Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences
Common Sentence Errors
The most common phrase is the prepositional phrase. You'll find these phrases everywhere—in sentences, clauses, and even in other phrases. Each prepositional phrase begins with a preposition (in, of, by, from, for, etc.) and includes a noun or pronoun that is the object of the preposition.
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in the room
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of the people
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by the river
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from the teacher
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for the party
The object of a preposition can have its own modifiers, which also are part of the prepositional phrase.
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in the smoky, crowded room
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of the remaining few people
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by the rushing river
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from the tired and frustrated teacher
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for the midnight victory party
Prepositional phrases function as either adjectives or adverbs.
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The woman in the trench coat pulled out her cellular phone.
The prepositional phrase here acts as an adjective describing the noun woman.
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Most of the audience snoozed during the tedious performance.
The prepositional phrase here acts as an adverb modifying the verb snoozed.
