English 100
Name: _________________________
Mr. Bovaird
Block: _____________
Wildcat Worksheets – Using Phrases
P h r a s e —a group of related words that functions as a single part of speech; it lacks a subject,
predicate, or both
Types of Phrases:
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Verb Phrase—consists of a main verb and its helping verbs
Verbal Phrase—consists of a verbal (a verb that is used to function as a noun, an adjective, or an
adverb) and all of its modifiers and objects; there are 3 types of verbal phrases:
o Gerund Phrase—consists of a gerund and its modifiers; the whole phrase functions as a
noun
o Infinitive Phrase—consists of the introductory word to, the fundamental form of a verb,
and its modifiers; the whole phrase functions as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb
o Participial Phrase—consists of a present or past tense participle (a verb form ending in
—ing or —ed) and its modifiers; the phrase functions as an adjective

Prepositional Phrase—a group of words beginning with a preposition and ending with a noun or
a pronoun; used mainly as adjectives and adverbs
Appositive Phrase—follows a noun or a pronoun and renames it; consists of a noun and its
modifiers
Absolute Phrase—consists of a noun and a participle (plus the participle’s object, if there is one,
and any modifiers)
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Activity: Read each of the following sentences and examine the underlined phrases. Choose the correct
type of phrase from the list of options and write the letter of the correct answer in the blank.
____ 1. The Soviet Union’s 1957 launching of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite,
spurred the creation of a new American space agency.
a. Verb phrase
b. Verbal phrase – Gerund
c. Appositive phrase
____ 2. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, commonly known as NASA, came
into being with the signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act in July of 1957.
a. Appositive phrase
b. Verb phrase
c. Absolute phrase
____ 3. NASA grew out of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and combined
several government organizations into a new agency dedicated to space research and
exploration.
a. Prepositional phrase
b. Verbal phrase – Participial
c. Verbal phrase – Gerund
English 100
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____ 4. The U.S. space program’s goal to beat the Soviet Union’s cosmonauts into space
almost succeeded, but Russian Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth first on April 12, 1961.
a. Verbal phrase – Participial
b. Prepositional phrase
c. Verbal phrase – Infinitive
____ 5. Less than a month later, on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first United States
astronaut to enter space as part of the Mercury space program.
a. Prepositional phrase
b. Appositive phrase
c. Verbal phrase – Participial
____ 6. He was followed into space in 1962 by John Glenn, the first American to orbit the
earth.
a. Verbal phrase – Infinitive
b. Appositive phrase
c. Absolute phrase
____ 7. NASA’s focus changed from single-person to multiple-person spaceflight with Project
Gemini.
a. Verbal phrase – Infinitive
b. Verbal phrase – Gerund
c. Prepositional phrase
____ 8. The Soviets, however, had already pioneered multiple-passenger spaceflight as apart of
an ongoing program to attain firsts in space.
a. Verb phrase
b. Verbal phrase – Participial
c. Verbal phrase – Infinitive
____ 9. Because of the Soviet Union’s drive to achieve space history, the United States played
catch-up with the U.S.S.R. throughout much of the sixties.
a. Prepositional phrase
b. Verbal phrase – Infinitive
c. Appositive phrase
____ 10. As a result, the United States boasted few firsts in manned spaceflight until Project
Apollo put humans on the moon in 1969.
a. Verb phrase
b. Prepositional phrase
c. Verbal phrase – participial
English 100
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