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Phrases
Prepositional Phrases
• What is a prepositional phrase?
• A group of words beginning with a preposition and ending
with a noun or pronoun.
• For example:
– on the steps
– with a wink
from Mary and me
into the woods
• Prepositional phrases are usually used as modifiers. The
exception is…
• After dinner will be too late.
• The prepositional phrase here is used as the subject of the
sentence, a noun position.
The Adjective Phrase
• Prepositional phrases acting as an adjective are
called adjective phrases.
• What is an adjective?
• -Modifies a noun or a pronoun
• What are the adjective questions again?
• -Which one? What kind? How many? How much?
Whose is it?
• The pizza in the fridge has been there since last
Tuesday night.
• What question does the above prep phrase
answer?
Practice from Warriner’s
• Find all of the adjective phrases in the following
sentences. Before each phrase, place the number of
the sentence in which it appears. After each phrase,
write the noun it modifies.
• 1. Once inhabited primarily by American Indians and
dreaded by pioneers, the deserts of the Southwest
are now popular areas for business and recreation.
• 2. Caves beneath the rims of the desert canyons were
once the homes of small bands of Pueblos.
• 3. These lofty homes provided protection from
enemies, but life in cliff dwellings was hard and
tedious.
• 4. The flatlands below the abandoned ruins were once
irrigated by a system of canals.
• 5. A visit to the desert intrigues tourists from states
without deserts.
The Adverb Phrase
• Prepositional phrases acting as an adverb are
called adverb phrases.
• What is an adverb?
• -Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb
• What are the adverb questions again?
• -Where? When? Why? How? To what
extent/degree?
• The pizza has been in the fridge since last
Tuesday night.
• What question does the above prep phrase
answer?
Practice from Warriner’s
• Find all of the adverb phrases in the following
sentences. Before each phrase, place the number of
the sentence in which it appears. After each phrase,
write the word(s) it modifies.
• 1. After the concert, everyone praised Gail for her
performance.
• 2. She had practiced at her home for hours.
• 3. When she was playing at her best, she became
unaware of her surroundings.
• 4. Although she played at home with complete
abandon, she was modest about her coming
performance.
• 5. She practiced far beyond the necessary hours,
knowing she would not be content with a merely
mechanical rendition.
Adjective or Adverb?
(Adapted from Glencoe Grammar and Composition Handbook p. 279)
• Find the prepositional phrases in the following
sentences and explain if they are adjective or
adverb phrases.
• 1. Who took my book from the hall table?
• 2. Darla planted daffodils along the walkway.
• 3. Our leaders sent messages of sympathy to the
French government.
• 4. Seven candles on the table provided a bright
glow.
• 5. The president of the company opened the
meeting with a short film about environmental
responsibility.
Diagramming
Prepositional Phrases
• Review: Now diagram these sentences:
• 1. Who took my book from the hall table?
• 2. Darla planted daffodils along the walkway.
• 3. Our leaders sent messages of sympathy to the
French government.
• 4. Seven candles on the table provided a bright glow.
• 5. The president of the company opened the meeting
with a short film about environmental
responsibility.
(Adapted from Glencoe Grammar and Composition Handbook p. 279)
Extra Practice
• Handout 4.1 and 12.1 (same sheet)
• WB pp. 89-90 with modified
directions: Underline the prep
phrase(s) in each sentence, draw an
arrow to the word(s) it modifies, and
label it as ADJ or ADV.
Bell-ringer Activity
• Correct the following two sentences on a
sheet of paper:
• 1. Incidently, two of comedian, Charlie
Chaplin’s, finest funniest movies are City
Lights (1931) and The Gold Rush (1925).
• 2. Thruout history, traveling traders and
merchants took home new products, such
as tea, spices and fabrics as a matter of
fact thats one reason civilizations
changed.
VERBALS
• Verbals are cross-dressing PIGs.
• They are VERBS that do NOT act as
VERBS.
• Verbals act like nouns, adjectives, or
adverbs.
• Verbals may express action, may have
modifiers, and may be followed by
complements.
• Three types: Participles, Infinitives, and
Gerunds
The Participle
• A participle is a verb form used as an
adjective:
– Humming happily to himself, Officer Smiley
crossed the street.
– I found him crying.
– The awakened children began to stir.
