PHRASES

Contains a single thought

but is not necessarily a
complete sentence
Words make up phrases;
phrases make up
sentences
A two or more words that

Types of Phrases

NOUN PHRASE

Includes anouna person, place, or

thingand themodifiers which
distinguish it.

MODIFIER(S)+NOUN+MODIFIER(S)
Modifiers can come before or after
the noun.

o Ones that come before might

include articles, possessive
nouns,possessive
pronouns,adjectives,
and/orparticiples.
o Modifiers that come after the noun
might includeprepositional
phrases,adjective
clauses,participle phrases,
and/orinfinitives.
A noun phrase will have apronounas

PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASE

Begin with a Preposition, and end with

a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause

PREPOSITION+MODIFIER(S)+NOUN
, PRONOUN, GERUND, OR CLAUSE
PREPOSITION+NOUN, PRONOUN,
GERUND, OR CLAUSE
A prepositional phrase will function as
anadjective oradverb.

o As an adjective, the prepositional

phrase will answer the
questionWhich one?
o As an adverb, a prepositional
phrase will answer questions such
asHow? When?orWhere?
Prepositional phrase will never
contain the subject of a sentence.

VERB PHRASE

Multi-word verb, to express more

different action or condition.

AUXILIARY VERB(S)+MAIN
VERB+VERB ENDING
A verb phrase can have up to four
parts.
When you find an adverb snuggled
in a verb phrase, it is still an adverb,
not part of the verb.

INFINITIVE PHRASE

Begin with aninfinitive[to + simple

form of the verb]
It will often include objects
and/ormodifiersthat complete the
thought.

INFINITIVE+OBJECT(S) AND/OR
MODIFIER(S)
Infinitive phrases can function
asnouns,adjectives, oradverbs.

 When an infinitive phrase introduces

amain clause, separate the two
sentence components with a comma.

INFINITIVE PHRASE+,+MAIN CLAUSE.

When an infinitive phrase breaks the
flow of a main clause, use a comma
both before and after theinterrupter.

START OF MAIN CLAUSE+ ,+

INTERRUPTER
+,+END OF MAIN CLAUSE.

 When an infinitive phrase

concludes a main clause, you need
no punctuation to connect the two
sentence parts.

MAIN CLAUSE+ +INFINITIVE

PHRASE

PARTICIPLE PHRASE

begin with a present or pastparticiple .

oIf the participle is present, it will dependably end
ining.
oregular past participle will end in a
consistented.
oIrregular past participles, unfortunately, conclude
in all kinds of ways

PARTICIPLE+OBJECT(S) AND/OR
MODIFIER(S)
Participle phrases always function
asadjectives
Modifiers are right next to the words they
describe.

 When a participle phrase introduces

amain clause, separate the two
sentence components with a comma.

PARTICIPLE PHRASE+,+MAIN CLAUSE.

When a participle phrase concludes a
main clause and is describing the word
right in front of it, you need no
punctuation to connect the two sentence
parts.

MAIN CLAUSE+ +PARTICIPLE

PHRASE

 When a participle phrase

concludes a main clause and
modifies a word farther up in the
sentence, you will need a comma.

MAIN CLAUSE+,+PARTICIPLE
PHRASE

GERUND PHRASE

Gerund phrases always function

asnouns, so they will besubjects,

subject complements, or objects
in the sentence.
Gerund phrases lookexactlylike
present participle phrases. You
must determine the FUNCTION of
the phrase.

ABSOLUTE
PHRASE

Combines a noun and a participle

with any accompanying modifiers
or objects.

NOUN+PARTICIPLE+OPTIONAL
MODIFIER(S) AND/OR OBJECT(S)