I'm looking at the function of prepositional phrases within a sentence, and particularly in this example as a part of a verb phrase. The example I have is:
I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek.
So in the first verb phrase, there is no prepositional phrase, the noun phrase is the direct object of the verb phrase. I remember the precise moment
In the second verb phrase, I think the prepositional phrase is acting as an adverb, as it describes the location of the verb. crouching behind a crumbling mud wall
In the third verb phrase, I'm not sure how the prepositional phrase functions. The preposition into is confusing me. It seems like the verb is "to peek into" and therefore the noun phrase is the direct object of the verb. I know there are such things as verb particles but I don't think this example is one of those, as it can't be restated with the preposition at the end. My other thought is that it's a phrasal verb, but I'm not sure if that's correct and if so, how to describe the preposition. As a verb phrase complement?
I'm really confused by this, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance :)