1. Holt Handbook, Ch. 5: The Phrase
English 7CP
Mr. Snow

2. 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 subject and a verb, 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.

3. 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
modifier
object of the preposition
preposition

4. 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.”

5. Anonymous: Vanitas

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.”

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

11. 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]

12. 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]

13. 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

14. 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]

15. 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.

16. FIN