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._