• 2 kinds of participles:
– Present (-ing) sleeping, running down the street
– Past (-ed, -d, -t, -en, -n) asked, saved, dealt, eaten,
seen
The Participle
• How can you tell if a participle is being
used as an adjective or as a verb?
• *Participles are never used alone as a verb;
they are used with an auxiliary verb to
form a verb phrase:
– The car was moving rapidly.
– The moving car gathered speed rapidly.
• When used in verb phrases, participles are
not considered as adjectives, but as part
of the verb phrase.
The Participial Phrase
• Definition: A phrase containing a participle and any
complements or modifiers it may have.
• What is a complement? (DO, IO, PN, PA)
• What is coat below?
– Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river bank.
• The participle usually introduces the phrase and the
entire phrase acts as an adjective to modify a noun
or a pronoun.
– Arthur Ashe, playing with skill, won the tournament.
– Getting up at 5am, we got an early start.
– Destroyed by fire, the church was never rebuilt.
Practice from Warriner’s
(p. 44) Find the participial phrases in the sentences below.
• 1. High school graduates replying to a questionnaire about
their college courses often mention freshman English as
the course giving them the most trouble.
• 2. Facing college standards, the graduates realize that
they did not work hard enough on the compositions
assigned in high school.
• 3. Statistics reported by the National Education
Association revealed that the vast majority of American
colleges offer remedial English classes emphasizing
composition.
• 4. Handicapped by their writing deficiencies, graduates
seeing employment or advancement in their occupations
are often denied desirable opportunities.
More Practice from
Warriner’s (p. 44-45)
• Identify each italicized phrase below as a
participial, adjective, or adverb phrase, and give
the word it modifies.
• 1. Having studied hard, Karen walked rapidly to
school, confident that she would do well on her
test in chemistry.
• 2. By next week all of the students trying out for
the soccer team will have heard from the coach or
his assistant.
• 3. Many of the skits written for Torch Day are
based on events of the past year.
More Practice with
Participles
• Handout 4.2 & 12.3
(pp. 32 & 15, respectively)
• WB pp. 93-94 Evens
DO NOT Dangle Your
Participles!
• A modifying phrase must clearly and sensibly
modify a word in the sentence. When there is no
word that the phrase or clause can sensibly
modify, the modifier is said to dangle.
• Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught on
the step.
• How can you fix the above sentence?
• Carrying a heavy pile of books, she caught her
foot on the step.
• Her foot caught on the step as she was carrying a
heavy pile of books.
Dangling Participles
(p. 235) Fix the following sentences
• 1. Coming up the front walk, the bouquet in
the picture window looked beautiful.
• 2. Left alone in the house, the
thunderstorm terrified him.
• 3. Living in this coastal town for many
years, the fishing boats and their skippers
were well known to him.
Misplaced Modifiers
• Phrase modifiers (adjective phrases and participial phrases)
should be placed as near as possible to the words they
modify.
• The thief decided to make a run for it when he saw the
police officer, abandoning the stolen car and dashing into
the woods.
• How is this fixed?
• When he saw the police officer, the thief decided to make a
run for it, abandoning the stolen car and dashing into the
woods.
• Prepositional phrases can also be misplaced:
• After scoring the winning basket, the crowd cheered the
team.
PRACTICE:
Rewrite each sentence that contains a misplaced or
dangling modifier. If the sentence is correct, rewrite
one of your own in the same pattern.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. Sitting on the porch last night, the fireworks display was
impressive.
2. Florida locations attract many retired people with their warm
temperatures.
3. Engrossed in a book, the ringing telephone made no impression
on Miranda.
4. Many people seek counseling in financial trouble.
5. As the stranger approached, leaving no doubt about his
intentions, James fled in his car.
6. Enjoying the play, we laughed and cried at the antics of the
characters.
7. Growing even more excited, the party in his honor was a great
surprise for Lorne.
8. The students waited impatiently for the principal, becoming
hungrier by the minute.
Extra Practice
• WB pp. 209-211 *Only the following
numbers:
• Ex. 1: 1-6, 9-16;
• Ex. 2
The Gerund
• Definition: A verb form ending in –ing that is used
as a __________.
• Because it is a noun, it can play any of the roles a
noun can play in a sentence:
• Singing always makes me feel better.
• They do not appreciate my singing.
• My students give studying top priority.
• How much time do you devote to studying?
