Star Wars
Episode VII
ATTACK OF THE PHRASES
(You’ll need to know these like the back of
your hand for Comp next year, so
pay attention)
Pg 66-79…
The Phrase
A phrase is a group of related words that
does not have a subject or a predicate;
instead it functions as a part of speech.
There are five phrase types: prepositional,
appositives, participles, gerunds, and
infinitives.
Prepositional Phrases
• Consists of three parts: preposition, its
object, and any (if any) modifiers.
• Prepositions are found on page 23 of your
text.
• Prepositional phrase always starts with a
preposition, and always ends with the
object of the preposition
– Ex. Star Wars is the best movie in the world.
Preposition
Object of the
Preposition
Two Types of Prep. Phrases
• Adjective Prepositional Phrase: a prep.
phrase that modifies a noun or pronoun.
– Ex. Luke Skywalker is the best hero in the
galaxy.
• Adverb Prepositional Phrase: a prep.
phrase that modifies a verb, adjective, or
adverb.
– Ex. Luke Skywalker is strong in the force.
Examples
• Luke Skywalker was raised on a moisture
farm.
• He used to practice shooting wamprats
with his T-16.
• Luke wanted to go with Obi-wan Kenobi to
rescue Princess Leia from the Death Star.
• Luke and Obi-wan had to hitch a ride from
Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon.
• Luke has a lightsaber with a blue blade.
Appositive Phrases
• An appositive is a noun or pronoun that
identifies or renames another noun or pronoun.
– Ex. After Luke blew up the Death Star, the Rebellion
moved their base to the ice-planet Hoth.
• There are two types of appositives: essential
and nonessential.
– Nonessential appositives are always set off by
commas.
– Ex. Luke’s sister, Leia, secretly has the hots for Han
Solo.
Examples
• Han Solo flies his ship, the Millennium
Falcon, to try to escape from the Empire.
• Luke goes to the planet Dagobah to find
the old Jedi Master Yoda.
• Han Solo eventually goes to find his old
friend Lando Calrissian.
• Lando owns his own floating city, Cloud
City.
Verbals
• A verbal is a word that looks like a verb but
acts like something else, such as a noun,
adjective, or adverb
• There are three types of verbals:
participles, gerunds, and infinitives.
• A verbal phrase consists of the verbal, any
modifiers, and any complements
Participle Phrases
• A participle looks like a verb, but acts like
an adjective
• Participles come in two forms: past and
present
– Ex. Saving his own butt, Lando turns Han
Solo over to Darth Vader.
• Participles can be removed from a
sentence, and the sentence will still make
sense.
Examples
• Valued for his knowledge of the force,
Yoda teaches Luke some neat tricks.
• Driven by the Emperor, Darth Vader sets a
trap for Luke.
• Wanting to save his friends, Luke goes to
Cloud City, floating in the sky.
• Battling Darth Vader, Luke learns the
terrible truth about his father.
Gerund Phrases
• A gerund looks like a verb but acts like a
noun.
• A gerund ALWAYS ends in –ing.
– Ex. Luke tried escaping Darth Vader by
jumping into the abyss.
• Like a noun, a gerund can act in many
ways: (memorize this list) subject, direct
object, indirect object, predicate
nominative, object of the preposition
Examples
• Looking for Han Solo is the reason that
Luke goes back to Tatooine.
• After freeing Han Solo, the Rebels try
sneaking on the Imperial bas on Endor.
• The result of doing so was that Luke was
captured by Darth Vader, again.
• This time, however, Darth Vader ends up
taking Luke to see the Emperor.
Infinitive Phrases
• An infinitive is a verb form that ALWAYS
starts with the words “to” + “verb” that acts
like a noun, adjective, or adverb
– Ex. To wipe out the Rebellion, the Emperor
sets a trap for the Rebel fleet.
Examples
• To turn Luke to the dark side of the force is the
Emperor’s intention.
• Luke tries to kill the Emperor, but Darth Vader
stops him.
• Eventually, to save his dark soul Darth Vader
turns on the Emperor and save his son, Luke,
from certain death.
• Escaping the Emperor’s trap the Rebel fleet is
able to fly into the Death Star to knock out its
main reactor.
Placement of Phrases
• When a phrases is acting as a modifier,
the phrase must be placed near the word it
modifies in order to avoid confusion (called
a misplaced modifier).
• Also, make sure the word being modified
is in the sentence (called a dangling
modifier).
– Ex. Lando Clarissian blew up the Death Star
in the Millennium Falcon.
Examples
• Some people think that Star Trek is better
than Star Wars, called “Trekkies.”
• Using faulty logic, claims could be made
that the Enterprise could defeat a Star
Destroyer.
• This crazy idea never really caught on with
normal people, making sense only to
“Trekkies.”