Directions: Let's see if you know the difference between prepositional phrases and clauses. Please identify each in the sentences below.

1. Before I see you next week, I'll put a shopping list together.
2. We will meet before noon.
3. After a quick lunch, we can shop.
4. I hope I find the perfect gift.
5. Hopefully, I will also discover other possible presents along the way.
6. Do you want to call me, or should I call you first?
7. My day is sometimes busy, so I hope I am around to receive your call.
8. This will be a fun shopping experience for us.
9. I am looking forward to it.
​10. I will see you then, but please remember to keep in touch!

Directions: Please read each sentence below, and decide if each one contains a direct object or not.

1. I closed the book before falling asleep.
2. Jim bought a new car from the dealership.
3. I got gas on my way to work.
4. Linda thought carefully before answering the question.
5. Sandy brought pumpkin pie to Thanksgiving dinner.
6. Kamisha rented a new apartment!
7. Steve ran quickly to the finish line.
8. The children watched TV for hours.
9. Tom selected Alan as his business partner.
10. The dog slept near the fireplace.

Bonus: In the above sentences, please find the following:

1. prepositional phrases

2. adverbs

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The active voice shows the action up front! The subject and verb are together, and the subject is actively doing something! 

Example: Tom passed the football.                    The subject is Tom; the verb is passed.         The direct object is football.
Example: John played the game.                        The subject is John; the verb is played.        The direct object is game.
Example: Marissa won the award.                     The subject is Marissa; the verb is won.       The direct object is award.

Now let's look at the passive voice. In this case, the action and true subject are not together. In fact, the subject is now changed, as well. What would have been the subject is now the receiver of the action. It has become the object of a prepositional phrase.

Example: The football was passed by Tom.         The subject is football; the verb is was passed.        There are no direct objects here;
Example: The game was played by John.             The subject is game; the verb is  was played.           instead we have prepositional
Example: The award was won by Marissa.          The subject is award; the verb is was won.                phrases!

Notice that a preposition precedes (goes before) the new receiver of the action. 

The passive voice usually has a helping verb that accompanies the main verb. In the examples above, that helping verb is the word "was." The passive voice takes the focus from the person who is doing the action and instead places the direct object as the subject.

Let's try a few now.
Directions: Decide if the sentences below are in the active or passive voices.

1. The movie was seen by thousands of people.
2. The sport has been played by many athletes.
3. Kelly shopped for hours.
4. The mall was managed by Jeff Smith.
5. Jeff Smith managed the mall.
6. Sam closed the door.
7. The car was driven by Mario.
8. The words were written by the students.
9. The students wrote the words.
10. We will be celebrating the holidays soon.

Now, let's go back and turn passive sentences into active ones, and active sentences into passive ones!

Let's first remember that a preposition is a positional word! It leads the way to a pronoun or noun in a sentence. For example, "of" is a preposition. In the sentence "She was proud of her son," the preposition "of" leads to the noun "son." The prepositional phrase is the part of the sentence that contains the preposition and leads to the noun. In the previous example, "of her son" is a prepositional phrase.

Let's look at a few more examples. Can you name the prepositional phrase in the sentences below?

1. I am at work now. 

2. The book is near your pencil.

3. Jeff is absent; he is under the weather. 
Bonus: Can you also locate and define an idiom in sentence number three?

Directions:
Please fill in the blanks in the following sentences with prepositions! If you need help remembering them, you may refer back to the list provided on this website in the Blackboard Skills section. Good luck!

1. We are all __________________________________________ class right now.

2. I love to be _________________________________ the ocean _________________________ the summer.

3. Tyler may be __________________________ the mall, but he is not there yet.

Directions II:
Please add not only the preposition, but also the prepositional phrase to each sentence below.

1. There was too much salt _________________________________________________.

2. Somerville is a part of the state _____________________________________________________.

3. Your birthday gifts are ________________________________________________________.

4. The beautiful flowers were delivered _________________________________________________.

Directions III: 
Now please use the following prepositions in sentences of your own. Remember that the preposition is only the start of the prepositional phrase.

Example:     under                                under the chair                                      The pencil rolled under the chair.

Your words are:                      with                 on                        of                   along                                 before