The structure of the English sentence

by Lillian Kimball Stewart

CHAPTER XXIII

THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

Function.—No other sentence-element is more frequently employed or more useful for the precise expression of thought than the prepositional phrase. By its aid we can define exactly the scope of a noun, a verb, or an adjective. This is due not to the great number of prepositions in the English language, for there are not a hundred in all, but to the many different relations that may be denoted by one preposition. A striking illustration of this is found in the following sentence:

“One of the useful and grateful tasks of historians and biographers is to bring forward to the eye of every new generation of men and women those illustrious characters who made a great figure in the days of their grandfathers and grandmothers, yet who have nearly faded out of sight in the rush of new events and interests, and the rise of new stars in the intellectual firmament.”—Lord.

Here we find the preposition of used eight times and expressing almost as many different relations. The first of-phrase, of the useful and grateful tasks of historians and biographers, serves to point out the whole group or class of things from which the one thing talked about is selected. The second phrase, of historians and biographers, limits tasks by telling who performed these tasks. The third phrase of every new generation of men and women, limits eyes by telling whose eyes are meant. The fourth phrase, of men and women, limits the application of the noun generation to human beings only, and brings in the nouns men and women to serve as antecedents of the pronoun their later in the sentence. The fifth phrase, of their grandfathers and grandmothers, specifies what days by locating them in the past. The sixth phrase out of sight, has the preposition of reinforced by out so that the two words are equivalent to from, and thus the phrase denotes not only place but movement away from it. The seventh phrase, of new events and interests, and the eighth, of new stars, are alike in function; they tell what things rush and rise.

Every one of these phrases except out of sight modifies a noun; but just as often a phrase introduced by of modifies a verb or an adjective. As soon as we hear the adjectives capable, full, glad, jealous, proud, rid, sure, weary, do we not expect an answer to the question, capable of what? full of what? glad of what? etc. And do we not usually find such verbs as borrow, buy, complain, cure, make, smell, speak, taste, tell, think, warn, followed by an of-phrase?

What is true of the extensive use of of is no less true of other prepositions,—at, by, from, in, on, to, with; while there are some whose use is much more limited,—across, after, before, up, toward.

The Prepositional Phrase used Adjectively.—We say of prepositional phrases that they are adjective or adverbial, according to what they modify—nouns, verbs, or adjectives. We have seen from the sentence quoted how freely the prepositional phrase may be joined to a noun, and how many different relations it may express. Let us see now what sentence-elements this adjective prepositional phrase takes the place of.

In the following sentence from Geikie,—“The stay of Jesus in Capernaum at this time was very short,” the phrase of Jesus takes the place of the possessive noun Jesus’s. It is better than the possessive here, not so much because this particular possessive is an awkward form as because stay is the more important word and should have the prominent place at the beginning of the sentence.

In Higginson’s sentence,—“Yet he has found readers at all periods alike among men of thought and men of action,” the phrases of thought and of action take the place of the adjectives thinking and active. But the adjectives, preceding their nouns, seem less important than the nouns; while the phrases, coming after the nouns, imply that the contrasted words thought and action contain the more important ideas.

In Boyesen’s sentence,—“According to Norwegian law at that time, every son of a king was entitled to his share of the kingdom,” the phrase at that time is a substitute for the clause, which was operative at that time; but it is preferable, not only for brevity, but because it makes the modifier less prominent,—it is not forced upon the reader’s attention as it would be by a subject and predicate.

We may well repeat here what was said in one of our first chapters, that several different elements may be exact equivalents before they are in a sentence, but as soon as we desire to make use of one of them for the communication of thought, they are not equivalent—one of them will almost invariably serve our turn better than the other. Thinking men, men of thought, men who think are identical in meaning, but in a sentence the special setting of these expressions, the accompanying ideas, will determine which most clearly and precisely conveys our meaning and should therefore be used.

Besides modifying a noun, the adjective prepositional phrase may complete an intransitive verb; as, “My march was of long duration.”—Audubon. “All these writers are of a revolutionary cast.”—De Quincey. “All the floors in Venice are of stone.”—Howells. In sentences like these the phrase denotes an attribute of the subject. It is usually employed because there is no adjective that expresses so well the precise meaning.

The adjective long, if used in the first sentence quoted, would imply that the march was long in space, in miles traversed, but the phrase means only that it consumed much time.

The adjective revolutionary, if used in the second sentence, might be interpreted to mean that the writers belong to a revolutionary period, or that they are decidedly in favor of revolution; but the phrase means only that they have a leaning toward revolutionary ideas.

In the third sentence the noun stone used adjectively would be to the general reader an exact equivalent of the phrase of stone.

