Download Intro to Phrases

Intro to Phrases:
Prepositional, Appositive,
Participial, Gerund, & Absolute
English I
Phrases
• Groups of words that do not
contain both a subject and a verb.
• Phrases do not express a complete
thought.
Prepositional Phrase
• What is it?
– A group of words
that begins with a
preposition
– Prepositions tell:
direction, time,
space, or place
– May describe any
other part of the
sentence
• What does it do?
– Answer the question:
• What kind?
• Which one?
• Where?
• Why?
• When?
• In what way?
Prepositional Phrase Examples:
• The store is around the corner. – (Where?)
• The girl with the blue hair is funny. (Which one?)
• We text our friends between classes. (When?)
Common Prepositions:
about, above, across, after, around, before, behind,
between, during, for, from, in, inside, into, near, of,
off, on, outside, over, past, since, toward, under, up,
upon, with, within, without
Appositive Phrases
• What is it?
• What does it do?
• A word or group • Always follow a
noun or pronoun
of words that
identify,
• Always include a
rename, or
noun
explain more
• Usually include
about a noun or
descriptive words
pronoun
(adjectives)
Appositive Phrase Examples:
• Football, my favorite sport, is exciting.
• Rambo, the three legged dog, is very
mean.
• My favorite class, English, is so fun!
(What do you notice about the punctuation in all 3 examples?)
Appositive phrases are always set off by commas.
Participial Phrases
• What is it?
• A group of words that
begins with a past or
present tense verb.
• Past tense verbs end
in:
– “ed” “en” “d” “t”
• Present tense verbs
end in:
– “ing”
• What does it do?
• Even though they
look like verbs,
participial
phrases act as
ADJECTIVES by
describing nouns
or pronouns.
Participial Phrase Examples:
• The
crying baby wanted to be held.
• Ruined by the rain, the parade ended early.
swimming for his life, won the
• Jack,
gold medal.
Gerund Phrases:
• What is it?
• A verb ending
in “ing”
• What does it do?
• Even though it
looks like a verb,
a gerund acts a
NOUN in a
sentence – often
the subject.
Gerund Phrase Examples:
• Speeding is dangerous.
• Sleeping late on Saturdays is such a treat.
• Standing in line was no fun.
Speeding, Sleeping, and Standing are all gerunds =
“ing” verbs acting as a noun.
Absolute Phrases:
• What is it?
• What does it do?
• A group of words
containing a
NOUN or a
PRONOUN + a
PARTICIPIAL (a
“ing” or “ed” verb)
• Absolute phrases:
– describe the whole
sentence
– are always set off by
commas
– usually begin with:
my, his, her, its, our,
their
Absolute Phrase Examples:
• Her hands shaking, she began her
speech.
• His mouth drooling, the dog begged
for the bone.
• The thunder crashing, we knew the
storm was close.
Review:
Identify the phrases used in these sentences:
1. Riding a roller coaster is a big thrill.
2. My tires spinning from the wet road, I drove
slowly.
3. My best friend lives across the street from me.
4. The Yankees are playing the best team in
baseball, The Red Sox.
5. Feeling sick, the student went to the nurse’s
office.