• My preference of activities is studying.
• Her talent, singing, may make her famous one day.
The Gerund Phrase
• A gerund phrase is a gerund plus any modifiers and/or
complements.
• Students are responsible for mastering their
subjects.
• What is the difference between the underlined
phrases in the following two sentences?
• Traveling far from home, she became a little homesick.
• Traveling far from home was a first for her.
• First is a participial (used as an adj.);
the second is a gerund phrase (used as a noun).
• Which are these?
• Listening to the radio helped Joe work faster.
• Listening to the radio, Joe worked faster.
Practice
Find the gerund/gerund phrase in each
sentence, and tell what its function is.
• 1. Telling your little brother where you hid
your diary was a big mistake.
• 2. The college advises sending applications
early.
• 3. He won the game by kicking a field goal.
• 4. The Colts’ most important achievement
to date is winning the Super Bowl.
• 5. I will give writing your recommendation
my full attention.
Extra Practice
• HO 4.2 & 12.3
(pp. 33 & 16, respectively)
• WB pp. 95-96 (Odds)
• WB p. 99 (Odds) (practice
distinguishing gerunds from
participles)
The Infinitive
• An infinitive is a verb form, usually preceded by
to, that is used as a noun or a modifier (adj or
adv).
–
–
–
–
–
To wait for the bus is tiresome.
Everyone wanted to go to the dance.
Her dream is to fly.
Some have a tendency to doze in class.
We study to learn.
• *Often the word to is omitted:
– She made me leave.
– Help me do my homework, please.
• *Be careful not to confuse the infinitive with a
prepositional phrase that begins with to.
The Infinitive Phrase
• An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive and
any complements and/or modifiers it may have.
– We intend to leave early.
– I have an essay to write before class.
– She only wants to help us.
• Like infinitives standing alone, infinitive phrases
can be used as nouns or as modifiers.
–
–
–
–
–
We tried to study with her.
To study English became her obsession.
His plan is to study English in college.
There must be a way to study better for English.
I am too busy to go to the movies tonight, as I must
study English.
FYI: Infinitive Clause
• Unlike other verbals, an infinitive may have a
subject, as well as complements and modifiers.
–
–
–
–
I expected Gloria to vote for me.
I asked her to help me.
I believe it to be John.
I believe it to be good.
• When an infinitive has a subject, the construction
is called an infinitive clause, as it has both a
subject and a verb.
• *The subject of an infinitive is always in the
objective case!
Practice:
• Identify the infinitive phrase as adjective, adverb,
or noun, and describe its function in the sentence.
• 1. Amy hopes to learn French so she can study
abroad.
• 2. We walked two blocks until we found something
to eat.
• 3. It was difficult to identify the type of organism
under the microscope.
• 4. To beat her brother to the Pop Tarts in the
morning required craftiness on her part.
• 5. To do it, she needed to take her shower at night.
• 6. Arthur’s dream is to score the winning basket.
Practice
• HO 4.2 & 12.3
(pp. 34 & 17, respectively)
• WB pp. 97-98 (Odds)
• WB p. 100 Ex. 2 only
The Appositive Phrase
• An appositive is a noun or pronoun, often with modifiers,
set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or
identify it.
– My friend Rachel sent me a postcard.
• An appositive phrase is an appositive plus any modifiers.
– Two years ago, I rode a hydrofoil across the English
Channel, the body of water between England and
France.
• Appositives that are not essential to the meaning of the
sentence should be set off by commas.
– My uncle Bill raises horses to show.
(I have four uncles.)
– My brother, Chris, is getting a master’s degree.
(I have only one brother.)
Practice
• Handout
• WB pp. 91-92 EVENS
Cumulative Practice
• Identify each italicized phrase in the sentences below as
adj, adv, participial, gerund, infinitive, or appositive.
– As its population increases by leaps and bounds, the
world faces a shortage of fresh water.
– An obvious way to increase the fresh water supply is to
convert sea water.
– Converting sea water is, therefore, one of our greatest
scientific problems.
– Scientists are experimenting with two methods, the
well-known distillation process and the freezeseparation process, which separates fresh water by
freezing it into removable crystals.
– Using one billion gallons a day, a city of four million
people spends, under present circumstances,
approximately one dollar per thousand gallons; but
converted water produced by existing methods often
costs five times as much.