English Grammar Drills - Mark Lester 2009
Adjectival prepositional phrases
4 Post-Noun Modifiers
Part 1 Noun Phrases
In this chapter we will examine two of the most important types of noun modifiers that follow the nouns that they modify: adjectival prepositional phrases and adjective clauses (also known as relative clauses). Here is an example of each of the types. The noun being modified is underlined, and the modifier is in italics:
Adjective prepositional phrase: The house on the corner belongs to the Smiths.
Adjective clause (relative clause): The house that is on the corner belongs to the Smiths.
Before we can talk about these modifiers, we need to introduce a new term: noun phrase. A noun phrase is a noun together with all of its modifiers, both pre-noun and post-noun. For example, look at the following sentence:
The tall young man in the yellow jacket is my cousin.
The noun man is modified by three pre-noun adjectives, the tall young, and the post-noun adjectival prepositional phrase in the yellow jacket. Together they all make up the noun phrase the tall young man in the yellow jacket. We can also represent the noun phrase this way:
There is one remarkable fact about noun phrases. They can always be identified by third- person pronoun replacement. In other words, a noun phrase is a group of words that can be replaced by a third-person pronoun. For example, we can replace our noun phrase with the third- person pronoun he:
There are four third-person pronouns. Here is the complete list in both subject and object form:
Subject form Object form
he him
she her
it it
they them
All noun phrases, no matter what role they play in a sentence and no matter what their internal structure is, can be replaced by one of the eight third-person pronouns listed above. Here is an example using each third-person pronoun:
He: A small boy who looked about five years old came into the room.
He came into the room.
She: My sister who goes to school here is getting her driver’s license.
She is getting her driver’s license.
It: The TV mounted in the back of the room suddenly went blank.
It suddenly went blank.
They: All of the employees at my company belong to unions.
They belong to unions.
Him: Did you see a tall man dressed in a black jacket?
Did you see him?
Her: Bring a menu for the young lady seated over there.
Bring a menu for her.
It: I didn’t get the last question on the exam.
I didn’t get it.
Them: Please ask all the people who are waiting in the hall to come in.
Please ask them to come in.
Exercise 4.1
Underline all the noun phrases (except ones that are just pronouns by themselves) in the following sentences. Show that your answer is correct by writing the appropriate third-person pronoun above the noun phrase that you have underlined.
1. They have commissioned a new statue of him.
2. You should send it to all the people who might be interested.
3. All of the presenters who have registered should arrive early.
4. I am trying to eat a lot more vegetables that are grown locally.
5. It is not easy to get ripe, locally produced organic apples.
6. The people who live there often have to commute long distances.
7. Did you ever get the documents that you requested?
8. Everyone is curious about the new employees who were just hired.
9. The building where I work is being remodeled.
10. The last telephone number that you gave me doesn’t work.
11. The new engine will burn any fuel that can be made into a liquid at room temperature.
12. The Harry Potter books, which have sold in the millions, have encouraged reading.
13. People who drive to work every day need to get parking permits from the office.
14. The new regulation has improved hospitals’ safety records.
15. He is a director whose movies have been very successful.
Adjectival prepositional phrases
Prepositional phrases always consist of a preposition plus its object. Objects of prepositions are nouns or pronouns (plus other more complex structures like gerunds and noun clauses that we will address later). For example:
Preposition Noun phrase object
to the office
under a big oak tree nearby
by Shakespeare
from all my friends
before next weekend
Preposition Pronoun object
with them
after it
over me
beyond her
between us
Adjectival prepositional phrases often give information about space or time. Here are some examples with the preposition in italics and the entire prepositional phrase underlined:
Space information
the house on the corner
the chair by the window
the window behind the desk
the floor above this one
the freeway to Seattle
Time information
the day after tomorrow
a week from Wednesday
some time during the week
the period between semesters
an hour from now
However, many other adjectival prepositional phrases express a wide range of meanings that fall outside of space and time. It is very difficult to classify these in any simple way. Here are some examples:
a book by Dickens
a book about Dickens
a man with a baseball cap
the causes of depression
everybody except me
Exercise 4.2
Underline the adjectival prepositional phrases in the following sentences. Above each prepositional phrase write space, time, or other as appropriate to the meaning.
1. The mood at work has not been very good during this difficult period.
2. The severe flooding over the weekend has increased the risk of infection.
3. The senator from California expressed her concern about the problem.
4. A reporter in China broke the story about the peace talks.
5. The door in the dining room really needs a new coat of paint.
6. They had a big victory despite all the odds.
7. A new painting by the English painter Turner has just been discovered.
8. I had no illusions about my chances.
9. The witness to the crime refused to testify.
10. We couldn’t understand his motive for lying.
11. The rim of the cup was chipped.
12. It was no time for indecision.
13. The waiting period in the clinic is nearly an hour.
14. It seemed like we visited every old church in the city.
15. The period just after sunset is the most dangerous time to drive.
It is not very difficult to recognize prepositional phrases. It is more difficult to figure out whether they are adjectival (noun modifiers) or adverbial (modifiers of verbs and other adverbs). Adjectival and adverbial prepositional phrases look exactly alike. For example, compare the prepositional phrase with friends in the following sentences:
We had a nice dinner last night with friends.
A nice dinner with friends is always a great pleasure.
In the first sentence, with friends is adverbial, but in the second sentence, with friends is adjectival, modifying the noun dinner. The only way to reliably identify adjectival prepositional phrases is by testing the prepositional phrase by third-person pronoun substitution. When a prepositional phrase (along with the noun) can be replaced by a third-person pronoun, that phrase must be a noun modifier. Likewise, when a prepositional phrase cannot be replaced by a third-person pronoun, that prepositional phrase is adverbial. Here is the third-person pronoun replacement test applied to the two example sentences given above:
As you can see, the third-person pronoun substitution test shows that the prepositional phrase is not adjectival in the first sentence because it is outside the boundaries of the third-person pronoun substitution. In the second sentence, however, the the third-person pronoun it can be substituted for the noun and prepositional phrase, proving the prepositional phrase is part of the noun phrase and thus a noun modifier.
Exercise 4.3
Underline all the prepositional phrases in the following sentences. Above each prepositional phrase write Adj if it is adjectival or Adv if it is adverbial. If it is adjectival, confirm your answer by using the third-person pronoun substitution test.
1. The road by our house is being paved.
2. The frozen chickens in the supermarket are not very good.
3. Breakfast will be served in the main dining room.
4. Their discovery of an error has caused the company to restate its earnings.
5. A restaurant in our neighborhood serves really good Chinese food.
6. After much debate, we decided to consult a specialist in toxic waste removal.
7. We finally found the book we wanted online.
8. The star of the show was a young singer from Australia.
9. Ignorance of the law is not a valid defense in court.
10. Visitors from China are always welcome in our company.
11. The floor in the cabin was rough, unfinished wood.
12. The popularity of his book was a big factor.
13. During the night, there was a fire that caused some damage.
14. He has the heart of a lion and the brain of a jellyfish.
15. At lunchtime, I bought a new coat at the mall.