Note.—Occasionally we find a prepositional phrase completing a verb and seeming more like a noun complement than an adjective; as, “A common means of transportation was in clumsy carts drawn by oxen going at the most but three or four miles an hour.”—Draper.

The Prepositional Phrase used Adverbially.—The prepositional phrase often modifies a verb or an adjective, and may modify an adverb. As a verb modifier it may denote the various relations denoted by clauses, though place, time, and manner are the most common; as, “They come in the summer months by hundreds and hundreds of thousands out of the cold gray sea.”—Kipling. Here we have three phrases modifying come, introduced by in, by, and out of, and denoting respectively time, manner, and place.

The prepositional phrase of place tells,—(a) where an action occurs or a condition exists; as, “Herring appear in immense schools off the coast of Norway and the northern shores of the British Isles”; (b) whence an action proceeds; (c) whither an action tends. Both of these last we find in the sentence,—

“From underneath an aged oak,

That slanted from an islet rock,

A little skiff shot to the bay.”—Scott.

The prepositional phrase of time may denote almost all the relations denoted by the adverbial clause of time, and several of the words used as conjunctions to introduce those clauses, such as after, before, since, till, were originally prepositions and are still employed as such.

The prepositional phrase of manner is found quite as often as the adverb of manner; for example, “He had fired with great rapidity yet with surprising accuracy.” If adverbs had been used here the sentence would read, “He had fired very rapidly yet surprisingly accurately.” The combination of the last two adverbs is exceedingly awkward.

When a prepositional phrase modifies an adjective it generally serves to limit its application by denoting the particular respect in which its meaning is to be considered; thus, “Our fathers emerged from their arduous, protracted, desolating Revolutionary struggle, rich indeed in hope, but poor in worldly goods.”—Greeley. Here the phrases tell in what particular our fathers were rich and poor.

Note.—The prepositional phrase may modify the interjection alas, which is equivalent to the assertion I am sorry; thus, “One may believe that the golden age is behind us or before us, but alas for the forlorn wisdom of him who rejects it altogether.”—Higginson.

The Prepositional Phrase used Substantively.—We often find a prepositional phrase used as the object of a preposition. This gives rise to a succession of two prepositions like from among, from beneath, until within, till after. Some grammarians treat these as one compound preposition, but it seems to us best to consider them separately.

In the following sentence from Bolles,—“The river came from between abrupt, rocky walls,” the phrase between abrupt, rocky walls denotes a place that no noun in the language names, hence the phrase is employed to name the place, and as such a name it is the object of the preposition from.

It is very common for the preposition except or but (meaning except) to be followed by a prepositional phrase used as its object; thus, “Nobody comes to Novastoshnah except on business.”—Kipling. “No great art ever yet rose on earth but among a nation of soldiers.”—Ruskin. A phrase of this sort is usually preceded by some negative expression, and is necessary to the truth of the sentence, as it brings in a reservation or exception to some sweeping negative statement.

The Prepositional Phrase in an Absolute Phrase.—The prepositional phrase, as we saw in Chapter XXI., is sometimes used with a noun to form an absolute phrase. It is not then an ordinary adjective modifier of the noun, but is more like a predicated attribute, the verb being omitted. It may be called an appositive modifier of the noun; for example,

“’Tis written that the serving angels stand

Beside God’s throne, ten myriads on each hand.”

—E. Arnold.

The participle is omitted from the absolute phrase in such a sentence because it can readily be supplied by the reader from the verb in the predicate. It is always mentally supplied for the interpretation of the sentence, but it need not be supplied for its analysis.

Object of a Preposition.—The word or group of words that is brought into relation to some other word by a preposition is called the object of the preposition. It is always a substantive, but not always a noun or pronoun. Some of the common substitutes for the noun are the gerund, the prepositional phrase, and the noun clause. The prepositional phrase in this use we have just discussed. The gerund and the noun clause were discussed in Chapters XXII. and VII. respectively.

All of the above are regular constructions, but there are a few peculiar stereotyped phrases in the language, made up of a preposition and an adjective or adverb; as, from far, at all, at once, at the best. It is wiser in such a case not to separate the phrase into any component parts, but to think of it and treat it as if it were one word.

Sometimes a preposition is associated with a verb or verbal in such a way as not to require an object. Such a construction is usually passive or infinitive; for example, “I was going to say something about our boarders the other day, when I got run away with by my local reminiscences.”—Holmes. “Those who are still in a state to require being taken care of by others must be protected against their own actions as well as against external injury.”—Mill. “One child in a household of grown people is usually made very much of, and in a quiet way I was a good deal taken notice of by Mrs. Bretton.”—Brontë.

