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:

• As subject: Kissing is fun.

Kissing my dog is fun.

• As predicate nominative: My hobby is kissing.My hobby is kissing

my dog.

• As direct object: I like kissing.I like kissing my dog.

• Examples of gerunds/gerund phrases con’t.:

• As object of the prep.: I am good at kissing.

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 blooooooood.”• “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.