Generic Phrases
Prepositional Phrases?
Pick out the prepositional phrases in these sentences, identify what they tell us, and what they modify. The boys searched for sand dollars. The grass behind the house and near the fence is dying.
Public Comments
- theyre is not a prepostitional phrase in the first sentence but in the second one it is behind the fence
- "for sand dollars" modifies "seached" "behind the house" and "near the fence" modify "grass" Generally, prepositions tell you location (thus prePOSITION), and prepositional phrases add a noun phrase to create meaning -- *over* the wall, *under* the stairs, *above* the clouds, etc. "for sand dollars" is a bit trickier, as it's not so much used to explain position. This is where English is a little loose with the rules. (In reality, these grammar terms were meant to describe Latin, and don't always fit exactly in English.) A more accurate sentence would have been "The boys sought sand dollars." Here, "sand dollars" is a direct object. Instead -- since "sought" is not so common any more -- the preopsitional phrase "for sand dollars" is used as an adverb to modify "searched."
