English Grammar for ESL learners

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

Set phrases or groups of words, introduced by a preposition.

Prepositional phrases are set phrases or groups of words introduced by a preposition.

Prepositional phrases usually act just like an adjective or adverb, i.e. they provide more information.
For example, if a girl is 'in tears', 'in' is a preposition and 'tears' is the object of the preposition.
The two words together form a prepositional phrase which gives more information about the girl.

Below are some examples of commonly-used propositional phrases with their meaning and a sentence showing how they are used.

Preposition	Prepositional phrase	Meaning	Example
AT	At an advantage	In a favourable position that makes success more likely	Sophie's computer skills puts her at an advantage.
	At a disadvantage	In an unfavourable position that reduces the chances of success	Without computer skills Eva is at a disadvantage.
	At any rate	anyway; anyhow	Nobody knew much about the problem. At any rate Tom didn't.
	At most	At the maximum	It will cost you 50€ at the most.
	At the latest	No later than	The boss wants the report by Friday at the latest.
	At risk	In danger	The house is at risk if the river overflows.
	At short notice	A short time beforehand	I can't change the arrangements at (such) short notice.
BY	By accident	Unintentionally; by chance	I found my ring by accident when tidying the wardrobe.
	By all accounts	According to what people say	I've made enquiries, and by all accounts this is the best hotel in the area.
	By all means	Of course; certainly	If you'd like a copy you may have one by all means.
	By appointment	You must arrange a time beforehand	In the off-season you can visit the castle by appointment.
	By chance	Unintentionally; without plan or intent	He met her by chance in a bookshop.
	By hand	By a person, not a machine	The dresses and jackets are embroidered by hand.
	By heart	By memorisation	At school we had to learn multiplication tables by heart.
	By invitation (only)	Only possible if you receive an invitation.	It's strictly private. Membership is by invitation only.
	By law	A rule that is legally imposed.	Restaurants are required by law to display their prices outside.
	By mistake	Not deliberately; in error.	The letter was sent by mistake to the wrong address.
	By nature	Inborn or hereditary characteristics	She is optimistic by nature. She always sees the bright side of things.
	By no means	Not at all	It is by no means easy to adapt to a new country.
	By now	Before this moment	Dad's getting worried. Lucy should be home by now.
FOR	For ages	For a long time	I haven't been downtown for ages!
	For a change	To do something different	Let's go hiking for a change.
	For the sake of	For the purpose of; in the interest of	They stayed together for the sake of their children.
	For instance	To give an example	John works late. For instance, yesterday he left the office at 9 pm.
	For now	Until a later time	That's all the information we have for now.
	For sale/rent/hire	Something offered to people to buy/rent/hire ...	That red car is for sale.
	For better or worse	Whatever the consequences	Anyway, I accepted the job, for better or worse.
IN	In brief	In a few words	Well, in brief, the family get-together was a disaster!
	In detail	Thoroughly; item by item;	He described in detail how the accident happened.
	In difficulty	Having problems	Don't hesitate to call if you find yourself in difficulty.
	In disguise	Wearing a disguise; wearing something that makes you look like something else	Two men in disguise attacked the bank in broad daylight.
	In exchange for	Giving one thing and receiving another in return.	The boy mows the lawn in exchange for his pocket money.
	In fact	Expression used to emphasise the truth of something said.	I don't mind walking. In fact I'm a keen walker.
	In moderation	Without excess; within reasonable limits.	I don't diet; I just eat and drink in moderation.
	In no time	Very quickly.	If we walk faster we'll get there in no time.
	In pain	Suffering physically	The injured soldier was obviously in pain.
	In private	Without the presence of other people	I'd like to speak to you in private.
	In return	To compensate for what you receive.	He helps with the garden and my mother gives him vegetables in return.
	In secret	Without others knowing	Laura told me in secret that she had found a new job.
	In tears	Crying	The child fell and came home in tears.
	In the air	A feeling that something is happening	There was panic in the air immediately after the blast.
	In the end	Finally; on reflection	In the end he acknowledged his error.
	In the meantime	Meanwhile; during the time before something happens.	Tom''s computer will be repaired tomorrow. In the meantime he can use mine.
	In person	Actually present	The actor will be there in person to receive the prize.
	In stock	Available for sale or use.	When an article is in stock, it is available in the store or warehouse for purchase now.
UNDER	Under age	Legally too young to do something	In this country children under 18 are under age. They cannot vote.
	Under consideration	Being discussed or thought about at the moment	The boss said that her proposal was under consideration.
	Under control	Being handled or managed successfully.	There were some violent protests but the situation is now under control.
	Under discussion	Being currently discussed	A new wage agreement is under discussion.
	Under guarantee	If something goes wrong it will be repaired or replaced.	Our refrigerator is under guarantee until the end of the year.
	Under obligation	A moral or legal requirement to do something.	The customer is under no obligation to accept the offer.
	Under suspicion	Be suspected; be possibly guilty of something	A senior member is under suspicion of fraud.
	Under way	Has already started; is in operation	Work on the new road is under way.

See also: Prepositions

Try these online exercises

at-on-in

at-for-from-in-
into-of-with

into-onto-off-over-up

more exercises

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