Types of phrases- Alafaq School

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Prepositional – Appositive – Participial – Gerund - Infinitive

A phrase is two or more words that do not contain the
subject-verb pair necessary to form a clause. Phrases can
be very short or quite long. Here are two examples:
- After lunch
- After slithering down the stairs and across the road to
scare nearly to death Mrs. Philpot busy pruning her rose
bushes

At the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with a
preposition and end with a noun, pronoun, gerund, or
clause, the "object" of the preposition.
The object of the preposition will often have one or more
modifiers to describe it. These are the patterns for a
prepositional phrase:
Preposition + Noun, Pronoun, Gerund, or Clause
Preposition + Modifier(s) + Noun, Pronoun, Gerund, or
Clause

- On time
On = preposition; time = noun.
- Underneath the sagging yellow couch
Underneath = preposition; the, sagging, yellow = modifiers;
couch = noun.
- From eating too much
From = preposition; eating = gerund; too, much = modifiers.

A prepositional phrase will function as an adjective or adverb. As an
adjective, the prepositional phrase will answer the question Which one?
Read these examples:
- The spider above the kitchen sink has just caught a fat fly.
Which spider? The one above the kitchen sink!
- The librarian at the check-out desk smiles whenever she collects a
late fee.
Which librarian? The one at the check-out desk!
- The vegetables on Mashael's plate lay untouched the entire meal.
Which vegetables? The ones on Mashael’s plate!

As an adverb, a prepositional phrase will answer questions such
as How? When? or Where?
While sitting in the cafeteria, Najla ate peas with a spoon.
How did Najla ate those peas? With a spoon!
After breakfast, we piled the dirty dishes in the sink.
When did we pile the dirty dishes? After breakfast!
Leena finally found the umbrella wedged under the passenger's
front seat.
Where did Leena find the umbrella? Under the passenger's front
seat!

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames
another noun right beside it. The appositive can be a short
or long combination of words. Look at these appositive
examples, all of which rename insect:
The insect, a cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen
table.
The insect, a large cockroach, is crawling across the
kitchen table.
The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling
across the kitchen table.

- During the dinner conversation, Clifford, the messiest
eater at the table, spewed mashed potatoes like an
erupting volcano.
- My 486 computer, a modern-day dinosaur, chews floppy
disks as noisily as my brother does peanut brittle.
- Rifal's bedroom desk, the biggest disaster area in the
house, is a collection of overdue library books, dirty plates,
computer components, old mail, and empty potato chip
bags.

The important point to remember is that a nonessential appositive is
always separated from the rest of the sentence with comma(s).
- When the appositive begins the sentence, it looks like this:
A hot-tempered tennis player, Jawhra charged the umpire and tried to
crack the poor girl’s skull with a racket.
- When the appositive interrupts the sentence, it looks like this:
Jawhra, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and tried to
crack the poor girl's skull with a racket.
- And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:
Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Jawhra, a hot-tempered
tennis player who charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor girl's
skull with a racket.

A participle phrase will begin with a present or past
participle. If the participle is present, it will dependably end
in ing. Likewise, a regular past participle will end in a
consistent ed. Irregular past participles, unfortunately,
conclude in all kinds of ways [although this list will help].
Since all phrases require two or more words, a participle
phrase will often include objects and/or modifiers that
complete the thought. The pattern looks like this:
Participle + Object(s) and/or modifier(s)

- Flexing his muscles in front of the bathroom mirror
- Ripped from a spiral-ring notebook
- Driven crazy by Grandma's endless questions
Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence. Read these examples:
- The stock clerk lining up cartons of orange juice made sure the expiration date faced the back of the cooler.
Lining up cartons of orange juice modifies the noun clerk.
- Hessa likes her eggs smothered in cheese sauce.
Smothered in cheese sauce modifies the noun eggs.
- Shrunk in the dryer, the jeans hung above Taleen's ankles.
Shrunk in the dryer modifies the noun jeans.

A gerund phrase will begin with a gerund, an ing word, and
will often include other modifiers and/or objects. The
pattern looks like this:
Gerund + Object(s) and/or Modifier(s)
Gerund phrases look exactly like present participle
phrases. How do you tell the difference? You must
determine the function of the phrase.
Gerund phrases always function as nouns, so they will be
subjects, subject complements, or objects in the sentence.

- Washing our cat Bessa requires strong arms to keep the
squirming, unhappy kitten in the tub.
Washing our dog Gizmo = subject of the verb requires.
- A good strategy for avoiding dirty dishes is eating every meal
off of paper towels.
Eating every meal off of paper towels = subject complement of
the verb is.
- Susie tried holding the slippery trout, but the fish flipped out of
her hands and splashed back into the stream.
Holding the slippery trout = direct object of the verb tried.

An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive [to + simple
form of the verb]. It will often include objects and/or
modifiers that complete the thought. The pattern looks like
this:
Infinitive + Object(s) and/or Modifier(s)

- To slurp spaghetti
- To send the document before the deadline
- To gulp the glass of water with such thirst that streams of
liquid ran down his chin and wet the front of his already
sweat-soaked shirt

- To avoid another lecture from Shaden on the benefits of
vegetarianism was Aljazi's hope for their date at a nice
restaurant.
To avoid another lecture from Michelle on the benefits of
vegetarianism functions as a noun because it is the subject
of the sentence.
- Leen plans to take microbiology next semester when
Professor Crum, a pushover, is teaching the course.
To take microbiology next semester functions as a noun
because it is the direct object for the verb plans.

- The worst thing to happen during the severe thunderstorm
was a lightning strike that fried Layal's computer.
To happen during the severe thunderstorm functions as an
adjective because it modifies thing.

- Lulu decided to mow the long grass on the front lawn to
keep her neighbors from complaining to the homeowners
association.
To keep her neighbors from complaining to the
homeowners association functions as an adverb because it
explains why Lulu mowed the lawn.

Types of phrases- Alafaq School

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