Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional phrases (PP) are interesting structures because they are so versa-
tile. They can function as indirect objects, and they also can function as adver-
bial modifiers and as adjectival modifiers. As adverbials, they can function as
sentence-level modifiers, which means that they can modify an entire clause. In
chapter 3, we discussed phrasal modifiers and noted that the prepositional
phrase is one of the major types. As indicated in that discussion, prepositional
phrases can appear in the initial, medial, or final positions. When they appear in
the initial positions, prepositional phrases are sentence-level modifiers. Sen-
tences 11 through 15 illustrate the various positions and forms that preposi-
tional phrases can take:
- The goons put yellow flowers on the table. (adverbial)
- Macarena, with a smile, accepted the invitation. (adverbial)
- The woman with the red hair drives a Porsche. (adjectival)
- In the morning, Buggsy went home. (sentence level, adverbial)
In addition, prepositional phrases can function as complements to certain
kinds of verbs, as in sentence 15:
- Fred stepped onto the stool. (verb complement, adverbial)
Usage NoteBefore the advent of printing, handwritten books were valued as much as
works of art as storehouses of information. They were beautifully illustrated,
and the monks who produced them took great pride in the quality of their callig-
raphy. Anyone who views some of these books in a museum will notice that the
calligraphy is so uniform as to rival mechanical printing. As literacy spread and
became more utilitarian during the 15thand 16thcenturies, there arose a demand
for more readable and less expensive works. Punctuation emerged as a means
of making books more readable, as did a significant reduction in the amount of
artwork. Paragraphs, which were unknown in the ancient world, also became a
means of helping readers process texts.
The lesson we learn from this brief discussion is that punctuation is
largely a matter of convention rather than of rule. Indeed, different conven-
tions govern punctuation in several contexts. Journalists, for example, fol-
low the Associated Press convention when using commas with items in a
series and do not put a comma before the conjunction joining the last item;
PHRASE STRUCTURE GRAMMAR 113