Prepositional phrase
A
prepositional phrase is, in
languages with prepositions, a
phrase whose
head is a
preposition. For example:
- To the store1
- From the house
- Under the fence
In languages with postpositions, the
morpheme that corresponds to an English preposition occurs after its
complement. (
They could therefore be referred to as "postpositional phrases".) For example,
Basque,
Estonian,
Finnish Japanese,
Tamil etc would have literal translations of the above examples akin to:
- The store to
- The house from
- The fence under
Note that we treat
"The X" as a single
component in these examples.
Prepositional phrases generally act as complements and adjuncts of noun phrases and verb phrases. For example:
- The cat from China was ill. (Adjunct of a noun phrase)
- She ran under him. (Adjunct of a verb phrase)
- He gave money to the cause. (Oblique complement of a verb phrase)
- A student of physics. (Complement of a noun phrase)
- She argued with him. (Complement of a verb phrase)
A prepositional phrase should not be confused with the
object of a
phrasal verb, as in
turn on the light. Though they appear superficially similar, they are syntactically distinct constructions.
See also noun phrase, verb phrase, linguistics, transformational-generative grammar; structural linguistics, syntax, semantics.
1. Prepositional "to" as used here is semantically and syntactically different from "to" used as a verbal auxiliary in English infinitival constructions (see also infinitive).