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Sentence Composing
First you have to learn something, and
then you can go out and do it.
---Mies van der Rohe
APPOSITIVE PHRASE
• Appositives are noun phrases that
identify adjacent nouns or pronouns.
They can occur as sentence openers,
subject-verb splits, or sentence closers.
• Example:
• My mother, a hard worker, finally retired
from her job.
Sentence Openers
•One of eleven brothers and
sisters, Harriet was a
moody, willful child.
• The appositive is….
• The subject of the sentence is…
• What’s the verb?
Subject-Verb Splits
 Poppa, a good quiet man,
spent the last hours before
our parting moving aimlessly
about the yard, keeping to
himself and avoiding me.
 -- Gordon Parks, “My Mother’s Dream for Me”
Sentence Closers
 The boy looked at them, big
black ugly insects.
 --Doris Lessing, African Stories
 The appositive phrase is..
 The subject of the sentence is…
 The verb of the sentence is…
Participial Phrases
Participles describe nouns or pronouns.
 Present participles always end in ing.
 Past participles usually end in ed.

Present Participles

STANDING there in the middle of the
street, Marty suddenly thought of
Halloween, of the winter and snowballs, of
the schoolyard.

---- Murray Heyert, “The New Kid”
Past Participles

Her hair, BRAIDED and WRAPPED around
her head, made an ash-blonde crown.

---- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Sentence Openers

Whistling, he let the escalator waft him
into the still night air.
--- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Subject-Verb Splits

Eckels, balanced on the narrow path,
aimed his rifle playfully.

--- Ray Bradbury, A Sound of Thunder”
Sentence Closers

The entire crowd in the saloon gathered
about me now, urging me to drink.

She called to him, excited.
Where are the participles?
 What are the subjects?
 What are the verbs?

Absolute Phrase
Absolutes are almost complete sentences.
 As a test, you can make any absolute a
sentence by adding was or were.
 An Absolute is usually written with a
participle + a noun.
 Example:



His hands raw, he reached a flat place at the top.
His hands were raw, he reached a flat place at the top.
Sentence Openers

His hands raw, he reached a flat place at
the top.

--- Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game”
Sentence Closers

She screamed for Klaus – shrieked for him
– and Klaus came on the dead run, his
work boots whitened by the half-full pail of
milk he had spilled on them.

“…his work boots were whitened by the…”
 ---- Stephen King, The Two Dead Girls
Subject-Verb Splits


High in the air, a little figure, his
hands thrust in his short jacket
pockets, stood staring out to sea.
“…his hands were thrust in his …”

--- Katherine Mansfield, The Voyage
The Adjective Clause



Adjective clauses are sentence parts
that describe whatever is mentioned
to the left of them in the same
sentence.
Most begin with the words: who,
which, whose, or where.
They can occur as subject-verb
splits, or sentence closers.
Subject-Verb Splits

Keeton, who overtopped Norris by five inches
and outweighed him by a hundred pounds,
gave the deputy a harsh little shake and then
did let go.

Stephen King, Needful Things
Sentence Closers

I loved school with a desperate passion,
which became more intense when I began
to realize what a monumental struggle it
was for my parents and brothers and
sisters to keep me there.

--- Eugenia Collier, Sweet Potato Pie
…more adjective clauses
 Even his eyes, which had been young,
looked old. --- John Steinbeck, The Red Pony
 I began to wonder what God thought
about Westley, who certainly hadn’t seen
Jesus either, but who was now sitting
proudly on the platform swinging his
knickerbockered legs and running down
at me.
---Langston Hughes, The Big Sea
Adverbial Clause



Adverbial Clauses are sentence parts that
tell more about the rest of the sentence in
which they appear.
They usually tell why, how, when or
under what condition something was
done.
Most begin with the words after, if,
because, although, when, as, before,
until, for or since (subordinators).
Sentence Openers

After he got himself under control, he
apologized.

Although they lived in style, they felt
always an anxiety in the house.
--- Stephen King
 --- D. H. Lawrence

Subject-Verb Splits

Uncle Hammer, as he had every day since
he had arrived, wore sharply creased pants,
a vest over a snow-white shirt, and shoes
that shone like midnight. (Tells when he
dressed neatly).

--- Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder,
Hear My Cry
Sentence Closers

Alfred quietly slipped out the back
door and waited until Henry left.
(Tells when Alfred waited)

Bert seemed a little sheepish as he
followed the other members to their
seats at the front of the room. (Tells
when Bert seemed sheepish)


Robert Lipsyte, The Contender
John Steinbeck, The Red Pony
The Infinitive Phrase
An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive [to +
simple form of the verb] and include objects and/or
modifiers.
 Examples:
 To smash a spider…
 To lick the grease from his shiny fingers despite the
disapproving glances of his girlfriend Gloria…

More infinitive phrases…
 To finish her shift without spilling another
pizza into a customer’s lap is Michelle’s
only goal.
 Q: How does this infinitive phrase function in the sentence?
 Lakesha hopes to win the approval of her
mother by switching her major form fine
arts to pre-med.
 Q: How does this infinitive phrase function in the sentence?
The Gerund Phrase
 A gerund phrase will being with a gerund,
an ing word, and might include other
modifiers and/or objects.
 Gerund phrases always function as nouns.
 Example:
 Eating ice cream on a windy day
can be a messy experience if you
have long, untamed hair.
More Gerund Phrases….
-- Jamming too much clothing into a
washing machine will result in disaster.
-- A more disastrous activity for long-haired
people is blowing giant bubble gum
bubbles with the care windows down.
English 10th Grade
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END!
THE END!