1. On second thoughts, Paco decided to visit Scotland (prep. phrases)

Caso práctico

There are four prepositional phrases with the preposition by in the text. Find them.

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After visiting Liverpool, Paco thought about travelling to Spain for a week, but, finally, on second thoughts, he decided to visit Scotland.

By the way, there is an interesting place there he would like to visit. He wouldn't like to miss Loch Ness, where Nessie is supposed to live, under any circumstances.

Paco found by chance a train timetable, he learnt it by heart and decided to travel to Scotland by train. This was the only idea he had by now.

He left a few beautiful places and nice friends behind him in Liverpool. Paco enjoyed himself a lot in this city, but now the time had come for a change.

Ejercicio Resuelto

Fill in the gaps with prepositional phrases.
Each short phrase is used once: apart from, on behalf of, by means of, in case of, instead of.

Improve your knowledge of some of the most important and common combinations of prepositions used in English. These phrases are in standard usage and can not be altered. They are used to connect, explain and show the relationship between ideas and things.

1) I prefer tea __________ vodka.

2) __________ bad weather, we will take some umbrellas.

3) __________ my father, I would like to thank you.

4) We finally got our destiny __________ GPS in the car.

5) __________ my family, nobody wants to work on this project.

Comprueba lo aprendido

Pregunta

Complete these sentences with the right prepositional phrase. 

1) __________ the Government, the crisis will last three years.

Respuestas

a) According to the Government, the crisis will last three years.

b) In favour of the Government, the crisis will last three years.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

2) I am __________ not increasing taxes.

Respuestas

a) I am as for not increasing taxes.

b) I am in favour of not increasing taxes.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

3) There are many things that you can do now, __________, play basketball.

Respuestas

a) There are many things that you can do now, for instance, play basketball.

b) There are many things that you can do now, under control, play basketball.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

4) The current situation is horrible. Things are going __________.

Respuestas

a) The current situation is horrible. Things are going from by far.

b) The current situation is horrible. Things are going from bad to worse.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

5) He's been living in England __________.

Respuestas

a) He's been living in England for ages.

b) He's been living in England for a change.

Retroalimentación

Importante

Prepositional phrases

Phrases are groups of words that function together. Prepositional phrases function like adjectives or adverbs. They describe nouns or verbs.

A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition. It ends with a noun or a noun substitute. It may contain adjectives describing the noun at the end of the phrase. The noun at the end of the phrase is called the object of the preposition:

After lunch my family sits in the living room to relax for a while.

Para saber más

A useful list of prepositional phrases in alphabetical order with lots of examples.

Click here in order to distinguish between prepositions and prepositional phrases.

Any doubt with prepositional phrases yet? Here you have a complete list of them.