We know that a preposition shows position.
A preposition is always at the beginning of a prepositional phrase.
A preposition cannot stand alone.
A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition.
A prepositional phrase ends with an object of the preposition.
The shortest prepositional phrase is two words: a preposition and an object of the preposition.
There is no limit to how long you can make a prepositional phrase.
The extra words inside a prepositional phrase are always describing words.
You can put in as many describing words as you need.
Let’s look at a simple three-word prepositional phrase:
John moved into a house.
Into a house is a prepositional phrase. It shows the position of John’s move.
Into a house begins with the preposition into.
Into a house ends with the object of the preposition house. House is a noun. The object of the preposition is always a noun.
In between into and house is only one word; a. We know that a is an article. Articles act as modifiers or describers.
Into a house is a three-word prepositional phrase. But we can make the phrase longer by adding more describing words. Watch what happens when we do that.
John moved into a house.
John moved into a big house.
John moved into a big brick house.
John moved into a big red brick house.
John moved into a really big red brick house.
John moved into a really big red brick two-story house.
Do you see what we are doing? As we add additional describing words, the prepositional phrase gets longer and longer. But all the words we add are inside the phrase. The first word of the phrase is always the preposition into. The last word of the prepositional phrase is always the object of the preposition house.
Remember – A preposition is always the first word in a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase always ends with the object of the preposition. You can put as many describing words as you want into the middle of a prepositional phrase.