Meaning & use
phrasal preposition
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A preposition made of two or more words that work together as one, such as 'in front of' or 'because of'.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a phrasal preposition' or 'phrasal prepositions'. It behaves like a single preposition before a noun.
Patterns
- phrasal preposition + noun
- phrasal preposition + -ing form
'In front of' is a phrasal preposition, so we say 'in front of the house', not 'in the front of the house' for this meaning.
Learners often forget that a phrasal preposition takes the same object as a one-word preposition: 'because of the rain', 'despite the rain'.
nouncountabletechnical
In some grammars, a verb together with the particle it combines with, as in 'look after' or 'put up with'.
Grammar: Countable and technical; most modern learner books call this a phrasal verb instead.
Patterns
- phrasal preposition + object
Older grammar books sometimes label 'look after' a phrasal preposition because the whole unit is followed by an object.
If your teacher says 'phrasal preposition', check whether they mean a multi-word preposition or a phrasal verb.
Word forms
| plural | phrasal prepositions |
|---|
Common combinations
- a phrasal preposition like 'in front of'
- Write three sentences using a phrasal preposition like 'in front of'.
- multi-word preposition
- 'On top of' is a multi-word preposition, also called a phrasal preposition.
- phrasal preposition + noun phrase
- A phrasal preposition is followed by a noun phrase: 'next to the bank'.
- identify the phrasal preposition
- In the sentence 'She sat in front of me', can you identify the phrasal preposition?
Synonyms and how they differ
- compound preposition
- The more usual technical term for the same idea; 'phrasal preposition' is used in some British school grammars.
- multi-word preposition
- A plain descriptive term that avoids the confusion with phrasal verbs.
Word family
- preposition noun
- A word such as 'in', 'on' or 'of' that shows a relation between things.
- prepositional phrase noun
- A preposition plus its object, e.g. 'under the table'.
- phrasal verb noun
- A verb plus a particle, e.g. 'give up', with a meaning of its own.
Commonly confused: phrasal preposition or phrasal verb? phrasal preposition or prepositional phrase?
phrasal preposition vs phrasal verb
A phrasal verb is a verb plus a particle ('turn down the music'); a phrasal preposition is a preposition made of several words ('in front of').
phrasal preposition vs prepositional phrase
A prepositional phrase includes the preposition and its object; a phrasal preposition is only the preposition part itself.
Practice
Which of these is a phrasal preposition?
Choose one answer.
'In front of' is made of several words that act as one preposition before a noun. 'Give up' is a phrasal verb, 'quickly' is an adverb, and 'the big house' is a noun phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “phrasal preposition”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.