Introductory Prepositional Phrases

Prepositions

Think about a mouse in its hole. It sees a piece of cheese out in the open, but it has to make a plan of attack. Should the mouse run straight towards the cheese, should it jump on top of it, should it hide behind it first to see if anyone is there? When you think about a mouse in relation to a piece of cheese, you are thinking of prepositions.

In this lesson, we'll learn about characteristics of prepositional phrases, introductory prepositional phrases, and look at some examples.

Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrase is any phrase that begins with a preposition. Think about the mouse in relation to the cheese again. Are you picturing him: ''above'' it, ''beside'' it, ''on'' it? These words are prepositions, words that describe the location of the mouse.

• The mouse ran ''up the cheese''.
• The mouse ate ''through the cheese.''
• The mouse sits ''by the cheese'' to eat it.

The phrases in quotes are prepositional phrases since they tell where the mouse is.

Prepositional phrases work as adjectives or adverbs to help give more information about the sentence. A prepositional phrase tells ''how,'' ''when,'' or ''where'' when it works as an adverb. When a prepositional phrase works as an adjective, it helps to describe what object is being discussed. For example:

• The team, with the blue stripes, won the game.
• The swings between the trees are fun to play on.

''With the blue stripes'' tells which team. ''Between the trees'' tells which swings. These are prepositional phrases that work as adjectives, since they describe the objects in the sentence.

Introductory Prepositional Phrases

An introductory prepositional phrase is a prepositional phrase that comes at the beginning of a sentence. It does not contain the subject of the sentence, so it can never stand alone. Instead, an introductory prepositional phrase is often followed by a comma. They give background to what's happening in the sentence, setting the stage for what's to come.

Introductory prepositional phrases start with prepositions, like the ones in this list:

• above
• within
• below
• inside
• near
• behind
• before
• up
• across
• beneath
• after
• on
• by
• along
• between
• against
• beyond
• over
• at
• toward
• outside
• under
• around
• in
• among
• through

An introductory prepositional phrase typically needs a comma when it contains more than four words.

Against his better judgment or logical reasoning, he played outside all afternoon instead of doing his homework.

The prepositional phrase, ''Against his better judgment or logical reasoning'' needs a comma, since it contains more than four words.

At home we eat ice cream for dessert.

The prepositional phrase, ''At home'' doesn't need a comma, since it is short and clear.

Examples of Introductory Prepositional Phrases

After they finish their homework, they played outside.

The introductory prepositional phrase in this sentence is: ''After they finish their homework'' It tells when the events of the sentence occurred.

Under the tree flowers bloom in spring.

The introductory prepositional phrase: ''Under the tree'' tells where the flowers are blooming.