The Object of the Preposition
Recognize an object of the preposition when you see one.
Prepositions often begin prepositional phrases. To complete the phrase, the preposition usually teams up with a noun, pronoun, or gerund, or the object of the preposition. Here are some examples:
At noon
At = preposition; noon = noun or the object of the preposition.
Behind them
Behind = preposition; them = pronoun or the object of the preposition.
Without sneezing
Without = preposition; sneezing = gerund or the object of the preposition.
The object of the preposition will often have modifiers that add description:
At the kitchen counter
At = preposition; the, kitchen = modifiers; counter = noun or the object of the preposition.
Between us only
Between = preposition; us = pronoun or the object of the preposition; only = modifier.
Without completely finishing
Without = preposition; completely = modifier; finishing = gerund or the object of the preposition.
Infrequently, a clause will be the object of the preposition, as in this example:
In class today, we talked about what Mr. Duncan expects in our next research essay.
About = preposition; what Mr. Duncan expects in our next research essay = noun clause or the object of the preposition.