A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun/ pronoun. They act as either adjectives or adverbs to describe a noun/ pronoun. These are some examples.
- up the hill
- during the terrible storm
- for me
- with his son
- after our dinner
Prepositional phrases that act as adjectives are known as adjective phrase (Several friends from my job are getting together tonight); prepositional phrases that act as adverbs are known as adverb phrase (We'll meet at the restaurant at 8p.m.).
Participle-type phrases (that is a word I made up to help me remember so don't use it on a grammar test) are phrases that are formed by combining a participle with related words to describe a noun or pronoun. They include:
Participial phrase
Fleeing from the sudden storm, the pinickers sought refuge in the gazebo. (words in italics modify picnikers)Gerund phrase
Singing the night away helped mis_nomer forget her troubles. (Singing is a gerund. It acts as a noun.)Infinitive phrase
To go home is my only wish right now. (To go is an infinitive.)
Another type of phrase is the appositive phrase. An appositive is a noun/ pronoun that gives details or identifies another noun or pronoun.
My favourite book, a dog-eared copy of "The Hours", has accompanied me on many vacations.
Copy is an appositive that refers to book. The appositive phrase is a dog-eared copy of.
And finally, the last type of phrase is the absolute phrase. The absolute phrase are made of nouns/ pronouns, followed by a participial and any other modifiers. Absolute phrases contain a subject and no predicate. They modify the entire sentence, for example, "Joan looked nervous, her fears creeping up on her."
[Get the book.]
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