PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

Prepositional phrases are groups of words that have a preposition and an object of the preposition. The whole phrase will always act as either an adjective or an adverb.

A preposition will always start the phrase, and an object of the preposition will always end it. An object of the preposition is a noun or pronoun that follows the preposition.

preposition + noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause

preposition + modifier(s) + noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause

- Here are some examples:

At home

At=preposition; home=noun

In time

In = preposition; time = noun.

             From Richie   

 From = preposition; Richie = noun.

- Most prepositional phrases are longer, like these:

From my grandmother

From = preposition; my = modifier; grandmother = noun.

Under the warm blanket

Under = preposition; the, warm = modifiers; blanket = noun.

A prepositional phrase will function as an adjective or adverb. As an adjective, the prepositional phrase will answer the question Which one?

Read these examples:

The book on the bathroom floor is swollen from shower steam.
Which book? The one on the bathroom floor!

The sweet potatoes in the vegetable bin are green with mold.
Which sweet potatoes? The ones forgotten in the vegetable bin!

As an adverb, a prepositional phrase will answer questions such as How? When? or Where?

Freddy is stiff from yesterday's long football practice.
How did Freddy get stiff? From yesterday's long football practice!

Before class, Josh begged his friends for a pencil.
When did Josh do his begging? Before class!

Preposition List

A

aboard, about, above, across, after, against, ahead of, along, amid, 

amidst, among, around, as, as far as, as of, aside from, at, athwart, atop

B

barring, because of, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, 

between, beyond, but, by, by means of

C

circa, concerning

D

despite, down, during

E

except, except for, excluding

F

far from, following, for, from

I

in, in accordance with, in addition to, in case of, in front of, in lieu of, 

in place of, in spite of, including, inside, instead of, into

L

like

M

minus

N

near, next to

O

of, off, on, on account of, on behalf of, on top of, onto, opposite, out, 

out of, outside, over

P

past, plus, prior to

R

regarding, regardless of

S

save, since

T

than, through, till, to, toward, towards

U

under, underneath, unlike, until, up, upon

V

versus, via

W

with, with regard to, within, without

PAST TENSE

• Simple Past Tense
Simple past tense is used to indicate the activity in the past.

 The Formula Without Verb :
(+) S + to be ( was / were ) + obj. / comp
(-) S + to be ( was / were ) + not + obj. / comp
(?) To be ( was / were ) + S + obj. / comp. +?


Example        :  (+)   I was at home last night.
                        (-)    I was not at home last night.
                        (?)    Was I at home last night ?

 The Formula with Verb :
(+) S + V2 + obj. / comp
(-) S + did + not + V1 + obj. / comp
(?) Did + S + V1 + obj. / comp. + ?

Example       :   (+)   I called him last night.
                        (-)    I did not call him last night.
                        (?)    Did I call him last night.

• Past Continuous Tense
The functions of the past continuous tense are :
1). To indicate that one action was in progress when another action occurred.
Example : I was watching TV when you come here.
2). To indicate that two actions were in progress simultaneously.
Example : My mother was cooking while my father was reading a newspaper.
3). To indicate an action that happened at a certain time in the past.
Example : I was having an examination at this time last year.

 The Formula of Past Continuous Tense :
(+) S + to be + ( was / were ) + V1 + ing + comp
(-) S + to be ( was / were ) + not + V1 + ing + comp.
(?) To be ( was / were ) + S + V1 + ing + comp. + ?

Example       :    (+)   They were having lunch when I arrived.
                         (-)   They were not having lunch when I arrived.
                         (?)   Were they having lunch when I arrived ?

• Past Perfect Tense
Past perfect tense is used to indicate an action that had happened in the past and had finished.

 The formula Without Verb :
(+) S + had + been + comp
(-) S + had + not + been + comp.
(?) Had + S + been + comp. + ?

Example         :   (+)   We had been at home for 4 hours.
                          (-)   We had not been at home for 4 hours.
                          (?)   Had we been at home for 4 hours.

 The Formula with Verb :
(+) S + had + V3 + comp
(-) S + had + not + comp
(?) Had + S + V3 + comp. + ?

Example        :    (+)   She had washed the vegetable.
                          (-)   She had not washed the vegetable.
                          (?)   Had she washed the vegetable ?
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Past perfect continuous tense is used to indicate that an action was in progress and happened in the past.

The Formula of Past Perfect Continuous Tense :
(+) S + had + been + V1 + ing + comp.
(-) S + had + not + been + V1 + ing + comp.
(?) Had + S + been + V1 + ing + comp. + ?

Example       :    (+)   He had been watching TV when I called him yesterday.
                         (-)   He had not been watching TV when I called him yesterday.
                         (?)   Had he been watching TV when I called him yesterday ?