2. A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a
noun phrase.
Prepositional phrases are common as post-nominal adjectivals
(i.e., following nouns), although they can also appear pre-nominally
(i.e., preceding nouns). It is easy to find examples of prepositional
phrases serving as post-nominal adjectivals: the book on the table, the
man in the moon, a play by Harold Pinter, the shop around the corner.
ADJECTIVAL PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASES
3. Pre-nominal prepositional phrases are less common, but do occur:
on-the-job training, an off-the-wall idea, the over-the-hill gang, an under-
the-table agreement, an off-the-charts hit.
Note that when pre-nominal prepositional phrases appear in
writing, they are typically hyphenated. This provides the reader with a
visual cue that the hyphenated phrase is to be interpreted as a single
unit, serving as a single adjectival modifying the following noun.
ADJECTIVAL PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASES
4. Note that not all post-nominal prepositional phrases are
adjectival. It is also possible for a prepositional phrase to function
as an adverbial, i.e., as a modifier of the verb.
Sentence example:
The police arrested a suspect on Thursday.
The prepositional phrase on Thursday follows immediately after the nominal a
suspect, yet it is not functioning adjectivally in this sentence.
ADJECTIVAL PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASES
5. There are several types of evidence for this. One is our intuition
about what on Thursday modifies: it tells when the suspect was
arrested. Since it tells us something about the verb, it is best
classified as an adverbial. Another test is to construct a passive
version of the sentence:
A suspect was arrested by the police on Thursday.
Sentence example:
The police arrested a suspect on Thursday.
6. Notice that the two underlined parts of the sentence, A suspect and on
Thursday, now occupy separate parts of the sentence. A suspect appears
in subject position, but on Thursday remains in the predicate. This is
further evidence that on Thursday is not a modifier of A suspect; if it
were, it would have moved along to subject position when we converted
the sentence to a passive. However, moving on Thursday into subject
position yields an ungrammatical sentence: *A suspect on Thursday was
arrested by the police.
Passive version of a sentence:
A suspect was arrested by the police on Thursday.
7. An adjectival prepositional phrase is diagrammed below
the noun that it modifies. The preposition is placed on a right-
slanting line, connected to its object on a horizontal line. For
example, the sentence We saw a revival of a play by George Bernard
Shaw. Note that this sentence contains two adjectival prepositional
phrases: of a play (which modifies revival) and by George Bernard Shaw
(which modifies play).
DIAGRAMMING ADJECTIVAL
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
8. Example: We saw a revival of a play by George Bernard Shaw.
DIAGRAMMING ADJECTIVAL
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
9. Exercises:
1. The police arrested a suspect in the robbery.
2. Marilyn found the key to the door.
3. Marilyn put the key in the door.
4. The voters elected a person.
5. Our neighbor down the street owns that car.
10. So far we have looked at three forms that can function as
adjectivals: adjectives, nouns, and prepositional phrases. In
this lesson, we will examine adjectivals based on various
forms.
ADJECTIVALS BASED ON VERB
FORMS
11. Participles
A participle is a verb carrying the past participle or present participle
inflection. The present participle verb in English is easy to identify, because it
always ends in –ing: moving, amusing, and so forth. These forms can appear as pre-
nominal adjectivals, in phrases such as a moving target and an amusing book, or they
can appear post-nominally, as in I find his jokes amusing, for example. They can
also appear in other adjectival slots such as subjective complement. Thus, in the
sentence John is annoying, annoying is a subjective complement that modifies John.
ADJECTIVALS BASED ON VERB
FORMS
12. Infinitives
The infinitive verb form consists of the infinitive marker to followed by an
uninflected verb form and any items that complement or modify the verb (e.g.,
a direct object).
Example: The best place to buy vegetables is the farmers’ market.
The phrase to buy vegetables is an infinitive phrase which, in turn functions
adjectively by modifying the noun place.
ADJECTIVALS BASED ON VERB
FORMS
13. Like other adjectivals, those based on verbs are diagrammed below the noun that they
modify. Beyond this similarity, though, participles and infinitives are each diagrammed
somewhat differently. A participle is placed on an angled line below the item that
modifies.
Example:
The badly shaken victim left the burning wreckage.
Note that this sentence contains two adjectival participles (shaken and burning). Also,
the adverb badly is attached to the item that it modifies, shaken.
DIAGRAMMING ADJECTIVALS
BASED ON VERBS
15. An infinitive is diagrammed with to on a slanted line (like a preposition), followed
by the infinitive verb form on a horizontal line (like the object of a preposition). For
example, A good place to eat is the Chinese restaurant at the mall.
Note that in this sentence, to eat is an adjectival infinitive phrase modifying place.
