Types of Phrases

A phrase is: A phrase is a group of words that does not have both a subject and a predicate, so it is never a complete sentence.

types of phrases Prepositional phrase Essential Appositive phrase Non-Essential Appositive phrase Present participle phrase Past Participle Gerund

Prepositional Phrases Starts with a preposition Have a preposition and a noun, and sometimes a word in between. On the road Beside the ducks Over the river from Grandma To the gym in my backpack For the win out of her mind

Essential Appositive Phrase An essential clause specifies which noun The essential clause tells the reader which one of many the writer means. The noun will be common and the phrase helps tell which one

In each of the examples, the underlined part is the appositive. The man who ordered another double anchovy pizza claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard pool. - Which man among the billions of human males on the planet? The one who ordered the double anchovy pizza! Freddie hopes to return to the city where he met a woman with haunting green eyes.  Which of the many cities on the planet? The one where Freddie met a memorable woman! Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard is an oceanographic engineer. Tells specifically which Scientist NOTICE: the red noun in a common noun

Non-essential appositive phrases It means that the adjective clause is NOT needed in order to IDENTIFY the noun. It is simply additional information. Does not identify “which one”

Non-essential Appositive Phrases In each of the examples, the underlined part is the appositive. “Larry, the plumber, fixed the sink. An excellent dancer, Rebecca took years of lessons. Miss Piggy, Kermit’s girlfriend, won first prize, a pot-bellied pig. NOTICE: the red noun is a proper noun

Present Participial Phrases start with a word ending in “ing” and describe the noun (which makes them ADJECTIVES) * CANNOT BE THE SUBJECT OR VERB OF THE SENTENCE Ex: Standing in line too long, the people grew irritated. The horse, trotting up to the fence, hopes that you have an apple or carrot.

past participle phrase Past participles end in -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne as in the words asked, eaten, saved, dealt, seen, and gone. (usually ed) modifies the noun. Examples: The church, destroyed by a fire, was never rebuilt. Tom nervously watched the woman, alarmed by her silence. Determined to make the team, Jo shot baskets every night. For what reason did Jo shoot? Because she’s determined to make the team.

Gerund A gerund phrase will begin with a gerund, an ing word. Gerund phrases always function as nouns, so they will be subjects or objects of the sentence. Gerund= noun Present Participle = Adjective Both= start with –ing word

Gerund examples Eating ice cream on a windy day can be a messy experience if you have long, untamed hair. Eating ice cream is the subject of the sentence. It is the thing that IS messy. Is being the verb. A more disastrous activity for long-haired people is blowing giant bubble gum bubbles with the car windows down. Blowing giant bubble gum bubbles is the object of the sentence. It is the disastrous activity in the subject.

Don't mistake a present participle phrase for a gerund phrase. Gerund and present participle phrases are easy to confuse because they both begin with an ing word. The difference is the function that they provide in the sentence. A gerund phrase will always behave as a noun while a present participle phrase will act as an adjective. Check out these examples: Walking on the beach, Delores dodged jellyfish that had washed ashore. Walking on the beach = present participle phrase describing the noun Delores. Walking on the beach is painful if jellyfish have washed ashore. Walking on the beach = gerund phrase, the subject of the verb is.