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The phrase. Appositive, Prepositional, Participle, Gerund and Infinitive Phrases English I. What is a phrase?. A phrase is a group of words without both a subject and a verb. The Appositive.
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The phrase Appositive, Prepositional, Participle, Gerund and Infinitive Phrases English I
What is a phrase? • A phrase is a group of words without both a subject and a verb.
The Appositive • An appositive is a noun or a pronoun placed beside another noun or pronoun to identify or describe it. • Saul, a talented musician, plans to study in Europe. • [The appositive musician describes the noun Saul.] • Those, the ones on the right, are on sale. • [The appositive ones identifies the pronoun Those.]
Helpful hint • An appositive is usually set off from the rest of the sentence with commas.
The Appositive Phrase • An appositive phrase consists of an appositive and any modifier it has. • Thomas, my longtime friend from my old neighborhood, has a new sports car. • Dr. Ross has a degree in entomology, the scientific study of insects.
Identifying Appositives • Joseph, a college instructor, started a new study group for his students. • Charles, a freshman at CCHS, is a genius. • Jordan sacked the QB, a veteran of ten years in the NFL.
Prepositional phrases • A prepositional phrase includes a preposition, the object of the preposition, and any modifiers of that subject • to the pool • at the Jones’ house • instead of them • The noun or pronoun in a prepositional phrase is called the object of the preposition • David went to the dance. [The noun dance is the object of the preposition to.]
Prepositional phrases • Do not be misled by a modifier coming after the noun or pronoun in a prepositional phrase. The noun or pronoun is still the object. • Gabeand Andrewworked at the stores today. • [Stores is the object of the preposition at. The adverb today tells when and modifies the verb worked.]
Verbals • A verbal is a word that is derived from a verb but is used as an adjective, adverb, or noun rather than as a verb.
Participles • A participle is a word derived from a verb; it ends in d, ed, n, en, t, ing and is used as an adjective.
Examples of particples • broken window • dancing bear • fumbled punt • Marching into the stadium, the band thrilled the crowd.
Helpful hint • All introductory participial phrases take commas at the end of the phrase; the very next noun in the sentence is the person or thing “doing” the action of the participle. • If the noun immediately following the comma is NOT the person or thing “doing” the action of the participle, that participle is called a “dangling participle” or a “dangler.” • A dangling participle is the improper use of participles.
Participle Phrases • Examples • Lecturing on the impact of the Civil War, the teacher maintained her students’ attention. • Teacher is the person lecturing. • Developed for use in space, Tang proved to be a popular drink on Earth. • Tang was developed for use in space.
Participle Phrases • Examples: • Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught on the step. • Riding in the Jeep around Africa, the elephant was seen by us all. • Caught cheating on the test, the student received a zero. • Searching for lost keys, the missing wallet was found.
The Gerund • A gerund is a verb form ending in –ing that is used as a noun. • Like other nouns, gerunds are used as subjects, predicate nominatives, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
The Gerund • The dancing was fun. [SUB] • My favorite part of the show was his juggling. [PN] • Pierretried climbing faster. [DO] • We worked better after resting. [O of P]
The Gerund • Gerunds, like participle phrases, end in –ing. To be a gerund, a verbal must be used as a noun. In the following sentence, three words end in –ing, but only one of them is a gerund. • Circling the runway, the pilot was preparing for landing.
Identifying Gerunds • Her laughing attracted my attention. • By studying, you can improve your grades. • Why did the birds stop chirping? • Writing in my journal has helped me understand myself better. • What Jesse liked best was hiking to the peak.
The Infinitive • An infinitive is a verb that can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. An Infinitive is formed by adding the word toto a present-tense verb. • To fly is glorious. [To fly is the SUB of the sentence] • Matthew wanted to work on the play. [to work is the object of the verb wanted]
Identifying Infinitives • To plus a noun or pronoun (to school, to him, to the beach) is a prepositional phrase, not an infinitive. • Joshua’s ambition is to teach. • To persist can sometimes be a sign of stubbornness. • Paul has learned to tap dance. • I am happy to oblige. • An easy way to win at tennis does not exist.
Lesson Review • We walked around the block. • The event, new to most Americans, is called Festivus. • Drenched by the rain, the girl changed into drier clothes. • Most students dislike reading long, boring novels. • Yoda told Luke to use The Force wisely. • Typing furiously to complete the essay, the computer froze, and the information was lost.