Prepositional phrase

A prepositional phrase , abbreviated PP , also called a prepositional compound or prepositional group , is a phrase in grammar (closed word group) whose head is a preposition . According to the types of supplements that appear with the preposition, three types can be distinguished, with the first type being by far the most common:

Preposition + noun phrase

In these combinations, prepositions can rule the genitive, dative or accusative in their complement.

Genitiv:   wegen des starken Regens
Dativ:     hinter dem großen Schrank, seit einer Stunde
Akkusativ: ohne einen einzigen Fehler

Preposition + adverb

vor morgen
seit damals

Preposition + prepositional phrase

von unter dem Sofa

Prepositions can also be modified with an adverb or adjective :

über der Türe / schräg über der Türe

Prepositional phrases are part of verb phrases (VP) and noun phrases (NP) . Prepositional phrases that are dependent on verbs or nouns can sometimes have properties that make the preposition appear similar in status to a case marker. The use of prepositional constructions in the Romance languages , for example, led to the determination of a grammatical function for a supplement or an attribute being transferred to prepositions. Thus there are transitions between prepositional phrases and “case phrases”.

Web links

Wiktionary: Prepositional phrase - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

^ Alfred Wollmann: Prepositional Phrases in English: An Introduction. Gunter Narr Verlag, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 3-8233-4920-1 , p. 19 f.
↑ For the idea of a case phrase see z. B. John Emonds: A Unified Theory of Syntactic Categories. Foris, Dordrecht 1985

[1] Alfred Wollmann: Prepositional Phrases in English: An Introduction. Gunter Narr Verlag, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 3-8233-4920-1 , p. 19 f.

[2] For the idea of a case phrase see z. B. John Emonds: A Unified Theory of Syntactic Categories. Foris, Dordrecht 1985