English 104/Winter 2013
Assignment Sheet #4
Friday, 2/22: Come ready for the final challenging (and fun!) unit of the course—verbal phrases. In
Writers’ Choices, read the brief introduction to verbals and verbal phrases on p. 185.
Due Monday, 2/25: Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 186-189. On p. 191, diagram #1-10.
Then, in the sentences below, fill in each blank with a gerund phrase that is at least three words long.
Over the phrase, write what the phrase is functioning as in the sentence (subject, direct object, etc.).
___________________ is my favorite thing to do on a warm Sunday afternoon.
I have never enjoyed _____________________.
One of my hardest challenges is _____________________________.
Joyce achieved her present wealth by _________________________.
Terry’s favorite hobby, ____________________________, is, fortunately, good for his
health.
Due Tuesday, 2/26: In Writers’ Choices, read pp. 189-191. Do sentence combining, pp. 192-193, #110, replacing each word or phrase in bold face with a gerund phrase made out of the information in
each exercise. *Special note for sentence-combining exercise #8: Your combined sentence should
start with Mark’s not Mark. The proper determiner before a gerund is often a possessive because a
gerund functions as a noun.
Compose a sentence for each of the following: a gerund phrase functioning as (a) subject, (b) direct
object, (c) subject complement, (d) object of the preposition, (e) appositive (five sentences total).
Finally, diagram the following sentences (no answer key):
1)
2)
3)
4)
Someone had entered the store by removing a window in the back door.
Repairing the faulty connection should be a fairly simple chore.
The most dangerous part of the job will be removing the live wires.
Being an amateur electrician can be dangerous.
Due Wednesday, 2/27: Today we move to participle phrases. Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 197-201.
On p. 204-205, diagram #1-10. Compose the following:
 Two sentences with participle phrases at the beginning; use present participles.

Two sentences with participle phrases in the middle or at the end; use present participles.

Two more sentences with participle phrases at the beginning; use past participles. Remember
that past participles do not indicate past tense but, rather, passive voice.

Two more sentences with participle phrases in the middle or at the end; use past participles.
Due Thursday, 2/28: Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 202-204. In the section on punctuation, p. 204, note
that participle phrases may be restrictive or non-restrictive. This applies only to participle phrases
that follow the nouns they modify; those that precede the nouns are always non-restrictive and
always set off by commas.
In Writers’ Choices, combine sentences #1-20 on pp. 205-207. Unlike some other structures,
participle phrases lend themselves very well to sentence combining, and this is a good set of
exercises. They’re worth doing and thinking about. Also in Writers’ Choices, p. 207-208, do exercise
C, “Catching the Dangling Modifier.”
Due Friday, 2/29: Infinitive phrases, part 1. Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 211-214. On p. 223, diagram
#1-10.
Complete the following sentences by filling in each blank with an infinitive phrase beginning with to.
Over it, indicate its function in the sentence (subject, direct object, etc.) Please write out the full
sentence.
___________________ is not easy.
It is extremely easy _______________________.
My friend loves __________________________.
Carol’s decision ___________________________ was a big mistake.
Paper _________________________ should be placed in the blue receptacles.
I called my friend ________________________________.
_______________________ is _________________________.
Due Monday, 3/4: Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 219-222. On pp. 224-225, combine #1-9.
Compose one of each kind of the following sentences: (a) with inf. phr. as subject; (b) with inf. phr. as
delayed subject, (c) with inf. phr. as direct object, (d) with inf. phr. as appositive, (e) with inf. phr. as
adjective, and (f) with inf. phr. as adverb.
Due Tuesday, 3/5: Infinitive phrases, part 2. (Today we get into some pretty complicated infinitive
phrases). Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 214-219. On p. 223, diagram #11-20. Compose two sentences
each with the following kinds of infinitive phrase:
• inf. phrase with subject (Writers’ Choices, pp. 214-215); the verbs that takes these phrases are verbs
such as ask, tell, order, permit, forbid, implore, exhort–verbs involving one person speaking to
another
• inf. phrase without to – (Writers’ Choices, pp. 215-216)
• inf. phrase introduced by for – (Writers’ Choices, p. 217); try one sentence with the “for” phrase in
the beginning as subject, and one with the “for” phrase as the delayed subject after an expletive “It.”
• to inf. phrase as part of the verb phrase – (Writers’ Choices, pp. 217-218); these pages tell you that
this kind of phrase occurs with certain auxiliaries such as do and will and the modal auxiliaries
• inf. phrase used absolutely (Writers’ Choices, p. 218).
Due Wednesday 3/6: We will practice further with infinitve phrases. Homework, if any, will be
announced and provided in class.
Due Thursday, 3/7: A final verbal phrase: the nominative absolute phrase. Read Writers’ Choices,
pp. 229-231. Nominative absolute phrases are perhaps the most sophisticated structure you are
going to learn this quarter. They can make your writing quite impressive! Underline all nominative
phrases in all of the sentences for diagramming, p. 234, #1-20. Next to each one, write “cause/time”
or “details” to say what you think the absolute phrase is doing in each sentence. Sometimes it might
seem to you to be doing a bit of both; in that case, write “both.” The important thing is to think
about it. Diagram #1-10.
Expand each sentence below by filling in the blank with a nominative absolute phrase:
_________________________ , Chris entered the public sauna.
The child stood before the school principal, ___________________________.
___________________ , the happy couple walked down the aisle, ____________.
Due Friday, 3/8: Read Writers’ Choices, pp. 231-234. Combine p. 235-236, #1-10.
Compose two of each kind of sentence described in Writers’ Choices, p. 237, “On Your Own” (ten
sentences in all – just do one pair for #3). Underline each nominative absolute phrase and circle its
subject. This is to help you remember that every nominative absolute phrase must have its own
subject. This will help prevent you from accidentally writing participle phrases.
Due Monday, 3/11: Do the Sample Test for Part 4, pp. 239-240. We will go over the answers in class.
Tuesday, 3/12: Test #4