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The Phrase
• A phrase is a group of related words, used
as a single part of speech, that never
contains a verb and a subject.
• It does NOT create a sentence.
I. Verb Phrase
• Every word in a verb phrase is a verb.
• Examples:
– A storm is approaching.
– Thunder could be heard in the distance.
II. The Prepositional Phrase
• A prepositional phrase (P A N)
– begins with a preposition,
– it may have adjectives
– it ends with a noun or pronoun (obj. of the
prep.)
• Example: in that picture
• It acts like an adjective OR adverb.
• Two kinds of prepositional phrases:
– 1. Adjective phrase - a prepositional phrase
used as an adjective. It tells what kind or
which one. It follows the noun or pronoun it
modifies.
• Examples:
A book of jokes might make a good gift.
The girl in the blue shirt won the contest.
2. Adverb phrase - a prepositional phrase
used as an adverb. It tells when, where,
how, why.
It modifies a verb, an adjective or another
adverb.
It comes anywhere in the sentence except
after the subject.
• Examples:
Later in the afternoon, the storm brought high winds
and rain.
We played for hours.
III. Verbal phrase
• A phrase that is centered around a verb
form.
• This verb form is NOT used as a verb in the
sentence.
• It is used as a noun, adj. Or adv.
3 Kinds of Verbal Phrases
• Participial Phrase
• Gerund Phrase
• Infinitive Phrase
A. Participles/Participial Phrases
- Any verb forms used as adjectives
- Can be taken out of the sentence
- Have several forms
• Note: A participle is always used as an adjective,
therefore it comes close to a noun.
• They can come BEFORE or AFTER the noun
Some participial verb forms:
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-ing
as in “The pouring rain…”
-ed
as in “The soiled carpet…”
-n or – en
as in “The broken arrow…”
-t
as in “The bent tree…”
Examples of Participles:
• The falling snow is beautiful.
• The bucking bronco…
• The running stream…
Examples of Participles:
• * The participial phrase usually needs
commas.
• The snow, falling on the trees, is beautiful.
Examples of Participles:
• The fallen snow was beautiful.
• Having fallen, the boy slid into the teacher.
• Having fallen on the ice, the boy slid into
the teacher.
•
If the participial phrase comes first in the sentence, it is
separated from the sentence with a comma.
Examples of Participles:
• The boy, having fallen on the snow, slid into
the teacher.
Caution:
• If a participle is not close to the noun it modifies,
it can become misplaced.
The boy slid into the teacher having fallen on the
ice.
• **problem – so far from “boy” – did the boy fall or
the teacher ??? Called a misplaced participle.
B. Gerund Phrase
A gerund is a verbal, or verb form, that ends in -ing
and is used as a noun.
• A gerund always ends in ing and is always used as
a noun.
• Never surrounded by commas except for
appositives
• Be careful of –ING verb forms that ARE used as verbs
in a sentence (these are not gerunds)
• Positions: subject, direct object, predicate
nominative, object of the preposition
Not all –ING words are Gerunds:
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Morning
Evening
Something
Nothing
Anything
Everything
She is driving to school today.
• Examples of gerunds/gerund phrases:
Kissing is fun.
Kissing my dog is fun.
• As subject:
My hobby is kissing.
My hobby is kissing my dog.
• As predicate nominative:
• As direct object:
I like kissing.
I like kissing my dog.
• Examples of gerunds/gerund phrases
con’t.:
• As object of the prep.:
I am good at kissing.
I am good at kissing my dog.
> Kissing can still be a verb phrase and
not a gerund:
I am kissing my dog.
Find the gerund phrase
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Swimming the mile is my best event.
I gave swimming the mile a try.
He lectured us about swimming the mile.
My best event is swimming the mile.
• His sister was dancing in the show.
C. Infinitives/Infinitive Phrases
An infinitive is a verbal, or verb form, that can
be used as a noun, adjective, or an adverb.
An infinitive usually begins with to + a plain
verb form ( no endings; no -s, -ing)
– Example: to walk, to talk, to go, to see
– Don’t confuse with prep. phrase - a prep. phrase has no
verb.
Infinitives as nouns:
To succeed is my goal. (subj.)
My ambition is to teach Spanish. (p.n.)
She tried to win. (D.O.)
Noun will appear in a noun position.
Which two are not used????
Infinitives as adjectives:
The place to meet tomorrow is the library.
She is the one to call.
Adjective will come directly after a noun and modify it by
telling which or what kind.
Infinitives as adverbs:
• To get into Harvard, you must study.
• Tamara claims she was born to surf.
• This math problem will be hard to solve without a
calculator.
•
Adverb will come first with comma, or answer adv. question, or come after an
adjective.
Some famous Infinitives:
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“To be or not to be, that is the question.”
“To know me is to love me.”
“You’ve got to live a little.”
“I vant to drink your blooooooood.”
“I wanna hold your hand.”
“I’ve only just begun to fight.”
“To boldly go where no man has gone before…”
(split infinitive)
• Note: To plus a noun or a pronoun
(to Washington, to her) is a
prepositional phrase, not an
infinitive.
– Prep. Phrase: I am going to the mall
today.
– Infinitive: I am going to shop for new
shoes.
IV. The Appositive Phrase…
• Is centered around a noun
• Bob, a boy in my class, sits next to me.
• Renames another noun in the main
sentence.
• Bob is renamed with boy.
• Can be removed from the sentence.
• Bob sits next to me.
The Appositive Phrase…
• Will be surrounded by commas 99% of the
time.
• Bob, my friend, is nice.
• My friend Bob is nice.
• MOST appositive phrases come AFTER the
noun it renames.
• Bob, my friend, is nice.
• A friend at all times, Bob is always there.
The Appositive Phrase…
• Will not begin with a pronoun like “who,”
“which,” “that,” etc. + a verb
• The boy who sits next to me is Bob.
– No appositive in the above sentence.
May have a pronoun + verb later in the phrase
The Appositive Phrase…
• Will not begin with a verb form.
• The boy calling out my name is Bob.