Delahunty and Garvey
Exercise
- Here are several prepositional phrases. For each, identify its head P
and NP complement/object:
a. on the ropes
b. under the boardwalk
c. on a slippery slope
d. around midnight
e. beyond the horizon - In the sentences below, draw brackets around the prepositional
phrases. Circle each preposition and underline its NP object. Be sure to
note where PPs contain other (embedded) PPs. Can prepositions take
objects that are not NPs?
a. I put the dynamite in a safe place.
b. In Warden’s house, smoking is not allowed.
c. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
d. Hilda peeked from behind a tree.
e. After all of his warnings about the dangers of cigarettes, Benjy
consumed a cut of meat with a huge amount of cholesterol.
f. Oscar resigned in the face of increasing evidence of his associa-
tion with disreputable companies. - Using the movement test, show that the italicized sequences are
phrases:
a. In times of danger, everyone must rally behind the leader.
b. At the end of the day, he is always very tired.
c. It is easy to identify phrases with examples like these. - From the discussion above, identify the ideas that show how a prepo-
sition is the head of its phrase. Consider also how the following sen-
tences add further support for this claim:
a. Sheila hit the ball almost into the parking lot.
b. Werner spilled oil all over his new jacket.
Try to think of other sentences similar to these. How do they call for a
revision of our formal and functional formulas for PPs?
Prepositions are often simply characterized as linking words, and this
is an accurate characterization as far as it goes. However, we’d like to have
a more complete concept of how they work. Typically prepositions have