PRESENTS
Li’l Pete the Preposition
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By Coert Voorhees
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Written by Coert Voorhees Illustrations by Powerhouse Animation
Ve r b
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Gather ‘round everybody and let’s have ourselves a wonderful time. I just love bringing words and groups of words together, don’t you?
I express emotion!! Yep, I’m always here, always ready with my commas and exclamation points, just in case.
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I am a chameleon. A spy. An undercover operative. I infiltrate the sentence and act as whatever part of speech suits me.
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I’m perfectly happy to link Nouns and Pronouns with the appropriate Adjectives, but it’s not like I’m going to expend a lot of energy doing so.
L i nk i n
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L i’l P e t
They call me Preposition because I’m pre-positioned. I’m first. At the front. Before every other word in the phrase? Got it?
Ben
I modify a Verb, Adjective, or other Adverb. I tell how, when, where, to what extent, and under what condition. I often end in –ly, but I don’t have to.
A d je
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Co n ni
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I modify a Noun or Pronoun. I tell what kind, which one, how many, or how much. I pride myself on being the most artistic of the parts of speech.
Some people say I’m all over the place. Some people call me a ball of energy. I take that as a compliment, because I just like to go, go, go!
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l I take the place of one or more Nouns or Pronouns. I always want the Noun's job, and I hang out with the Verb and Adjective.
Parts
Vi nny
Ne
I name a specific person, place, thing, or idea. It’s a big responsibility, naming things— a responsibility that requires a certain attention to detail.
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LI’L PETE THE PREPOSITION © 2019 Grammaropolis Graphic Design by Mckee Frazior Printed by Friesens, Altona, Manitoba, Canada Text and Illustrations © 2011 by Grammaropolis LLC
This book is typeset in Komika Text Distributed throughout the world by Ingram Publisher Services www.ingrambook.com Printed in Canada
Li’l Pete’s job was to connect a noun or a pronoun to another word in the sentence.
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The noun or pronoun he connected was called the “object of the preposition.�
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Li’l Pete could locate an object in space.
May I help you across the street?
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Li’l Pete could locate an object in time.
There’s no talking during the movie.
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He could even show the logical relationship between the object and another word in the sentence.
A play! That’s what I’ll do with the rest of my day!
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And because he was the preposition, he came at the beginning of the phrase. Seriously, bro?
Me first! I’m pre-positioned!
Being a preposition was a big responsibility, and Li’l Pete was proud of it.
Stay next to me, guys. We don’t want to be late to my birthday party.
Although sometimes he let it get to his head.
On his birthday, Nelson gave Li’l Pete the perfect gift.
From you? For me!
It’s a rocket.
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Li’l Pete had to determine the very best prepositional phrases to control his model rocket.
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First, he had to decide when to launch it.
We still have two hours until sundown.
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So he used prepositions that located the object in time.
Let’s launch after opening presents, but before cake and ice cream.
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According to his mom, inside the house wasn’t a good launching spot.
Bummer. No rocket launching within these walls. Are you for real?
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He had to figure out where else to launch the rocket, so he used prepositions that located an object in space.
If I can’t do it inside the house, I could do it on the front lawn. But not underneath the big tree.
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Finally, he had to figure out the logical relationship between his objects and the rest of the sentence. I’ll launch it like a pro. People will love me for being awesome!
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He even used compound prepositions, which were made of more than one word.
In spite of unpredictable weather, the park is our best bet, on account of it being outside.
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Eventually, he settled on a launch site.
We’re going to launch in the park... in front of the fountain... during the afternoon.
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He and his friends gathered around the rocket.
Go, rocket! Lift off the ground!
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But then Li’l Pete got so excited that he forgot to add objects to his prepositions.
Fly around! Go between! Zoom on!
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And that turned some of them into adverbs.
Without the objects, the prepositions didn’t show any relation to anything.
Li’l Pete had no control over the rocket.
Luckily, his friends reminded him what was missing. Be a preposition!
Don’t forget about your objects!
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Li’l Pete completed the prepositional phrases just in time.
into the sky! between the clouds, Around the trees,
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It’s floating.
Gently. Phew!
To the ground. 22
Logic in the e m i T f o e c a p S
S N O I T I S O PREP A preposition shows the relationship between the object—noun or pronoun— and other words in the sentence.
A preposition is placed at the beginning of a prepositional phrase. into the bank beside Angie’s white bicycle throughout the entire day
EXAMPLES into beside throughout
A preposition can locate the object in time. I never eat during class. Jimmy went outside after dinner.
EXAMPLES during after
A preposition c an locate the objec t in the space. The moon shone brightly in the night sky. I left a key under the welcome mat.
EXAMPLES in under
gical lo a w o h s n a c n io it s o A prep ct and je b o e h t n e e w t e b ip h s relation ence. t n e s e h t in rd o w r e h t ano I have always wanted to dance like Ginger. Are people still looking for the fountain of youth?
EXAMPLES like for of
COMPOUND
PREPOSITIONS
A compound pr epo single prepositio sition is a n that is more than one word. We won the game because of Billy’s lucky shoes. According to my dad, the meteor shower is over.
EXAMPLES because of According to
PREPOSITIONS & ADVERBS
Some words can be used as either prepositions or adverbs, but how do you tell the difference? Remember that a preposition always has to be at the front of the phrase. If there’s no phrase, it’s not a preposition!
PREPOSITION
We ran around the field. around the field is a prepositional phrase, so around is a preposition.
ADVERB
We ran around. around is by itself, witho the rest of a phrase. Thaut means it’s an adverb. t
Where grammar lives!
Be sure to meet all the parts of speech!
Learn more about the parts of speech, meet the Punctuation Department, and visit the rest of Grammaropolis online at grammaropolis.com. Grammaropolis is published in association with Six Foot Press. For catalog and ordering information go to sixfootpress.com.