Modification by prepositional phrases

The use of articles modified by prepositional phrases depends on the context or the situation. It consists of a preposition followed by a noun (at the window, for his children). A prepositional phrase may be used as a limiting or a descriptive attribute:

She seated herself so that I could see the man at the screen very well.

From one of the bookshelves Julia took a bundle of her latest photographs.

I made plans to put up two or three hotels and bungalows for occasional residents.

A prepositional phrase may contain various preposi­tions, but special consideration should be given to the so-called of-phrase. The main meanings of structures with descriptive of-phrases are as follows:

a container with its contents: a box of matches, a cup of tea; a pot of coffee

(Compare with a matchbox, a tea-cup, a coffee-pot, a soup bowl, etc., which are used for empty containers.)

a certain quantity: a lump of sugar, a slice of lemon, a pinch of salt

measure: a temperature of 20° C, a height of two hundred metres, a weight of two pounds, a distance of three miles, a pound of butter

origin: a native of Wales, a man of Kent, a descendant of a good family

characteristics of an object: a woman of great charm, a man of courage, a question of importance, a matter of urgency

age: a man of middle age, a boy of five

material a thing is made of: a box of cedar wood, a coat of mail, a heart of gold (met­aphorical use)

Note. In modern English the of-phrase is rarely used to denote material. As a rule we find an attributive noun in preposition to the head-noun in this meaning: older English, modern English; a ring of gold - a gold ring; a wall of glass - a glass wall.

composition: a herd of deer, a crowd of people, a flock of birds

two objects of the same kind or an object consisting of two parts of the same kind: a pair of gloves, a couple of ap­ples, a pair of trousers

indication of implied analogy: a beast of a man (i.e. a man behaving like a beast), a peach of a girl (i.e. a girl as beautiful and fresh as a peach), a gem of a housekeeper, a fool of a woman

The of-phrase is a descriptive attribute in a construc­tion called "the double genitive" as it contains the of-genitive and the s-genitive: a friend of my brother's, a daughter of Mr. Parker's, an opera of Verdi's, a sonata of Britten's

Nouns modified by a descriptive of-phrase usually take the indefinite article, but the definite article may be also used.

The of-phrase may have a limiting force as well. In this case the head-noun is used with the definite article. Mark the most typical kinds of struc­tures with limiting of-phrases: the city of Chicago, the sound of the bell, the figure of a man, the position of a teacher, the foot of the hill, the bank of the river, the wife of the local doctor, the number (i.e. the total quantity) of people, the shadow of a tree, the shot of a gun, the face of a woman, the manager of a hotel, the edge of the table, the story of his life

But if there are many objects of the same description, the indefinite article is used: a member of the club, a student of the group, a leg of the table.