Here's a breakdown:
* Preposition: A word that shows the relationship between its object and another word in the sentence. Common prepositions include: *on, in, at, to, from, by, with, for, of, about, around, across, through, before, after, during, since, until, because of, instead of, according to*.
* Object: The noun or pronoun that the preposition is related to.
* Function: Prepositional phrases act as modifiers, providing additional information about nouns or verbs. They can answer questions like *where?*, *when?*, *how?*, or *why?*
Examples:
* "The book on the table": "on the table" is a prepositional phrase acting as an adjective, modifying "book" and telling us where the book is located.
* "He ran across the street": "across the street" is a prepositional phrase acting as an adverb, modifying "ran" and telling us where he ran.
Key Points to Remember:
* Prepositional phrases always start with a preposition.
* The object of the preposition can be a noun, pronoun, or even a gerund (a verb acting as a noun).
* Prepositional phrases can be single words or multiple words.
* You can have multiple prepositional phrases in a sentence.
Understanding prepositional phrases is important for understanding the structure and meaning of sentences.