Star Wars

Episode VII

ATTACK OF THE PHRASES

(You’ll need to know these like the back of your hand for Comp next year, so

pay attention)Pg 66-79…

The Phrase

A phrase is a group of related words that does not have a subject or a predicate; instead it functions as a part of speech.

There are five phrase types: prepositional, appositives, participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

Prepositional Phrases

• Consists of three parts: preposition, its object, and any (if any) modifiers.

• Prepositions are found on page 23 of your text.

• Prepositional phrase always starts with a preposition, and always ends with the object of the preposition– Ex. Star Wars is the best movie in the world.

Preposition Object of the Preposition

Two Types of Prep. Phrases

• Adjective Prepositional Phrase: a prep. phrase that modifies a noun or pronoun.– Ex. Luke Skywalker is the best hero in the

galaxy.

• Adverb Prepositional Phrase: a prep. phrase that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb.– Ex. Luke Skywalker is strong in the force.

Examples

• Luke Skywalker was raised on a moisture farm.

• He used to practice shooting wamprats with his T-16.

• Luke wanted to go with Obi-wan Kenobi to rescue Princess Leia from the Death Star.

• Luke and Obi-wan had to hitch a ride from Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon.

• Luke has a lightsaber with a blue blade.

Appositive Phrases

• An appositive is a noun or pronoun that identifies or renames another noun or pronoun.– Ex. After Luke blew up the Death Star, the Rebellion

moved their base to the ice-planet Hoth.

• There are two types of appositives: essential and nonessential.– Nonessential appositives are always set off by

commas.– Ex. Luke’s sister, Leia, secretly has the hots for Han

Solo.

Examples

• Han Solo flies his ship, the Millennium Falcon, to try to escape from the Empire.

• Luke goes to the planet Dagobah to find the old Jedi Master Yoda.

• Han Solo eventually goes to find his old friend Lando Calrissian.

• Lando owns his own floating city, Cloud City.

Verbals

• A verbal is a word that looks like a verb but acts like something else, such as a noun, adjective, or adverb

• There are three types of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

• A verbal phrase consists of the verbal, any modifiers, and any complements

Participle Phrases

• A participle looks like a verb, but acts like an adjective

• Participles come in two forms: past and present– Ex. Saving his own butt, Lando turns Han

Solo over to Darth Vader.

• Participles can be removed from a sentence, and the sentence will still make sense.

Examples

• Valued for his knowledge of the force, Yoda teaches Luke some neat tricks.

• Driven by the Emperor, Darth Vader sets a trap for Luke.

• Wanting to save his friends, Luke goes to Cloud City, floating in the sky.

• Battling Darth Vader, Luke learns the terrible truth about his father.

Gerund Phrases

• A gerund looks like a verb but acts like a noun.

• A gerund ALWAYS ends in –ing.– Ex. Luke tried escaping Darth Vader by

jumping into the abyss.

• Like a noun, a gerund can act in many ways: (memorize this list) subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, object of the preposition

Examples• Looking for Han Solo is the reason that

Luke goes back to Tatooine.• After freeing Han Solo, the Rebels try

sneaking on the Imperial bas on Endor.• The result of doing so was that Luke was

captured by Darth Vader, again.• This time, however, Darth Vader ends up

taking Luke to see the Emperor.

Infinitive Phrases

• An infinitive is a verb form that ALWAYS starts with the words “to” + “verb” that acts like a noun, adjective, or adverb– Ex. To wipe out the Rebellion, the Emperor

sets a trap for the Rebel fleet.

Examples

• To turn Luke to the dark side of the force is the Emperor’s intention.

• Luke tries to kill the Emperor, but Darth Vader stops him.

• Eventually, to save his dark soul Darth Vader turns on the Emperor and save his son, Luke, from certain death.

• Escaping the Emperor’s trap the Rebel fleet is able to fly into the Death Star to knock out its main reactor.

Placement of Phrases

• When a phrases is acting as a modifier, the phrase must be placed near the word it modifies in order to avoid confusion (called a misplaced modifier).

• Also, make sure the word being modified is in the sentence (called a dangling modifier).– Ex. Lando Clarissian blew up the Death Star

in the Millennium Falcon.

Examples

• Some people think that Star Trek is better than Star Wars, called “Trekkies.”

• Using faulty logic, claims could be made that the Enterprise could defeat a Star Destroyer.

• This crazy idea never really caught on with normal people, making sense only to “Trekkies.”