Characteristics of Characteristics of the Prepositional the Prepositional

PhrasePhrase

Prepositional phrases Prepositional phrases are sentence parts are sentence parts

that describe people, that describe people, things, or actions. things, or actions.

Most begin with one of Most begin with one of these prepositionsthese prepositions

inin the beginning, the beginning, beforebefore the fall, the fall, afterafter the creation, the creation, atat the the

game, game, downdown the aisle, the aisle, acrossacross the street, the street,

insideinside the stadium, the stadium, outsideoutside the store, the store,

betweenbetween the posts, the posts,

withinwithin the den, the den, behindbehind the scenes, the scenes,

onon the bridge, the bridge, byby the the sea, sea, underunder the the

boardwalk,boardwalk,

aroundaround the park, the park, downdown the road, the road, intointo the woods, the woods, againstagainst the grain, the grain, nearnear the the field, field, throughthrough the the

woods, woods, toto Grandmother’s Grandmother’s

house,house,

likelike a bird, a bird, exceptexcept the sophomores, the sophomores,

overover the rainbow, the rainbow, upup the creek, the creek, withoutwithout a a paddle, paddle, withwith malice, malice,

towardtoward none, none,

of of the people, the people, byby the the people, people, forfor the the

people.people.

Most prepositions are Most prepositions are easy to identify easy to identify

because they are because they are difficult to define. difficult to define. (Try defining (Try defining of, in, of, in,

off, by, through, off, by, through, betweenbetween, and so on.), and so on.)

Sentences can contain Sentences can contain single or consecutive single or consecutive prepositional phrases prepositional phrases

anywhere in the anywhere in the sentence—as sentence sentence—as sentence openers, subject-verb openers, subject-verb

splits, or sentence splits, or sentence closers.closers.

Single Prepositional Single Prepositional PhrasesPhrases

AtAt the bottom the bottom, he , he looked glumly looked glumly downdown

the tunnelthe tunnel..Stephen King, Stephen King,

“Night Journey”“Night Journey”

LikeLike a lean, gray a lean, gray wolfwolf, he moved , he moved

silently and easily.silently and easily.Lloyd Alexander, Lloyd Alexander,

The Book of ThreeThe Book of Three

Bearded men, Bearded men, inin sad- sad-colored garments and colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned gray, steeple-crowned

hatshats, intermixed with , intermixed with women.women.

Nathaniel Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne, The Scarlet The Scarlet

LetterLetter

Consecutive Consecutive Prepositional Prepositional

PhrasesPhrases

AcrossAcross the street the street fromfrom their house, their house, inin an an

empty lot empty lot betweenbetween two two houseshouses, stood the rock , stood the rock

pile.pile.James Baldwin, James Baldwin,

“Going to Meet the Man”“Going to Meet the Man”

Then they came Then they came upup the streetthe street and and

aroundaround the house the house..Hal Borland, Hal Borland,

When the Legends When the Legends DieDie

UnscramblingUnscrambling

a. across the ripplesa. across the ripplesb. it was morningb. it was morningc. and the new sun c. and the new sun sparkled goldsparkled goldd. of a gentle sead. of a gentle sea

Richard Bach, Richard Bach, Jonathan Jonathan

Livingston SeagullLivingston Seagull

It was morning, and It was morning, and the new sun the new sun sparkled gold sparkled gold

acrossacross the ripples the ripples ofof a gentle sea. a gentle sea.

a. and grabbed a. and grabbed Coffey’s slabCoffey’s slabb. at that momentb. at that momentc. between the barsc. between the barsd. a skinny arm shot d. a skinny arm shot outoute. of a bicepe. of a bicepf. of Wharton’s cellf. of Wharton’s cell

Stephen King,Stephen King, “Night Journey” “Night Journey”

AtAt that moment that moment, a , a skinny arm shot out skinny arm shot out

betweenbetween the bars the bars of of Wharton’s cellWharton’s cell and and grabbed Coffey’s slab grabbed Coffey’s slab

ofof a bicep a bicep..

ImitatingImitating

Model: The aftermath of Model: The aftermath of the shooting was a three-the shooting was a three-

ring circus, ring circus, withwith the the governor in one ring, governor in one ring,

withwith the prison in the prison in anotheranother, and , and withwith poor poor

brain-blasted Percy brain-blasted Percy Wetmore in the third.Wetmore in the third.

a. and a. and inin the main office the main office with stressed-out with stressed-out administrators in high administrators in high demand but low supplydemand but low supplyb. b. inin the guidance the guidance department with countless department with countless schedule changesschedule changesc. was chaosc. was chaosd. d. inin the cafeteria with huge the cafeteria with huge lineslinese. the first day of classese. the first day of classes

The first day of classes was The first day of classes was chaos, chaos, inin the cafeteria the cafeteria with huge lineswith huge lines, , inin the the guidance department guidance department

with countless schedule with countless schedule changeschanges, and , and inin the main the main office with stressed out office with stressed out administrators in high administrators in high

demand but low supply.demand but low supply.

Model:Model:When the Titanic When the Titanic

brushed the iceberg, brushed the iceberg, several tons of ice several tons of ice

crumbled off the berg crumbled off the berg and landed on the and landed on the

starboard well deck, starboard well deck, opposite the foremast.opposite the foremast.

Walter Lord, Walter Lord, A Night to A Night to RememberRemember

Write an imitation of Write an imitation of the model, making all the model, making all of your sentence parts of your sentence parts

like those in the like those in the model.model.