prepositional phrase

American  

noun

Grammar.

• prepositional phrases
  plural

1. a phrase consisting of a preposition, its object, which is usually a noun or a pronoun, and any modifiers of the object, as in the gray desk I use.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• prepositional phrases
  plural

Etymology

Origin of prepositional phrase

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prepositional phrase

And I mistook a perfectly good English word, “rosé,” for the Polish prepositional phrase “o rosie,” which means “about the dew.”

From Washington Post ● Feb. 23, 2023

The White House disagreed with The Washington Post’s description, so the paper had to issue a correction noting a change of a prepositional phrase in a sentence.

From Salon ● May 12, 2017

Another awkwardly placed prepositional phrase; he’s not resigning from any newspapers.

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2015

Sprat. µ According to has been called a prepositional phrase, but strictly speaking, according is a participle in the sense of agreeing, acceding, and to alone is the preposition.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Noah Webster

Where the succession of possessives is unpleasant or confusing, the substitution of a prepositional phrase should be made; as, the house of the mother of Charles's partner, instead of, Charles's partner's mother's house.

From Practical Grammar and Composition by Thomas Wood