What describes a group of words that begin with a preposition and end with a noun, pronoun or noun phrase?

• A. Prepositional phrases
• B. Appositive phrases
• C. Gerund phrases
• D. Infinitive phrases

Answer: (A)

A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase is a prepositional phrase. It starts with a preposition such as in, on, at, with, by, or over, and its ending word (the object of the preposition) is a noun or a word group that functions as a noun, like a noun phrase. These phrases can describe location, time, or accompaniment, and they often modify a noun or a verb in a sentence—for example, in the park, on the shelf, with her friends, after the movie.

Other types don’t fit this pattern. Appositive phrases rename a noun and usually set off by commas, and they don’t necessarily start with a preposition. Gerund phrases begin with verb forms ending in -ing and act as nouns, not by starting with a preposition. Infinitive phrases begin with to + a verb and can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, but they don’t start with a preposition that introduces an object.