If you were a preposition by Nancy Loewen
~If you were a preposition, you could go OUT and ABOUT the yard, circle AROUND the tree, walk ON the fence, slither BETWEEN the bushes, or jog BY the snail.
If you were a preposition, you would make a sentence longer by adding more detail.
~The rabbit hid INSIDE the hat.
~I want the lizard WITH the red stripes.
If you were a preposition, you could tell where things are.
~The goat is walking BESIDE the shed.
~The goat is resting BEHIND the shed.
~Look! The goat jumped ONTO the shed.
If you were a preposition, you could tell when things happen.
~DURING the day, Hammy the hamster sleeps.
~Hammy drinks his water BEFORE he works out.
~Hammy runs on his wheel AT night.
If you were a preposition, you would never work alone. You would be paired with a noun or pronoun. The noun or pronoun would be your object. You and your object would form a prepositional phrase.
~Tibby ate two whole cans OF TUNA! (OF = preposition, TUNA = object; OF TUNA = prepositional phrase)
~All three cats sleep WITH ME. (WITH = preposition, ME = object; WITH ME = prepositional phrase)
~Here, kitty! Come TO ME. (TO = preposition, ME = object; TO ME = prepositional phrase)
If you were a preposition, you could be part of a short prepositional phrase.
~ON WEDNESDAY (ON = preposition, WEDNESDAY = object; ON WEDNESDAY = prepositional phrase)
~TOWARD HER (TOWARD = preposition, HER = object; TOWARD HER = prepositional phrase)
~WITH GLEE (WITH = preposition, GLEE = object; WITH GLEE = prepositional phrase)
If you were a preposition, you could be part of a prepositional phrase that includes many words. These words are called modifiers. They describe people, places, things, or actions. Modifiers go between the preposition and the object of the preposition.
~We saw a chipmunk UNDER the front step. (UNDER = preposition, FRONT = modifier, STEP = object; UNDER THE FRONT STEP = prepositional phrase)
~The dog fell asleep BY the warm, cozy fireplace. (BY = preposition, WARM, COZY = modifiers, FIREPLACE = object; BY THE WARM, COZY FIREPLACE = prepositional phrase)
If you were a preposition, you could be in a sentence with other prepositional phrases.
~The tarantula crawled FROM its cage, OVER the stack OF books, ACROSS the desk, and INTO the wastebasket.
If you were a preposition, you could make a sentence more exciting. The sentence would make sense without you, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.
~The ferret jumped.
~The ferret jumped FROM the table, TO the lamp, and ONTO the drapes.
You would link words together and add more detail, if you were a preposition!
