prepositional
- adjective
- /ˌprɛpəˈzɪʃənl/
- Specialized
- Passive writing, long sentences, multisyllabic words, and overusing prepositional phrases negatively affect reading ease (Flesch, 1974).
- prepositional phrase
Examples
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One way to shorten sentence length is to remove prepositional phrases.
Academic text (2015) -
* Try to avoid breaking up prepositional phrases, especially short ones.
Academic text (2010) -
What constitutes a prepositional phrase?
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Try moving an adverb or prepositional phrase to the start.
Academic text (2011) -
After demonstrating nonexamples and examples of "above," the primary experimenter began testing student knowledge of the prepositional concept.
Academic text (2015) -
In English grammar, a prepositional phrase typically consists of a preposition followed by a noun or pronoun.
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Avoid using unnecessary words in a prepositional phrase, as it can make your writing unclear.
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Understanding the function of a prepositional phrase can greatly improve your sentence structure.
Compounds
- Specialized
A group of words that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun like 'on the chair'
Surface Forms
Morphology
prepositional = preposition (transparent) = preposition + al
The adjective is formed regularly from the noun 'preposition' with the suffix '-al', so the meaning is straightforwardly related.
Etymology
Prepositional comes from preposition, which is made of pre- 'before' and position 'place'. A preposition is a small word that usually comes before a noun to show place, time, or direction, so prepositional describes phrases or forms made with those words.