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

Before the prepositional phrase: The boat is sailing | across the river.

From The Canadian Elocutionist by Howard, Anna Kelsey

As a verb it has an object complement, songs; and as a noun it names the act, and stands as the principal word in a prepositional phrase.

From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd