- A prepositional phrase is a group of words that includes a preposition and all of the words that belong with the preposition.
- A prepositional phrase will always start with a preposition and end with a noun or a pronoun. For example:
- on the desk
- below the sofa
- during the test
- beside the house
To find a prepositional phrase, first you need to find the preposition. A prepositional phrase will always start with a preposition. Then you ask yourself the big "What?" question to figure out where the prepositional phrase ends. For example:
- The student placed her pencil (on the desk).
- "On" is the preposition.
- Ask yourself, "On what?"
- You get the answer "desk."
- The prepositional phrase ends after the noun desk.
- To indicate a prepositional phrase, you put parenthesis around the phrase.
- "On" is the preposition.
- The dog hid (below the couch). -
- "Below" is the preposition.
- Ask youself, "Below what?"
- You get the answer "couch."
- The prepositional phrase ends after the noun couch.
- "Below" is the preposition.
We practiced labeling prepositional phrases on pages 3-4 of their packet.
Then I shared a helpful trick for finding prepositional phrases. Sometimes prepositions are obvious in a sentence. They jump right out at you. However, sometimes finding prepositions can be hard. Through the process of elimination, you can find any prepositional phrase.
All you have to do is cross off the subject and verb. A preposition will never be the subject or verb. Once you have eliminated the subject and verb, you can check to see what is left. Often times, there will be a prepositional phrase. For example:
- Tracy walked (through the park.) - "Tracy" is the subject of the sentence. I crossed her name off. "Walked" is the verb in the sentence. I crossed the verb off. I am left with the phrase "through the park." This is a prepositional phrase.
- My cat purred in the sunlight. - "Cat" is the subject of the sentence. I crossed this noun out. "Purred" is the verb of the sentence. I crossed the verb off. I am left with the phrase "in the sunlight." This is a prepositional phrase.
The students practiced this on page 5 in their packets.
Homework: None