Prepositional Phrase

A Prepositional Phrase is a linguistic phrase that starts with a preposition (its Prepositional Head Word).

• AKA: PP, Adpositional Phrase.
• Context:
  • It can be followed by a Noun (or Pronoun).
  • It can function as an Adjective or an Adverb.
  • It can provide the answer to Wh-Questions.
  • It can never contain the Sentence Subject.
  • It can (typically) consist of a Preposition followed by its Preposition Object and its Modifiers. PP->P NP ???
  • It can relate a noun phrase to another part of the Sentence.
  • It can be a Recursive Prepositional Phrase.
• Example(s):
  • “I went (PP with) the kids]".
  • “I cut the cake (PP with) the knife]".
  • “I cut the cake (PP with) the kids]".
  • “I bought the toy (PP with) the kitty]".
  • “I bought the toy (PP with) the kids]".
  • “It was (PP under) the orange blanket]".
  • “The man (PP in) the story] walked [[along P] the beach]."
  • “One of these books contains the recipe [for/P Crêpe Suzette]]." (one Preposition is not a Prepositional Head Word - because it is the Sentence Subject).
  • “I saw the man (PP in) the park (PP with/P a telescope]].”
  • “I saw the man (PP in) the park] (PP with/P a telescope].".
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • an Adpositional Phrase.
  • a Noun Phrase.
• See: Prepositional Phrase Attachment Task.

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References

2009

• (Wikipedia, 2009) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepositional_phrase
  • An adpositional phrase is a linguistics term that includes (a) prepositional phrases (usually found in head-first languages such as English) and (b) postpositional phrases (usually found in head-final languages such as Dutch). The difference between the two is simply one of word order.
  • Both types of adpositional phrases are a syntactic category: a phrase which is treated in certain ways as a unit by a language's rules of syntax. An adpositional phrase is composed of an adposition (in the head position, which is why it lends its name to the phrase) and usually a complement such as a noun phrase. ("Adposition" is similarly a generic term for either a preposition or a postposition.) These phrases generally act as complements and adjuncts of noun phrases and verb phrases.
• WordNet.
  • a phrase beginning with a preposition

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prepositional_phrase
  • 1. (grammar) a phrase that has both a preposition and its object or complement; may be used as an adjunct or a modifier.
  • For example:
    • The man in the story walked along the beach.

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