In this sentence:
When he walked into the room, everyone stared at him.
"into the room" is a prepositional phrase but is "at him" also a prepositional phrase?
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1Yes, I assume so, as it's the object of "stared". Could you explain why you want to know? Is this related to some other grammar that you find confusing?– AndrewCommented Dec 30, 2018 at 21:07
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1Yes, but calling it that hides the fact that the two phrases have significantly different functions. The verb is "stare at" - what they are staring at is an essential part of the meaning; whereas you can walk into, out of, along, or nowhere in particular: "into the room" is an optional extra. Modern grammatical theories regard "at him" as a complement, object, or argument of "stare" (depending on which precise theory), whereas "into the room" is only an "adjunct".– Colin FineCommented Dec 30, 2018 at 21:51
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1 Answer
Yes! Sentences can have multiple prepositional phrases, even in the same clause.
"When he walk" when he walked where? - "into the room"
"everyone stared" everyone stared where? - "at him".
