Fronted adverbials
Adverbial phrases give information on:
•
When
Time
•
Where
Place
•
How
Manner
For example:
C
Comma after fronted clause
Place
1. Walking down the street, I fell over my shoelace.
Time
2. Before break, I had eaten three bags of crisps.
Manner
3. Silent and forbidding, he school building loomed in front
of me.
Manner
4. Quickly and quietly, I slipped under the water.
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Underline and define the adverbial phrase in each sentence:
1. Patiently, we waited for the show to begin.
2. While the comedian told jokes in the den, a singer
performed in the living room.
3. Since I got my new glasses, I can see what I am reading.
4. Quickly, I sold the strawberries.
5. Whenever I go to that mall, I have a hard time finding a
parking place.
2
Identify from the following word bank which adverbs can be
used to create adverbial phrases: time (T), place (P) or
manner (M)
Quickly
today
tonight
yesterday
Recklessly
later next
After
nowadays
sadly
afterwards
then
loudly
carefully
tomorrow
quietly
angrily
before
since
first of all
soon
indoors
(over) there
(over) here
later
3
now
beforehand
slowly
downstairs
beautifully
inside
happily
upstairs
as
Now write a 70 word account of an exciting or dramatic
experience using a range (two of each) of fronted
adverbials. You can use other sentences types as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When you have finished, underline and identify the types of
adverbial phrases you have used. Check that you have used
a comma to separate your fronted adverbial from the main
clause.
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Complex noun phrases
To make out writing more detailed yet succinct we can
expand nouns into complex noun phrases. We do this by
adding pre and post modifiers
Circle the noun in the following sentences
1. The dog ran away.
2. The buns taste nice.
3. The man looked at the picture.
4. He had a car.
5. The yacht sailed away.
You can find the noun ‘dog’ in a sentence, for example, but
that is all you know unless the information is expanded by
adding modifiers before and after the noun:
Premodifier
the
Aunt Audrey's
the spotted
the barking
the well
trained
Noun (head word) Postmodifier
dog
dog
behind the fence
dog
whining for a
treat
dog
with fluffy fur
dog
that looked
lost
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Identify the headwords, premodifiers and postmodifiers in
the following noun phrases:
1. the mean-looking bouncer at the nightclub door
2. a slinky black dress in the shop window
3. the purple grapes on the drooping vines
Add pre and post modifiers to the nouns in the following
sentences:
Article Pre
modifier
The
Noun
Post
(headword) modifier
buns
The
man
He
had a
car
The
Yacht
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tasted nice.
looked at
the picture.
sailed
away.
Write a description of the following place using at least
five nouns and expanding them into noun phrases.
Annotate the noun, pre and post modifier.
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Prepositions
A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other
words in a sentence. A preposition usually indicates the
temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the
rest of the sentence as in the following examples:






The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is leaning against the table.
The book is beside the table.
She held the book over the table.
She read the book during class.
In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the
noun "book" in space or in time.
The most common prepositions are:
About
above
across after
against along
among around at before behind below
beneath beside between
beyond by despite
down
during except from
in inside
into like near
of off on onto
out outside
over
past
since
through throughout till
to toward under
underneath until
up
upon
with
within without
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Prepositional phrase
A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its
object and any associated adjectives or adverbs.
Prepositional phrases can modify nouns, verbs, phrases, and
complete clauses. As demonstrated by several of the
examples below, prepositional phrases can be embedded
inside other prepositional phrases.
1. Underline the prepositional phrase in each sentence.
2. Note what is being described or modified
The first one has been done for you
1. There was rejoicing throughout the land when the
government was defeated.
(describes the location of the rejoicing)
2. The spider crawled slowly along the banister.
3. The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will
be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.
4. The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was
certain was somewhere in his office.
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5. The book on the bathroom floor is swollen from shower
steam.
6. The sweet potatoes in the vegetable bin are green with
mould.
7. The note from Beverly confessed that she had eaten the
leftover pizza.
8. Freddy is stiff from yesterday's long football practice.
9. Before class, Josh begged his friends for a pencil.
10. Feeling brave, we tried the Dragon Breath Burritos at
Tito's Taco Palace.
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