Phrases

Definition

A phrase is a group of words that

function as a unit (as modifier or
noun). A phrase lacks a subject,
predicate, or both. We will review
three types of phrases: prepositional,
appositive, and verbal.
What is a phrase?
A phrase is a group of related words that acts
as a single part of speech.

By using phrases effectively and placing them

properly, you can make your writing clearer
and more descriptive.

“To be or not to be” is an example of just one

of many types of phrases.
Types of Phrases
Verb Phrases
Prepositional Phrases
Appositive Phrases
Participial Phrases
Gerund Phrases
Infinitive Phrases
Prepositional Phrases
 Prepositional Phrases
A prepositional phrase consists of a
preposition, a noun, or a pronoun called the
object of the preposition, as well as any
modifiers of the object.
During the rodeo, the bull became belligerent.

Lauren is extremely angry about the parking ticket.

There are many kinds of love.

Romeo and Juliet take their love to the

extreme
 Prepositional Phrases
A prepositional phrase functions as an adjective
when it modifies a noun or pronoun.
Each of the dancers won an award.
I kept a written account of my travels.

A prepositional phrase functions as an adverb

when it modifies a verb, adjective or another
adverb.
Kathy was nervous during her interview.
Last year I worked as a clown in the circus.
 Appositive Phrases
An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed near
another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it.
An appositive phrase includes with the appositive
all of the words or phrases that modify it.

My uncle, a mediocre chef, is no Julia

Childs, since he often drops his cigar ashes
into the food he is preparing.

My favorite pasttime, cow tipping, often

results in dirty shoes.
 Verbal Phrases

Verbal phrases are verb forms that function as nouns,

adjectives or adverbs. Proper use of verbal phrases
can add variety to your sentences and vigor to your
writing style. There are three types of verbal phrases:
participles, gerunds, and infinitives.
 Participial Phrases
A participial phrase functions as an adjective and
can take four forms: present, past, perfect and
passive perfect. It consists of the participle, its
modifiers and complements.
Present:
Competing in the race, the athlete felt a surge of adrenaline.
Past:
Bothered by her husband’s snoring, the woman kicked the poor man.
Perfect:
Having typed the paper, the student was finally able to relax.
Passive Perfect:
The police officer, having been threatened by the suspect, called for
assistance.
 Participial Phrases
Some participles are formed from irregular
verbs. Be aware that they will look different
in the past form.
Past form of irregular verb:

Swept away by the storm, the building’s roof was severely

destroyed.

The old toy, forgotten in a corner, was destined for the

garage sale box.
 Absolute Phrases
Usually (but not always), an absolute phrase is a
group of words consisting of a noun or pronoun and
a participle as well as any related modifiers.
Absolute phrases do not directly connect to or
modify any specific word in the rest of the sentence;
instead, they modify the entire sentence, adding
information. They are always treated as
parenthetical elements and are set off from the rest
of the sentence with a comma or a pair of commas
(sometimes by a dash or pair of dashes).
Absolute phrases contain a subject (which is often
modified by a participle), but not a true verb.
 Absolute Phrases
The absolute phrase may appear at the end of a
sentence:
The hunters rested for a moment in front of the
shack, breaths gathering in the frosty air.
The absolute phrase may also appear at the beginning
of the sentence:
Breaths gathering in the frosty air, the
hunters rested for a moment in front of the shack.
And occasionally an absolute phrase is positioned
between the subject and verb:
The hunters, breaths gathering in the frosty
air, rested for a moment in front of the shack.
 Absolute Phrases
More examples:
The season being over, they were mobbed by
fans in Times Square.
The old firefighter stood over the ruins, eyes
watering from the intense smoke.
His subordinates, their faces streaked and
smudged with ash, leaned heavily against the
firetruck.
 Absolute Phrases
Notice the difference between a participial
phrase and an absolute phrase:

Enjoying the sunny day, the young couple

picnicked along the river bank.