Prepositions so used may sometimes be considered as adverbs, as in the expressions, money to do with, firesides to sit at; but oftener it is impossible to separate them from the verb-phrase or verbal-phrase of which they form a part. They help to express the one notion denoted by a whole group of words and have not the function of any part of speech.

Peculiar Prepositions.—Some words originally participles have a use so much resembling that of prepositions that they are no longer thought of as verbals, but have come to be considered prepositions. Some of these are regarding, concerning, during, excepting; as, “Our judgments concerning the worth of things, big or little, depend on the feelings the things arouse in us.”—Wm. James.

Some combinations of words, like as to, out of, instead of, according to, owing to, are now regarded as single prepositions. They express a single relation, and often one word may be substituted for them; as, “You drive a gambler out of the gambling room who loads dice.”—Ruskin. “The Prince of Orange had not been consulted as to the formation of the league.”—Motley.

Is “Like” a Preposition?—It is not uncommon to find both verbs and nouns taking as an adjunct a phrase introduced by like; for example,

“That hand was cold, a frozen thing,—it dropped from his like lead.”—Mrs. Hemans.

“Now and then he would see a thin fin, like a big shark’s fin, drifting along close to shore.”—Kipling.

In such a phrase there is always a substantive, and if this is changed to a personal pronoun we find that it is in the objective case; for example, “A writer is so like a lover.”—Holmes. Substituting a pronoun for lover we find that usage calls for the objective form him. Does this prove that like is a preposition and him its object?

There is authority in dictionaries and grammars for calling like a preposition, and this is certainly both simple and convenient; but sometimes it leads us into difficulties. In the sentence,—“He walks more like a soldier than a priest,” shall we say that the preposition like is compared? In the sentence,—“It is very like a whale,” shall we say that the preposition like is modified by the adverb very, a word that we expect to modify only adjectives and adverbs? In the sentence,—“Like to an angel of peace she seemed that day,” how shall we dispose of to if we call like a preposition governing angel?

If we go back to the writings of Milton and Shakespeare, we find the words liker and likest, showing plainly that in their time like was looked upon as an adjective or adverb. We often find, too, the preposition to or unto expressed after like. It is best, therefore, to dispose of like as an adjective, meaning similar, when it introduces a phrase modifying a noun or completing a verb; and as an adverb, when the phrase modifies a verb. It will then be necessary to supply the preposition to or unto.

Words whose use much resembles that of like are near and its comparative and superlative forms, nearer, nearest and next; as, “Near the foot of the walls there are magnificent groves of live oaks and pines.”—Muir.

In this sentence we consider near an adverb, modified by a phrase introduced by to understood. Indeed, the preposition is very often expressed; for example, “It was next to impossible for a peasant or artisan or even a merchant to pass that line.”—Lord.

A construction similar to this is found in the sentence, “To be the supreme authority in anything is a satisfaction to self-love next door to the precious delusions of dementia.”—Holmes. Here next door takes the place of next. It should be treated as one adjective element modifying satisfaction and itself modified by the adverbial propositional phrase following it.

The Prepositional Phrase modified.—We sometimes find a prepositional phrase accompanied by an adverb or by a noun used adverbially, as a sort of measure; thus, “Before his father and mother died, they had built, some way from their palace, a very beautiful temple.”—Old Deccan Days. In this sentence the verb built is modified by the phrase some way from their palace, the base of this being the prepositional phrase from their palace; this phrase is modified by some way, a noun element used adverbially to answer the question how far from their palace?

In this sentence from John Lord,—“Why did no great scholars arise, even in the church?” the adverb even modifying the phrase in the church has a very important office. Its presence in the sentence entirely changes the meaning. Without even, the sentence would tell us that no great scholars arose in one place, the church; but with even the sentence tells us that no great scholars arose anywhere, and that it was very strange that they did not arise in the church, where we should naturally expect to find them.

Two prepositional phrases joined by and are often each modified by the adverb partly, or even by the pronoun what used adverbially. What may also modify one prepositional phrase; thus, “What with teaching others and studying closely myself, I had hardly a spare moment.”

The Preposition modified.—So many prepositions were originally adverbs or may be used as adverbs, that it is not strange to find them taking adverbial modifiers. Hence we frequently meet such a succession of words as ever since, just outside, right over; as, “A horticulturist of eminence wanted me to sow lines of strawberries and raspberries right over where I had put my potatoes in drills.”—Warner.

Position of the Preposition.—The word preposition, meaning placed before, implies that this part of speech precedes its object, but this it not always the case. It is not uncommon in poetry to find the phrase inverted; for example,

“Pleasant it was when woods were green,

And winds were soft and low,

To lie amid some sylvan scene,

Where, the long drooping boughs between,

Shadows dark and sunlight sheen

Alternate come and go.”—Longfellow.

