (beginning with the
preposition) will be highlighted in blue, with the noun (the object of each
preposition) underlined. Clue: in these sentences it's
"house."
Guenter went into the house. Guenter went through the house. Guenter went out of the house. He ran throughout the house. He went behind the house. He went around the house. He went inside the house. He stood beside the house. He walked toward the house. He dug beneath the house. He leaned against the house. He sniffed between the houses. He stood by the house. He was at the house. He went below the house. He went near the house. He stood on the house (a flat roof). He jumped off the house. He went outside the house. He flew over the house.
Here are some examples that don't go well with "the house."
Prepositions are in red; prepositional phrases are in blue.
After graduation, Grady left for
a better job with more
pay. (3 prep. phrases:
After graduation, Grady left for
a better job /with more pay.
1 begins with After
prep. phrase 1
prep. phrase 2
prep. phrase 3
and ends with graduation;
2 begins with for and
ends with job; 3 begins
with with and ends with
pay. )
The
formula for
the solution to
that problem about
tax contributions is
very complicated.
The
formula for the solution/
to that problem
/about tax contributions is
very complicated.
prep. phrase 1 prep.
phrase 2 prep. phrase 3
Now see if you can recognize prepositional phrases. Clicking on a prepositional phrase will cause it to be boxed in.
| His best work |
on that test |
came |
on the last question. |
|
After that outburst |
Brenda sat motionless |
at the table |
for almost five minutes |
|
About three miles |
into the hike |
Arline grew frustrated |
with the slow pace |
of the other people |
| The cat ran |
under the table, |
and the dog jumped |
over the sofa |
Last updated: August 1, 2000