The sun shining, it was a perfect day for a

picnic.
 Absolute Phrases
It is not unusual for the information supplied in
the absolute phrase to be the most important
element in the sentence. In fact, in descriptive
prose, the telling details will often be wrapped
into a sentence in the form of an absolute
phrase:
Coach Brown strolled onto the court, a large
silver whistle clenched between her teeth.
The new recruits stood in one corner of the
gym, their faces betraying their anxiety.
 Gerund Phrases

A gerund is a verbal that always ends in –ing. It is used

in almost every way that a noun can be used: subject,
direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, object
of a preposition, appositive. The gerund phrase consists
of the gerund, its modifiers and complements .
 Gerund Phrases
Direct Object:
My brother finished watering the lawn.

Subject:
Piercing her ear 100 times was a decision Ruby came to
regret. Appositive:

My favorite pastime, listening to cds, doesn’t

require much thought.
Predicate Nominative:
Her greatest flaw is being a perfectionist.
Verb Phrases
Verb Phrases are formed when verbs are
joined by auxiliary verbs, also called helping
verbs.
A verb phrase may be used to express a
particular tense of a verb or to indicate that an
action is directed at the subject.
Romeo and Juliet might never have met if not for the
party at Juliet’s house.
Both Romeo and Juliet’s actions are driven by their
passion for each other.
 Infinitive Phrases
An infinitive is a verb form that usually
begins with the word “to.” It can function as
an adjective, noun or adverb.
Noun:
I like to scuba dive in the bathtub.
Adjective:
His effort to convince me to buy swampland in Louisiana
was a failure.
Adverb:
He was too silly to be easily understood.
 Now You Try
Identify the phrase in each of the following
sentences:
Drinking cold lemonade refreshed me.

The computer needs to be repaired.

You will find the assignment on the board.

Having blocked a punt, the Rams recovered the ball.

Mrs. Phelps, our neighbor, is very nosy.
 Noun
Phrases

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 DEFINITION :

A Noun phrase is a phrase

consisting of a noun or
pronoun (as head) and
modifiers.

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Phrase formation of objects:

The phrase can be in the form of objects with the wording

as follows:

1. a) Indefinite Article + Noun

Indefinite is a and an.

Example: a truck, an examination, an

investment

Word “a truck” is a noun phrase, a noun describes is truck;

truck is the head (headword) in the phrase, “a” is a word
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I have bringing
three very
heavy tables
 It is a cup
of coffee

b) Definite Article + Noun

Definite article is the.

Example: the ship, the soup, the cars, the

. models The nouns are ship, soup,
cars, model. The words
ship, soup, cars, models
are the words of the head;
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c) Demonstrative Adjective + Noun

Demonstrative adjective is a word is this, these,

that,
and Those.

Example: This place, That old man, Those tree,

These tragedies, That piece.

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d) Adjective Possessive + Noun

Possessive adjective is a word that says the

owner of something. For example: my,
yours, his, her, its, our, their, jean's, Mr.
Rendra’s, etc.

Example: Her computer, your ideas,

Brittany's question, rabbit’s idol.
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2. Numerals (word number)

The meaning of the numerals is one, two,

three, ten, etc.

Example: two kingdoms, Four members,

Three guests.

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 3.Quantitative adjective + Noun

Is a word that expressed much of an

object, for example, some, any, much,
many, a lot of, few, a little, and so on.

Example: some marvels, much wine,

many wife

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These windows are
very dirty, it needs
super cleaner to
clean.
4. Qualitative adjective + Noun

Is a word that indicates the nature or

circumstances of an object, such as:
white, large, Important, harmless, and
so on.

Example: kind treatments, clear sky,

underpaid works

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Same as the noun, noun phrase also has the function
as subject or object in a sentence. Consider the
following example below:

-Touch my body
-For the rest of my life
-Take a boy
-Pretty boy
-Behind blue eyes
-Latin girl
-Love the way you lie
-Barbie girl
-My happy ending
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Noun phrase always has a noun as the head.
determiners and adjective phrases generally
occupy a position as a pre-modifiers or pre-
head. example:
- the children
- happy children
- the happy children

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 After the head, put a post-modifiers are not limited.
For example:

The dog that chased the cat that killed

the mouse that ate the cheese that was
made from the milk that came from the
cow that...

In fact, the use of post-modifiers along

the example above is rarely used, not
even once.
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