In today’s post we will look at prepositions, objects, and the relationship between the two. With that knowledge, you’ll have greater insight into another fine point of English grammar.<\/p>\n
A preposition is a word that usually comes before a noun or pronoun and expresses a relationship to another word. In other words, a preposition will usually provide information such as what, where, when, and whom. Some common prepositions are in<\/em>, at<\/em>, on<\/em>, beside<\/em>, to<\/em>, between<\/em>, under<\/em>, over<\/em>, and within<\/em>.<\/p>\n The prepositional object is the noun or pronoun that the preposition affects or describes. So, if you write “the apple in the tree,” the word in<\/em> is the preposition and tree<\/em> is its object. The full prepositional phrase modifies apple<\/em> by telling us which exact apple it is (the one in the tree), making the phrase adjectival.<\/p>\n If we write “place the apple in the tree,” the prepositional phrase “in the tree” now modifies the verb “place,” making the phrase adverbial.<\/p>\n With that understanding of prepositions and objects, you can probably find them in sentences with ease. Let’s consider a few examples:<\/p>\n I put the pizza on<\/u> the table<\/u>.<\/em> My dog ran into<\/u> the park at six o’clock<\/u>.<\/em> Jackie handed the paper airplane to Jake<\/u>.<\/em> You might notice that a descriptive prepositional phrase often appears next to the noun or verb it modifies, usually to its right.<\/p>\n Sometimes, a prepositional phrase might be moved as a matter of style or effect:<\/p>\n On<\/u> the desk<\/u> you will find all of my notes about the next film project.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n In this sentence, the prepositional phrase on the desk<\/em> (preposition: on<\/em>, object: desk<\/em>) does not modify you<\/em>; it modifies the verb find<\/em> and answers the question of where: You will find on the desk<\/u> all of my notes…<\/em><\/p>\n Identify the preposition and the prepositional object in each sentence. Some sentences might have more than one preposition and object.<\/p>\n 1. The knives go inside the drawer.<\/p>\n 2. I have to turn in my paper before Tuesday.<\/p>\n 3. The outdoor concert starts at sundown.<\/p>\n 4. I stood behind a famous actor at the airport.<\/p>\n 5. Jim refuses to cut paper with plastic scissors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. The knives go inside<\/u> the drawer<\/u>.<\/p>\n 2. I have to turn in my paper before<\/u> Tuesday<\/u>.<\/p>\n 3. The outdoor concert starts at<\/u> sundown<\/u>.<\/p>\n 4. I stood behind<\/span> a famous actor<\/span> at<\/u> the airport<\/u>.<\/p>\n 5. Jim refuses to cut paper with<\/u> plastic scissors<\/u>.<\/p>\n We have many helpful grammar tips and articles on our website, and we post more each week. Check out some of our other recent posts to learn even more about common grammar topics. You can also leave us a comment below or even suggest a future post!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In today’s post we will look at prepositions, objects, and the relationship between the two. With that knowledge, you’ll have greater insight into another fine point of English grammar. What Is a Preposition? A preposition is a word that usually comes before a noun or pronoun and expresses a relationship to another word. In other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prepositions"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5176"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7380,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5176\/revisions\/7380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Finding the Object of a Preposition<\/h2>\n
\nIn this sentence, on<\/em> is the preposition and table<\/em> is the object. The prepositional phrase describes where the pizza was placed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nThis sentence has two prepositional phrases. Into<\/em> is a preposition and park<\/em> is its object; the phrase describes where the dog ran. In the second phrase, at<\/em> is the preposition and six o’clock<\/em> is the object; it describes when the dog ran.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nIn this sentence, to<\/em> is the preposition and Jake<\/em> is its object; the phrase identifies to whom Jackie gave the paper airplane.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nPop Quiz<\/h2>\n
Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n
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