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In the following sentence:

I thank you for arranging the wedding.

What type of phrase is for arranging the wedding?

For is a preposition, but the fact there is not only a noun following it but also "arranging" is confusing me a little.

Then, if we swap the order of the sentence around to

For arranging the wedding, I thank you.

What is for functioning as in this case?

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    The part after "for" is a gerund phrase, which functions as a noun. "I thank you for [NOUN]."
    – Robusto
    Commented Jan 6, 2015 at 20:13
  • @Josh If you have created two accounts and would like them merged, please follow the advice in the Help Center.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2015 at 21:35

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In both sentences, "for arranging the wedding" is a prepositional phrase and "for" is the preposition. Robusto is right; "arranging the wedding" acts as a noun phrase. It's odd, because it includes a direct object ("the wedding"), but the principle is the same one that allows you to say "Thank you for clapping," in which "clapping" is more obviously noun-like because it doesn't take an object.

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