prepositional phrase

prepositional phrase (preposisjonsfrase): a phrase consisting of a preposition + a noun phrase ,e.g. in China, for a week, by the time we were ready to go. Unlike other phrase types, the prepositional phrase is not described in terms of head and modifier(s), because the preposition does not modify the noun, or vice versa. Both parts are needed in order to construct a prepositional phrase. What follows the preposition is called the complement of the preposition. Besides noun phrases, the complement of the preposition can be an -ing clause or an indirect question. (He is worried about making the right impression, He doesn't have a clue about how to make / how he should make the right impression.) Prepositional phrases can function as adverbials at clause level, or as postmodifiers of noun phrases or complements of adjectives/adverbs at phrase level.