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(gerund phrase as the complement of a preposition) Using gerunds of the appropriate auxiliary verbs, one can form gerund clauses that express perfect aspect and passive voice: Being deceived can make someone feel angry. (passive) Having read the book once before makes me more prepared. (perfect) He is ashamed of having been gambling all night.
In the prepositional phrase apart from Jill, for example, the preposition apart requires that the complement include the preposition from. In the prepositional phrase since before the war, however, the preposition since does not require the preposition before and could have instead been something else, such as since after the war. [14]: 635–643
The remaining part of the phrase is called the prepositional complement, or sometimes the "object" of the preposition. In English and many other Indo-European languages it takes the form of a noun phrase, such as a noun, pronoun, or gerund, possibly with one or more modifiers. A prepositional phrase can function as an adjective or adverb.
A prepositional phrase can be used as a complement or post-modifier of a noun in a noun phrase, as in the man in the car, the start of the fight; as a complement of a verb or adjective, as in deal with the problem, proud of oneself; or generally as an adverb phrase (see above). English allows the use of "stranded" prepositions.
The gerund can behave like a verb in taking objects: crossing the river cost many lives. The deverbal noun does not take objects, although the understood object may be expressed by a prepositional phrase with of: the crossing of the river cost many lives (an indirect object is expressed using to or for as appropriate: the giving of the award to ...
The following are single-word intransitive prepositions. This portion of the list includes only prepositions that are always intransitive; prepositions that can occur with or without noun phrase complements (that is, transitively or intransitively) are listed with the prototypical prepositions.
Prepositional phrase: It was on foot that he went there. Adverbial phrase: It was greedily and speedily that Homer Simpson drank his beer. Non-finite clause: It is to address a far-reaching problem that Oxfam is launching this campaign. Gerund: It could be going home early or slacking off at work that the boss reacted to.
(this use of the verb insist involves a prepositional phrase with on) I expect to arrive tomorrow. (this use of expect involves a to-infinitive phrase) I asked him whether he was coming. (this use of ask involves a direct object (him) and an interrogative content clause) More examples can be found at Verb patterns with the gerund.