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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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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
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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
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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.
 Gabe
and Andrew worked 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

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

The dancing was fun. [SUB]
My favorite part of the show was his juggling. [PN]
Pierre tried 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

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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 to to 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
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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
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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.