PHRASE AND CLAUSES PACKET
I. Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional Phrases: __________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
After conducting the marriage ceremony, Captain Carl sailed to the Antarctic with his crew.
Prepositional phrases consist of _________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Common Prepositions
Identifying Prepositional Phrases
I shiver in a frozen sleeping bag. The inside fur is a mass of ice, congealed from
my breath. One creeps into the bag, zips up with half frozen fingers, and hears the
crackling of the ice. Drops of thawing ice fall on one’s head. Then comes a fit of shivers.
Types of Prepositional Phrases
Adjective phrases ______________________________________________________
Example: Then comes a fit of shivers.
Adverb phrases ________________________________________________________
Example: Carl shivered in a frozen sleeping bag.
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Practice with Prepositional Phrases
Directions: You may know Michael Palin from the television series Monty Python’s
Flying Circus, “Python” films, or other movies. He has also written many books—several
about travel adventures. As you read the following sentences about the 50,000-mile
journey he describes in Full Circle, circle the prepositional phrase and tell whether
each is an adjective phrase or an adverb phrase.
1. It is day 175 of Michael Palin’s 1997 journey. ____________________________
2. Palin is traveling around the Pacific Rim. ____________________________
3. Full Circle makes you his companion on the adventure. ____________________
4. Today before dawn you left San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. _________________
5. Soon you arrive at the El Tatio geyser field. ____________________________
6. This is the highest-altitude geyser field on earth. _______________________
7. Here steam from the geysers condenses and freezes fast. __________________
8. Tiny ice crystals sparkle in the early morning sunlight. _____________________
9. To your delight, a geyser’s blow-hole produces heat. ______________________
10. You use the heat for cooking your breakfast eggs. ________________________
Directions: Clarify locations of people and things by adding a prepositional phrase to
each sentence that answers the question following it.
1. Palin stands. (He stands where?)
2. The steam gushes. (Gushes from what?)
3. It billows like big clouds. (It billows where?)
4. Palin’s crew takes pictures. (From where?)
5. This is just one amazing sight they capture. (They capture where?)
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II. Appositive Phrases
Appositive means ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Example: The English biologist Dian Fossey wrote about eyewitness accounts of
gorillas.
Practice:
Fossey studied the mountain gorilla, an endangered species. Icarus, one of the
gorillas Fossey studied, was the only member of his group who was not afraid of her at
first. The group included two silverbacks, elder males whose fur had turned a silver
color. The silverback Beethoven weighed about 350 pounds and was probably around
40 years old. Fossey wrote about Beethoven and the other gorillas in her only book,
Gorillas in the Mist.
Appositives vs. Adjective Clauses (both interrupters)
APPOSITIVES
Rename the noun
Influenza, a silent stalker, looms on
often-touched surfaces, waiting to
infect its next victim.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
Tell which one
Influenza is a disease which looms on
often-touched surfaces, waiting to
infect its victims.
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III. Indepen dent & Subordinate Clauses
A clause is ___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Independent Clause
Subordinate Clause
Purpose:
Purpose:
Example:
Example:
Many people travel.
Because they crave excitement.
Practice: Identify the italicized words as independent or subordinate clauses.
1. Before you sign up for a vacation trip, read the fine print.
2. Most tour companies are responsible operators.
3. However, travelers must agree to their terms and conditions.
4. Whenever you see the word “liability,” read the text carefully.
5. Pay attention to the details as you read.
6. Tour companies hire outside services, but they aren’t responsible for mishaps
with those services.
7. If the airline loses your luggage, the tour company isn’t accountable.
8. When there’s no heat in the mountain lodge, the tour guide can only sympathize.
9. In fact, he or she will probably complain as much as you will.
10. Of course, no one is responsible if Mother Nature rains on your vacation.
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III. a & b Adjective & Adverb Clauses
Types of Subordinate Clauses
Adjective Clause
Adverb Clause
Definition:
Definition:
Examples:
Examples:
1. Scientists who explore the sea face
1. Whenever I have the chance, I travel.
many hazards.
2. Spaceships are bigger than I thought
2. The waves, which pounded the shore,
they were.
were 12 feet tall.
3. Planes move faster than boats ever
3. The day before the storm hit was clear
will.
and calm.
4. The crow’s nest, where the lookout
usually stood, was empty.
5. Those were the days when no one
expected to survive such a storm.
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IV. Noun Clauses
A noun clause is a ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Examples
1. Whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
2. Travel tests how we cope with problems.
3. It gives whoever wants it practice with flexibility.
4. New experiences are what we crave.
5. Think about where you’d like to go.
6. Turning whichever corner we find brings new excitement.
7. To go where we have never been before is true adventure.
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