1. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
Professor Flávia Cunha

2. DEFINITION
A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a prepositional complement, which is usually:
a) a noun phrase
– e.g. She studies at Veiga de Almeida University.

3. DEFINITION
b) a wh- clause – e.g. Please, pay attention to what I am saying.

4. DEFINITION c) an –ing clause
- e.g. By traveling abroad she will improve her English.

5. Compare the complements
her words. (a)
He was surprised at what she said. (b)
her saying this. (c)

6. FUNCTION
The boy from the shop is waiting at the corner.

7. FUNCTION
A prepositional phrase, which has a preposition as its head, can function as an adjectival or an adverbial.

8. FUNCTION The boy from the shop is waiting at the corner.
- from the shop: The head of this prepositional phrase is the preposition from. The function of the phrase is adjectival - it does the work of an adjective by describing the noun boy. It modifies the noun, answering the question: which boy?

9. FUNCTION The boy from the shop is waiting at the corner.
- at the corner: The head of this prepositional phrase is the preposition at. The function of the phrase is adverbial - it does the work of an adverb by modifying the verb waiting. It answers the question: where is he waiting?

10. FUNCTION The boy in a hurry is waiting over there.
Adjectival prepositional phrases, like adjectives, modify nouns: for example, they tell you which boy we are talking about:
The boy in a hurry is waiting over there.
The boy at the station told me.
The boy from London lives here.
The boy with red hair is called Ginger.
The boy behind the shed is smoking.

11. FUNCTION
Adverbial prepositional phrases, like adverbs, modify verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions, and answer the same range of questions as adverbs:
How? in a hurry, with enthusiasm
When? after the party, at midnight
Where? at the station, near London
Why? for my sake, because of the cold

12. FUNCTION
Important: as some of these examples show, the same phrase can be adjectival or adverbial, depending on the position it takes in the sentence.