Function of Prepositions

Functions of Prepositions

by Israel Rodriguez y Barbara Bermudez

First function: Adjuncts

An adjunct is a word or phrase ​that can be removed without making the sentence grammatically incorrect.

​

​Adjuncts are usually adverbs that modify a verb. When they are used this way, the adjunct will supplement the verb by indicating time, manner, place, reason, frequency or degree.

​Examples of Adjuncts

​

​ -Johnny went to work yesterday. (Time)

​- At night, I watched TV. (Time)

​- here the situation is very different. (Place)

-At the house, everything is so different. (Place)

​-Put the cup down carefully. (Manner)

​-She is here often. (Frequency)

​-Since its Friday, you can go out (Reason)

​-I'm not as rich as I'd like (Degree)

Multiple Choice

What is the adjunct describing in the following sentence:

"We were better off at the house."

• Manner

• Time

• Place

• Degree

• Frequency

​Second Function: Modifies nouns

​When a prepositional phrase is acting upon a noun, we can say it's behaving as an adjective. This is because adjectives modify nouns.

​Some of the prepositions that will usually start the prepositional phrase are: to, of, about, at, before, after, by, behind, during, for, from, in, over, under, and with.

​Example:

- The cat in the middle is the cutest.

​- I always wanted to live in the cabin by the lake.

- I always buy my milk from the convenience store on Main Street .

Open Ended

Write a sentence using a prepositional phrase to modify a noun.

​Direct object (En español)

​The direct object is the fragment in the sentence that receives the action of the verb. It will always be present in the predicate of the sentence. It can replace pronouns like La, Las, Lo, Los and always answer the question of Who or to who.

​Examples:

​-Llamé a mi mamá para su cumpleaños. / La llamé para su cumpleaños.

-Traje los libros para que repasemos. / Los traje para que repasemos.

​

​-Necesito una curita. / ¿Qué necesito? Una curita.

​-Trajimos hamburguesas. / ¿Qué trajimos? Hamburguesas.

Multiple Choice

The direct object always receives the action of the verb

• Correct

• False

​References

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Adjunct. (2011). The Merriam-Webster.Com Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjunct

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Traffis, C. (2017). What is a prepositional Phrase? Grammarly. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/prepositional-phrase/

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D. (2019, December 20). Objeto Directo. Ejemplos. https://www.ejemplos.co/objeto-directo/

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