Holt Handbook, Ch. 5: The PhraseEnglish 7CPMr. Snow

What is a phrase?• A phrase is a group of related words that is used

as a single part of speech and that does NOT contain both a subject and a verb.

• If a group of words has both a subjectsubject and a verbverb, it is called a clause.

• A clause and a phrase are not the same thing.• A phrase can never be a complete sentence; a

clause may be.

Prepositional phrases• Prepositional phrases include a preposition, the

object of a preposition, and modifiers of the object (if any).• under the umbrella• for ourselves• among good friends• next to them• of the United States

preposition

modifier

object of the preposition

Prepositional phrases• I’m going to show you a painting. In your notes,

write as many sentences as you can containing prepositional phrases.• Ex: “The man is standing on the boat.”• Ex: “Blue paint is all over the walls.”• Ex: “Next to the dog are two food bowls.”

Anonymous: Vanitas

Participles• Participles are verb forms used as adjectives.• Present participles end in -ing.

• Mr. Sanders rescued us from the burning building.• [burn is a verb, but burning is present participle

modifying building]• Past participles usually end in -d, -ed, or -en.

• Well trained, the sailors carried out their mission.• The paper was poorly written.

Participles• Don’t confuse a participle with part of the verb phrase.

• Discouraged, we went home. [participle]• The fans were discouraged by the loss. [verb]• Singing cheerfully, the birds perched among the tree

branches. [participle]• The birds were singing cheerfully among the tree

branches. [verb]• Hint: participles can always be removed from the

sentence without affecting readability. Verbs can’t.

Participial phrases• Participial phrases consist of a participle together

with its modifiers and complements.• The entire phrase is used as an adjective.

• Stretching slowly, the cat jumped down.• The tornado predicted by the meteorologist did not

touch down in our area.• Reading the assignment, she took careful notes.

Participial phrases

• I’m going to show you a photograph. This time write as many sentences as you can with participial phrases.• Ex: “Falling slowly, the airplane is about to crash.”• Ex: “The statue, carved from wood, is beautiful.”• Ex: “That skull, frightening as can be, is sitting on

the papers.”

Jeff Wall: After “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, The Prologue (1999-2000)

Infinitives• An infinitive is a verb form that can be used as a

noun, adjective, or adverb.• Infinitives look like this: to + a verb.

• To succeed is my goal. [used as noun]• The place to meet tomorrow is the library. [used as

adjective]• Tamara said she was born to surf. [used as adverb]

Infinitive vs. prepositional phrase

• Don’t confuse infinitives with prepositional phrases.• To run [infinitive]

• To you [prep. phrase]

• To hike [infinitive]• To infinity and beyond! [prep. phrase]

Infinitive phrases• Infinitive phrases consist an infinitive together with

its modifiers and complements.• The entire phrase may be used as a noun, adjective,

or adverb.• To be a good gymnast takes hard work.

• used as noun• The first man to fly over the North and South Pole

was Richard Byrd.• used as adjective

• Are you ready to go to the gym now?• used as adverb

Appositive & appositive phrases• An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed

beside another noun or pronoun to identify or describe it.• Our teacher Mr. Snow enjoys books by Kurt

Vonnegut. [Mr. Snow identifies our teacher]• His book Slaughterhouse-Five is among Mr.

Snow’s favorite books. [Slaughterhouse-Five identifies book]

Appositive phrases• Appositive phrases consist of an appositive and its

modifiers.• Hint: appositives can always be taken out.

• Anne, a wonderful lady, works hard all day.• Joe’s son Ethan had his birthday today.• Jackson Square, a landmark in New Orleans, has a

statue of Andrew Jackson.• Monique wanted a sweater, her green one.

FIN