We find the transposition, too, in the familiar expressions the year round, the night through, the world over; as, “The evergreens can keep a secret the year round, some one has said.”—Burroughs.

The Prepositional Phrase as an Abridgment of a Proposition.—In the chapter on the adverbial clause of degree we found that the clause as expressed frequently consists only of the conjunction and a prepositional phrase; as, “The force of the wind had never been greater than at this moment.” We cannot give a satisfactory analysis of such a sentence without supplying after than the subject it and the verb was. It is best also to supply where a clause of manner has been abridged; as, “The scene changed as at a theatre.”

But there are sentences in which propositions have been abridged to prepositional phrases and no ellipsis can be supplied; for example, “In manner he was quiet and gentlemanlike, with the natural courtesy of high breeding.”—Froude. In this sentence the phrase is equivalent to an independent proposition joined to the first proposition by the conjunction and,—“and he had the natural courtesy of high breeding.” Such a phrase may be described as an accompaniment of the predicate rather than a modifier of any word in it.

Exercise 28

Dispose of all prepositional phrases in the following sentences.

1. One object of the celebration was to obtain the means of raising a monument to Clive in his native country.—McCarthy.

2. Next to deciding when to start your garden, the most important matter is, what to put in it.—Warner.

3. The monument is clearly right as to the year of his death.—Lowell.

4. It ran north from Jerusalem, past Bethel, between the height of Libana on the left hand, and of Shiloh on the right, entering Samaria at the south end of the beautiful valley, which further north stretches past the foot of Mounts Gerizim and Ebal.—Geikie.

5. The last time he had seen her was at a brother mason’s marriage.—Dr. John Brown.

6. Hendry slowly pulled out his boots from beneath the table.—Barrie.

7. At that time he used to preach in a little church something like a barn.—George Eliot.

8. Just outside this room Sylvia met with a little adventure.—M. A. H. Clarke.

9. Moreover, he found that the parrots, instead of being an expense, were the means of increasing his fortune.—Old Deccan Days.

10. Indeed, but for the discovery of the capacities of the chrysanthemum, modern life would have experienced a fatal hitch in its development.—Warner.

11. Their wives never came to the island until late in May or early in June.—Kipling.

12. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew.—Irving.

13. We cannot transform the world except very slowly.—Higginson.

14. It was near the close of a bright summer afternoon that I visited this celebrated spot for the first time.—Longfellow.

15. No well-endowed clergy were on the alert to quit their cathedrals and set up a pompous hierarchy in the frozen wilderness.—Everett.

16. Mowgli repeated with the Kite’s whistle at the end of the sentence.—Kipling.

17. We are continually assuming that nations become strong according to their numbers.—Ruskin.

18. Owing to circumstances over which he had had entire control, the Colonel’s reputation—either as a promoter or as anything else—was of a sort that no longer could be trifled with.—Janvier.

19. Now, notwithstanding this state of his own feelings, he had never made a declaration in so many words to Miss Wilkins.—R. M. Johnston.

20. She was seated across a donkey between a pair of glittering milk-cans; and, as she went, she kicked jauntily with her heels upon the donkey’s side, and scattered shrill remarks among the wayfarers.—Stevenson.

21. He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail, but quite like a weasel in his head and his habits.—Kipling.

22. The critical moment of the day as regards the weather is at sunrise and sunset.—Burroughs.

23. I am going to take it for granted now and henceforth.—Holmes.

24. His spare frame shook, and his knees knocked against each other as in an ague fit.—R. H. Dana, Sr.

25.

Who of this crowd tonight shall tread

The dance till daylight gleam again?—Bryant.

26. Longfellow was exquisitely sensitive to the beautiful.

27. It cannot be brought from far.—Webster.

28. Nay, the hunger and the cold and the whistling bullets have brought pleasant messages to many a man before now.—Ruskin.

29. From this time forth he is an outlaw, hunted over field and fell, and roaming with untold sufferings through the mountains and wilderness.—Boyesen.

30. Just at that moment the moon shone out from behind a cloud.—Old Deccan Days.

31. She was dressed in plain dull black, save for a sort of dark blue kerchief which was folded across her bosom.—H. James.

32. Until very lately, the promenaders in the Piazza were exclusively foreigners, or else the families of such government officials as were obliged to show themselves there.—Howells.

33. Just then he heard the black steed panting and blowing close behind him.—Irving.

34. And people remembered her mother, how silent she had been, and how patient, and how like to what Mona was, and they said now, as they had said long ago, “She’s going down the steep places.”—Caine.

35. The causes of this change lie partly in the altered character of the whole world’s civilization, partly in the increasing poverty of the city.—Howells.