Download It is an adv. phrase.

The Greatness of
Grammar
Phrases
Why study phrases?
What is a phrase?
It is a group of related words that does
not contain both a subject and its verb—
there is no subject verb relationship.
 They can act as verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, and nouns.
 Ultimately, this group of words is
functioning as one part of speech in a
sentence.

Verb Phrase

A verb phrase is
made up of an
auxiliary verb (verb
helper) plus the past
or present participle
form of a verb.
will have gone
 am going

Note—the verb phrase
can be interrupted
by modifiers.
will have soon gone
 am surely going

Noun Phrase
“A noun phrase can function as a subject,
object, or an appositive phrase defining or
renaming a preceding noun or pronoun”
(Raimes 326).
 An extremely grateful girl hugged her
parents. (noun phrase as subject)
 The woman gave a hearty round of applause.
(noun phrase as direct object)

What is a prepositional
phrase?
It is a phrase beginning with a
preposition and ending with a noun or
pronoun called its object.
 The phrase’s job is to connect its object
to another word in the sentence.
 This word is ultimately the word the
prep. phrase modifies.

Adverb Phrase
An adverb phrase is a prepositional phrase
that acts as an adverb (it modifies a verb,
adverb, adjective, or verbals)
 It can answer the questions where?, when?,
how?, how much?, to what extent? and
sometimes why?
 Use a comma after two consecutive adv.
phrases that begin a sentence.
 Adv. phrases can be located anywhere within
a sentence.

Adjective phrase
An adjective phrase is a prepositional phrase
that modifies a noun, pronoun, or verbals
that act as nouns.
 They answer what kind? which one? or how

many?

An adjective phrase must follow the word it
modifies unless after another phrase/clause
that modifies the same word.
The adv phrase
with some
modifies the verbal
roaming and
answers the
question how
of your buddies is
modifying some,
answers the
question what
kind? = adj.
phrase
For the gifted modifies
school—What kind of
school?
Adj. phrase
For a horse’s rear end
modifies expression. What
kind of expression?
Adj phrase
To dogs modifies the verb say
and answers the question
where?.
It is an adverb phrase.
Of the garbage modifies the
adverb out. It answers the
question where.
It is an adverb phrase.
To him modifies the verb
phrase do listen. It
answers the question how?
and is therefore an adv
phrase.
Into a tree modifies the
verb ran and answers
where?
It is an adv. phrase.
…but what is the phrase TO MISS HIM?
Verbals: The “Posers”

Verbals are verb forms used as other
parts of speech: infinitives, gerunds,
and participles.
In this comic to miss him is called an infinitive
phrase.
An infinitive is made up of the word “to” plus a
verb.
An infinitive phrase is made up of any objects
or modifiers to the infinitive.
Infinitives can function as nouns, adjectives, or
adverbs.
DO NOT SPLIT INFINITIVES IN YOUR WRITING.
I will work to carefully write my paper.
No! Help me Bilbo!!!! William Strunk is coming to get
me!
I will work to write my paper carefully.
Phew, much better! Gandolf would be proud.
The infinitive in the above sentence is acting as an adv.
The infinitive phrase
to kill him is a direct
object to am going
and is therefore a
noun.
Him is part of the
infinitive phrase
because it is a direct
object to the
infinitive.
Gerund

A gerund is a verb form ending in –ing
but functions as a noun within a
sentence.

Gerunds act as subjects, direct objects,
objects of prepositions, indirect objects
and predicate nominatives.

Writing essays is a skill you will utilize
throughout the rest of your educational
careers. (subject)
 Honors Comp. is the perfect class for
learning to write effective essays.
(object of a preposition)
Scamming innocent people out of their money is a gerund
phrase (scamming is the object of the preposition for)
To cancel guilt is an infinitive phrase acting as an adverb.
Participles are verb forms
acting as adjectives.
Present Participles are made up of a
verb form + -ing.
 Past Participles are made up of a verb
form + a –d or –ed ending.

Note: There are some irregular verbs
that have different forms of past
participles. Brought, bought, gone
Some notes about participial
phrases
Although participles and participial
phrases can be located anywhere in
sentence, they should be placed well.
 A participial phrase that begins a
sentence must modify the grammatical
subject.
 Other part. phrases should be as near
as possible to the word they modify.

Astonishing modifies the noun incompetence
To jump is an infinitive acting as a noun (direct object)
Note: an
–ing word is
only a verb
when
accompanied
by a verb
helper like
am going.
What types of verbals or phrases are in the comic?
for lunch
of course
are getting
have done
cost
of the house
to cost
The Appositive
An appositive is a noun or pronoun that
renames another noun or pronoun.
 The appositive usually comes after the
word it renames but not always.
 It should be set off in commas unless is
is a one word appositive or an essential
to the meaning of the sentence.

An appositive is a noun or pronoun -- often with modifiers
-- set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or
identify it. Here are some examples of appositives.
An appositive phrase usually follows the word it
explains or identifies, but it may also precede it.
Punctuation of appositives
“In some cases, the noun being explained is too
general without the appositive; the information is
essential to the meaning of the sentence. When this
is the case, do not place commas around the
appositive; just leave it alone. If the sentence
would be clear and complete without the
appositive, then commas are necessary; place one
before and one after the appositive” (Purdue).
The Absolute Phrase
“An absolute phrase begins with a noun
phrase followed by a verbal or prepositional
phrase. It contains no verb form that
indicates tense” (Raimes 328).
 “An absolute phrase modifies a whole
sentence and is set off from the rest of the
sentence by a comma” (Raimes 328).

•Their reputation as winners secured by victory,
the New York Liberty charged into the semifinals.
•The season nearly finished, Rebecca Lobo and
Sophie Witherspoon emerged as true leaders.
•The two superstars signed autographs into the night,
their faces beaming happily.
Resources
Adams, Scott. Dilbert.com. 2004. 24 Jan. 2005.
<http://www.dilbert.com>.
“Farside Comics.” Angelfire. 24 Jan. 2005.
<http://www.angelfire.com/nd2/rickspage/farside.
html>.
Jennings, Mark. Skylar’s Den. 15 Jul. 2004. 24 Jan.
2005. <http://www2.symet.net/TeamSky/index.
htm>.
Purdue University. Online Writing Lab.
2004. 24 Jan.2005.<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
lab/fairuse.html>.
Raimes, Ann. Universal Keys for Writers. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2004.