The Phrase A phrase is a group of

The Phrase • A phrase is a group of related words, used as a single part of speech, that never contains a verb and a subject. • It does NOT create a sentence.

I. Verb Phrase • Every word in a verb phrase is a verb. • Examples: – A storm is approaching. – Thunder could be heard in the distance.

II. The Prepositional Phrase • A prepositional phrase (P A N) – begins with a preposition, – it may have adjectives – it ends with a noun or pronoun (obj. of the prep. ) • Example: in that picture • It acts like an adjective OR adverb.

• Two kinds of prepositional phrases: – 1. Adjective phrase - a prepositional phrase used as an adjective. It tells what kind or which one. It follows the noun or pronoun it modifies. • Examples: A book of jokes might make a good gift. The girl in the blue shirt won the contest.

2. Adverb phrase - a prepositional phrase used as an adverb. It tells when, where, how, why. It modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It comes anywhere in the sentence except after the subject. • Examples: Later in the afternoon, the storm brought high winds and rain. We played for hours.

III. Verbal phrase • A phrase that is centered around a verb form. • This verb form is NOT used as a verb in the sentence. • It is used as a noun, adj. Or adv.

3 Kinds of Verbal Phrases • Participial Phrase • Gerund Phrase • Infinitive Phrase

A. Participles/Participial Phrases - Any verb forms used as adjectives - Can be taken out of the sentence - Have several forms • Note: A participle is always used as an adjective, therefore it comes close to a noun. • They can come BEFORE or AFTER the noun

Some participial verb forms: • • -ing as in “The pouring rain…” -ed as in “The soiled carpet…” -n or – en as in “The broken arrow…” -t as in “The bent tree…”

Examples of Participles: • The falling snow is beautiful. • The bucking bronco… • The running stream…

Examples of Participles: • * The participial phrase usually needs commas. • The snow, falling on the trees, is beautiful.

Examples of Participles: • The fallen snow was beautiful. • Having fallen, the boy slid into the teacher. • Having fallen on the ice, the boy slid into the teacher. • If the participial phrase comes first in the sentence, it is separated from the sentence with a comma.

Examples of Participles: • The boy, having fallen on the snow, slid into the teacher.

Caution: • If a participle is not close to the noun it modifies, it can become misplaced. The boy slid into the teacher having fallen on the ice. • **problem – so far from “boy” – did the boy fall or the teacher ? ? ? Called a misplaced participle.

B. Gerund Phrase A gerund is a verbal, or verb form, that ends in -ing and is used as a noun. • A gerund always ends in ing and is always used as a noun. • Never surrounded by commas except for appositives • Be careful of –ING verb forms that ARE used as verbs in a sentence (these are not gerunds) • Positions: subject, direct object, predicate nominative, object of the preposition

Not all –ING words are Gerunds: • • Morning Evening Something Nothing Anything Everything She is driving to school today.

• Examples of gerunds/gerund phrases: Kissing is fun. Kissing my dog is fun. • As subject: My hobby is kissing my dog. • As predicate nominative: • As direct object: I like kissing my dog.

• Examples of gerunds/gerund phrases con’t. : • As object of the prep. : I am good at kissing my dog. > Kissing can still be a verb phrase and not a gerund: I am kissing my dog.

Find the gerund phrase • • Swimming the mile is my best event. I gave swimming the mile a try. He lectured us about swimming the mile. My best event is swimming the mile. • His sister was dancing in the show.

C. Infinitives/Infinitive Phrases An infinitive is a verbal, or verb form, that can be used as a noun, adjective, or an adverb. An infinitive usually begins with to + a plain verb form ( no endings; no -s, -ing) – Example: to walk, to talk, to go, to see – Don’t confuse with prep. phrase - a prep. phrase has no verb.

Infinitives as nouns: To succeed is my goal. (subj. ) My ambition is to teach Spanish. (p. n. ) She tried to win. (D. O. ) Noun will appear in a noun position. Which two are not used? ?

Infinitives as adjectives: The place to meet tomorrow is the library. She is the one to call. Adjective will come directly after a noun and modify it by telling which or what kind.

Infinitives as adverbs: • To get into Harvard, you must study. • Tamara claims she was born to surf. • This math problem will be hard to solve without a calculator. • Adverb will come first with comma, or answer adv. question, or come after an adjective.

Some famous Infinitives: • • “To be or not to be, that is the question. ” “To know me is to love me. ” “You’ve got to live a little. ” “I vant to drink your blooood. ” “I wanna hold your hand. ” “I’ve only just begun to fight. ” “To boldly go where no man has gone before…” (split infinitive)

• Note: To plus a noun or a pronoun (to Washington, to her) is a prepositional phrase, not an infinitive. – Prep. Phrase: I am going to the mall today. – Infinitive: I am going to shop for new shoes.

IV. The Appositive Phrase… • Is centered around a noun • Bob, a boy in my class, sits next to me. • Renames another noun in the main sentence. • Bob is renamed with boy. • Can be removed from the sentence. • Bob sits next to me.

The Appositive Phrase… • Will be surrounded by commas 99% of the time. • Bob, my friend, is nice. • My friend Bob is nice. • MOST appositive phrases come AFTER the noun it renames. • Bob, my friend, is nice. • A friend at all times, Bob is always there.

The Appositive Phrase… • Will not begin with a pronoun like “who, ” “which, ” “that, ” etc. + a verb • The boy who sits next to me is Bob. – No appositive in the above sentence. May have a pronoun + verb later in the phrase

The Appositive Phrase… • Will not begin with a verb form. • The boy calling out my name is Bob.