A phrase is a group of words that does not have a subject or a

predicate.

About before down of throughout Above behind during off to Across below except on toward After beneath for onto

under Against beside from out underneath Along between in outside until Among beyond inside over up Around but into past upon As by like since with At despite near through within

According to in place of Aside from in spite of Because of instead of By means of on account of In addition to out of In front of prior to

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, its object, and any modifiers of the object.

Beside a roaring river, Thomas tripped and fell.

His ankle started to swell in the afternoon.

The shoe on his left foot no longer fits. The group traveled by boat to the clinic. A nurse at the clinic put a bandage

around Thomas’s ankle. From time to time during the day,

Thomas complained.

An adjective prepositional phrase is a prepositional phrase that describes a noun or a pronoun.

It answers the questions

which one or what kind.

Did you read the letter on the table? The horse in the first stall is Morgan. Millions of acres are still unused today.

Put away the bag of groceries on the counter.

The plane on the left is mine.

An adverb prepositional phrase is a prepositional phrase that describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb.

An adverb phrase tells how, when, where, to what extent.

I left my sneakers in my locker.

The rehearsal lasted until ten o’clock.

I planted the shrubs according to his instructions.

For three days all the flags were at half mast.

Over the weekend I put my records into the cabinet.

An appositive is a noun or pronoun that identifies or renames another noun or pronoun.

Passengers in a hot-air balloon ride in the gondola, a small basket beneath the balloon.

An essential or restrictive appositive is needed to make the meaning of the sentence complete.

The British tycoon Richard Branson has made several attempts to circle the world nonstop in a balloon.

A nonessential or nonrestrictive appositive adds extra information to a sentence. It is not needed to make the meaning of the sentence clear.

Steve Fossett, an American financier, is another dedicated competitor in around-the-world ballooning.

A verbal is a verb form that acts as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

There are three types of verbals:◦participles ◦gerunds ◦infinitives

A participle is a verb form that functions as an adjective.

There are two kinds of participles: present participles and past participles.

Present participles end in –ing.Past participles usually end in –d or -ed. Others are irregularly formed.

Examples:◦The falling prices were good news for prospective buyers.

◦The improved designs made the automobiles cheaper and more reliable.

Helping verbs can be added to past participles:◦Having improved◦Being improved◦Having been improved

A participial phrase consists of a participle plus its modifiers and complements.

Examples:◦Launching the first moving assembly line, Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry.

◦Driving their own automobiles, middle-class Americans enjoyed a spirit of freedom and prosperity.

Visiting gardens, the butterflies flit among the flowers.

Pollinating at the same time, the butterflies help the flowers.

Picking up pollen dust on their feet, they move from flower to flower.

The trip to Venus was cancelled.Another passenger filled the cancelled appointment.

A gerund is a verb form that ends in –ing and as a noun.

A gerund can be used as a subject, an object of a preposition, a direct object, an indirect object, or a predicate nominative (noun).

Examples:◦Skiing is a winter sport.◦Thank you for listening.◦Jerry likes fishing as a pastime.◦He wanted to give flying a chance.◦His mistake was thinking he needed to cheat.

A gerund phrase consists of a gerund plus its modifiers and complements.

Because a gerund is formed from a verb, it may have an object. If it does, the object and any modifiers of the object are part of the gerund phrases.

Examples:◦Tim Berners-Lee is known for inventing the World Wide Web.

◦Flying an airplane while tired can be dangerous.

Note: Both gerunds and present participles end in –ing, but they function as different parts of speech.

Present participles function as adjectives, while gerunds function as nouns.

Examples:◦What does a blinking cursor mean?

◦Blinking can be a sign of eye strain.

An infinitive is a verb form that usually begins with the word to and functions as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

Example:◦Eileen Collins had a goal to pursue.

An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive plus its modifiers and complements.

Her lifelong dream was to fly in space.

The first American woman to fly in space was Dr. Sally Ride.

She endured rigorous training to fly in space.

A modifier placed between the word to and the verb of an infinitive is said to “split” the infinitive.

Astronauts need to rigorously train for space missions.

Astronauts need to train rigorously for space missions.

A misplaced modifier is a word or phrase that is placed so far away from the word it describes that the meaning of the sentence is unclear or incorrect.

The school district is issuing new desks to students made of molded plastic.

The school district is issuing new desks made of molded plastic to students.

A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that does not clearly describe any noun or pronoun in a sentence.

To correct a dangling modifier, you will need to supply the word being described.

You may need to do some rearranging.

Looking around, objects made of plastic fill our home, our offices, and our schools.

Looking around, we realized that objects made of plastic fill our homes, our offices, and our schools.