Writer's Choice Grade 12

Unit 12: Phrases

Overview

"We met at the diner." "Laura, Jen's sister, arrived before me." "We sent back the burned fries." The italicized words in the previous sentences are examples of phrases. Phrases are groups of words that function together in a sentence but do not make a complete sentence by themselves. There are three main types: prepositional phrases (at the diner), appositive phrases (Jen's sister), and verbal phrases (burned fries).

A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition (at) and ends with an object of the preposition (diner). Prepositional phrases act as modifiers in sentences in the same way that adjectives or adverbs do. In this example, the prepositional phrase, at the movies, behaves like an adverb. It answers the question where and modifies the verb met.

An appositive is a noun or pronoun that is placed directly next to another noun or pronoun to provide more information about it. For example, "My friend Naoki came with me to the diner." Naoki identifies the noun friend. An appositive phrase is an appositive plus any words that modify that appositive. "Simon, the newspaper editor, sat with Laura."

Verbals are verb forms used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. There are three kinds of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. A verbal phrase includes a verbal plus any complements and modifiers. Participles are verb forms, in past or present tense, used as adjectives (burned fries). Gerunds are verb forms used like a noun (Eating fries). Infinitives are verb forms that are usually preceded by to; they can be used as either a noun, an adjective, or adverb (to eat fries).

Also known as a nominative absolute, an absolute phrase consists of a noun or pronoun that is modified by a participle or participial phrase. "The fries being burned, we sent them back." An absolute phrase has no grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence.

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