A prepositional phrase is made up of a preposition and a noun phrase. We use prepositional phrases for many purposes, for example:
- as adverbials of time and place:
- as adverbials of time and place:
We will be back in a few days.
They drove to Glasgow
.- as a postmodifier in a noun phrase:They drove to Glasgow
Helen is the girl in the red dress
We’ve got a new television with a thirty one inch screen.
- to show who did something:We’ve got a new television with a thirty one inch screen.
The lion was killed by the hunter
I saw a wonderful painting by Van Gogh
- with double object verbs like give and get:I saw a wonderful painting by Van Gogh
We gave five pounds to the woman on the corner.
They got a drink for me.
- after certain verbs, nouns and adjectives:They got a drink for me.
The book belongs to me.
I had an argument with my brother.
I feel sorry for you.
I had an argument with my brother.
I feel sorry for you.
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Comments
just want to ask is only for a while a prepositional phrase ???
for example, only for a while, i finished my lunch.
i always think it is an adverb phrase.
also, i want to know is all over the world a prepositional phrase?? or adverb phrase ? i feel so confused. thank you!
A prepositional phrase can have an adverbial function, depending on the particular context in which it is used (i.e. its role in the sentence).
In the phrase 'for a while', 'for' is a prepositional and 'a while' is the object of the preposition, forming a prepositional phrase. However, in the sentence this can have an adverbial function.
'Over' can be a preposition or an adverb, depending on the example. The phrase 'all over the world' has an adverbial function in most contexts which I can think of.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I'd like to ask a question about the prepositional phrase: "between...and" as in "Children between 5 and 16 years of age have to go to school". I've always assumed that the two extremes were included in the time frame, but a friend of mine told me that, technically, it only includes ages 6 to 15 and that if we want to take the extremes in we should say "from...to".
I would really appreciate your opinion about that. Thanks a lot in advance.
Regards.
What your friend says makes some sense, but in the end is an interpretation. As far as I know there is no definitive rule about this, and I can say for certain that it is not used in the way your friend implies by many people. If, however, you like his interpretation, by all means use it – I'd just recommend not expecting many other people to do so.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Kind regards.
"Alongside The Mayor, we were pleased to be joined by the CEO of a finance company."
How do you interpret that sentence?
A) We and the Mayor were pleased to be joined by the CEO
B) We were pleased to be joined by the Mayor and the CEO
C) Stood or sat next to the Mayor (writer is giving details of where "we" physically were), we were pleased to be joined by the CEO.
D) The Mayor joined us. We were pleased that the CEO was also there.
Thank you.
Yes, this is a prepositional phrase.
We don't like to answer questions which are from other exercises or from homework tasks - this is not our role, and if we started to do this then we would have hundreds of such questions to answer. We're not here to help with homework!
Best wishes and good luck,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you for your response.
The question isn't from another exercise, and it isn't homework either - I'm not sure why you assumed that. I saw the sentence and wondered what it meant. I was the one who wrote the different interpretations.
thanks
Multiple choice questions are very common on tests and homework, so it is a logical assumption. As I said, we focus on helping langauge learners with their work on this site or on their language learning more generally, not on broader language analysis of sentences for already proficient users. There are forums which will do this, and your sentence has already been discussed on these:
https://www.englishforums.com/English/WhyDoesntSeemRight/bwpxzn/post.htm
All of those meanings are possible, though some are less likely that others, and context will determine which is the relevant meaning in a given situation.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Best wishes