Kinds of phrases and their functions:
1. A phrase is a group of related words used as a single part of speech
and not containing a verb and its subject.
2. Five types of phrases: prepositional, participial, gerund, infinitive,
and appositive
3. A prepositional phrase is a group of words beginning with a
preposition and ending with a noun or pronoun. (in the room)
(before the party)
4. The adjective phrase is a prepositional phrase that modifies a noun
or a pronoun. (The tall building with the red tower is our new library.)
5. An adverb phrase is a prepositional phrase that modifies a verb, an
adjective, or another adverb. Ex: Louisa May Alcott wrote with
great care. (how she wrote)
6. A gerund is a word ending in –ing that is formed from a verb and
used as a noun. A gerund is a verbal noun. Like any other noun, it
may be used as a subject. (Swimming is excellent exercise.) A
gerund phrase is a phrase consisting of a gerund and any modifiers
or complements it may have.
7. A participial phrase is a phrase containing a participle and any
complements or modifiers it may have. A participle is a verb form
that can be used as an adjective. Present participles are verb type
words that end in “ing” and take the roll of an adjective. (I picked
up the can. I thought it would be cold. I picked up the can,
thinking it would be cold.)
8. Infinitive is a verb form, usually preceded by to, that can be used as
a noun or a modifier. (to worry to explain to live) Infinitives are
formed from the basic root of the verb. Infinitives almost always
have the preposition “to” included. (To give is praiseworthy.)
9. Appositive – identifies or explains a noun or pronoun Ex: We visited
Baltimore, the home of the Baltimore Orioles.