Transcript File

Warm-ups
Prepositional Phrases
Get out a sheet of paper and write Prepositional
Phrases at the top. Then, copy this information:
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A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a
noun to some other word in the sentence.
Prepositional phrases start with a preposition and end with
the object of the preposition.
•
EX: The silverware is inside the cabinet.
Common Prepositions:
about
above
across
after
around
before
behind
below
during
for
from
in
of
over
through
to
under
until
unto
with
Use your highlighter or pencil to mark all of the
prepositions in the paragraph I gave you. There are 25.
Copy this information:
When a sentence’s length and complexity make
it hard to understand, it can help to eliminate the
prepositional phrases. Try it with the sentences below.
Scratch out the prepositional phrases first. Then,
scratch out words that don’t name, but describe
(adjectives & adverbs).
My enormous brown dog hides under the kitchen table
during Florida’s hurricane season because he is afraid
of thunder and lightning.
Her ladyship Calypso clung to him in her seahollowed caves – a nymph, immortal and most
beautiful, who craved him for her own.
My home is on the peaked sea-mark of Ithaca
under Mount Neion’s wind-blown robe of
leaves, in sight of other islands – Dulichium,
Same, wooded Zacynthus – Ithaca being most
lofty in that coastal sea, and northwest, while
the rest lie east and south.
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the
wanderer, harried for years on end, after he
plundered the stronghold on the proud height of
Troy.
Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and
war; this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim.
Copy this information:
Prepositional phrases expand your sentences by adding
details. They modify nouns & verbs.
Expand the following sentences by adding at least 2
prepositional phrases to each one.
1. The candle flame flickers.
2. I have used a shovel many times.
3. The woman was buying cat food.
Challenge: Expand the following sentence by adding as
many prepositional phrases as possible.
4. The farmers drove their tractors.
Copy this information:
If you begin a sentence with 2+ prepositional phrases or 1 really
long prepositional phrase, put a comma after the final phrase.
EX:
On the extremely steep and rocky cliff, the
mountain climbers carefully found their footholds.
If you begin a sentence with a short prepositional phrase, ONLY
put a comma if the sentence would be misread without it.
EX:
To those outside, the house appeared deserted.
Do not use a comma if the prepositional phrase is immediately
followed by a verb.
EX:
On the stone above the front door of the building
was the date.
Practice. If the sentence needs a comma, write the
two words that would surround the comma. If no
comma is needed, write no comma.
1. Among contemporary architects throughout the
world Pei’s name is unquestionably one of the best
known and most respected.
2. After a series of problems with the John Hancock
Tower in Boston Pei’s firm lost some business.
3. For a resort hotel in mainland China Pei created a
design that pleased everyone.
4. Among Pei’s most successful designs are the East
Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington,
D.C., and the pyramid entrance to the Louvre in
Paris.
5. About 9,000 years ago in the Middle East around the
Jordan River valley both plants and animals were
domesticated.
Quiz
Directions:
1. Get out a ½ sheet of paper.
2. Put your name on it.
3. Number 1-5. (You may want to skip
lines.)
Quiz