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Prepositional phrases
A prepositional phrase is a preposition followed by a noun phrase: in the garden, after lunch, with her. It tells us where, when, how or with whom.
Structure
A prepositional phrase has two parts: the preposition (the head) and its complement, usually a noun phrase.
| Preposition | Complement | Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| in | the garden | in the garden |
| after | lunch | after lunch |
| with | her | with her |
| from | under the bed | from under the bed (a phrase inside a phrase) |
What they do in a sentence
- Adverbial: adds information about the action: She waited in the hall.
- Modifier of a noun: The book on the shelf is mine.
- Complement of an adjective or verb: afraid of dogs; It depends on the weather.
Meanings they express
| Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|
| Place | in the box, on the table, under the bridge |
| Time | at five o’clock, on Monday, in October |
| Direction | to the station, through the tunnel |
| Accompaniment or means | with a friend, by bus |
| Reason or purpose | because of the rain, for fun |
Choosing the right preposition can be tricky. English uses at for clock times, on for days and dates, and in for months, years and longer periods: at 5 pm, on Monday, in 2026.
Word order across languages
English puts the preposition before its noun. Some other languages put a similar word after it. Mandarin typically places a locative word after the noun (zhuōzi shàng, literally “table on”), and Tamil uses postpositions. Malay uses a preposition, but with a different structure (di atas meja, “at top table”). This is one reason prepositions can be difficult for multilingual learners, and it is a pattern to expect rather than a disorder.
Acquisition in children
Roger Brown (1973) found that in and on were among the first grammatical morphemes that English-speaking children used correctly, along with the -ing ending. Other spatial words such as under, behind and beside usually follow later. The order reflects both meaning and complexity: containment and support are easier ideas than relative positions.
In speech and language therapy
- Spatial prepositions are often targeted using games: hiding objects in, on and under boxes.
- Preposition errors or omissions can show up in language samples (see type-token ratio) and may reflect a language difficulty, a second-language pattern or both.
- Children who understand a preposition may still omit it when speaking, so check comprehension and production separately.
Practice
Find the prepositional phrases in this sentence: The kitten on the sofa jumped into the basket with a squeak.
Show the answer
on the sofa (modifies “kitten”), into the basket (adverbial: where it jumped) and with a squeak (adverbial: how it jumped).
Sources and further reading
- Huddleston, R., & Pullum, G. K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press.
- Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman.
- Brown, R. (1973). A First Language: The Early Stages. Harvard University Press.