Ack! Need Help With Different Types of Phrases

[Crimson Wife]

I had thought I had a handle on the various types of phrases after teaching MCT "town" and Killgallon Story Grammar for Elementary. But last night, I was reading ahead in Killgallon Grammar for Middle School and now I'm totally confused :confused: I read the online TM, but that was no help.

 

Can somebody give me a run-down on the differences between an absolute phrase vs. an appositive phrase vs. a participial phrase? I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never even heard of an "absolute phrase" until just yesterday.

[Kalmia]

From Warriner's English Composition and grammar:

 

A participial is a verb form that can be used as an adjective.

 

Ex: The rapidly developing storm. "developing" is the participle. It is an adjective modifying "storm"

 

A participial phrase is a phrase (doesn't have a subject and predicate as opposed to a clause) containing a participle and any complements or modifiers it may have.

 

Ex. Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river. "Removing his coat" is an adjective modifying "Jack"

 

Participial phrases are often confused with gerund phrases. Gerunds are verb forms that end in -ing and are used as nouns. A gerund phrase contains the gerund and any of its complements or modifiers.

 

Ex. Good writing comes from much practice. Writing is the gerund and is the subject of the sentence.

 

 

An appositive is a noun or pronoun - often with modifiers - set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it.

 

Ex. My cousin, Maria, is an accomplished violinist. "Maria" is the appositive renaming/identifying the noun "cousin." Appositives are set off by commas.

 

Absolute phrase is not a term used in Warriner's.

[MamaT]

I have taught two children all the way through high school, and one almost through, and have never heard the term "absolute phrase."

 

I found this:

 

http://www.testmagic.com/grammar/explanations/phrases/absolute-phrases-introduction.asp

 

So, it sounds like appositive phrases and participial phrases would also be termed an absolute phrase.

[Storm Bay]

I have taught two children all the way through high school, and one almost through, and have never heard the term "absolute phrase."

 

.

I've done this up through freshman year and have never heard of an absolute phrase before, either. :)

[Crimson Wife]

Absolute phrase is not a term used in Warriner's.

 

My copy of Warriner's was the very first place I looked for help. :banghead:

 

This is what Killgallon Grammar for Middle School says about the "absolute phrase":

 

A sentence part describing the rest of the sentence in which it appears. Absolutes often begin with possessive pronouns. The pronoun can be stated or implied.

 

Examples:

 

The old willow tree was enormous, its sprawling branches going up like reaching arms with many long-fingered hands. (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings)

An old man was standing before them, wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone).

 

Here is what Killgallon has to say about appositives:

 

A noun phrase identifying a person, place, or thing named in a sentence. Appositives often begin with articles.

 

Examples:

 

Don Goss was a tough guy, an ex-Marine who had never lost his military manner. (Michael Crichton, Prey)

 

Once they were in her office, a small room with a large, welcoming fire, Professor McGonagall motioned to Harry and Hermione to sit down. (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban).

 

And here is what he has to say about participial phrases:

 

A verbal ending in -ing or -ed used to describe. Participles show action, so they act like verbs, but they also describe, so they act like adjectives.

 

Examples:

 

Feeling slightly more cheerful, Harry helped himself to sausages and fried tomatoes. (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban).

 

High up under the roof, in the farthest corner of the barn, the bats were hanging upside down, wrapped in their brown wings. (Randal Jarrell, The Bat Poet).

 

I think I understand how to distinguish an appositive from a participial phrase. However, I'm confused as how to distinguish when a noun phrase is an appositive vs. an absolute, and how to distinguish when an -ing adjective starts a participial phrase vs. an absolute. :confused:

[Capt_Uhura]

ABsolutes are also discussed in Image Grammar. I can look it up later if needed. I do recall it comes right before appositive phrases.

[Kalmia]

Kellogg and Reed define absolute phrases as phrases that in certain uses have no grammatical connection with the rest of the sentence and consist of a noun or pronoun used independently with a modifying participle.

 

Ex. His master being absent, the business was neglected.

His master being absent logically modifies the verb was neglected by assigning the cause, but the phrase has no connective expressed or understood, and is therefore grammatically independent.

 

So I guess the difference between an absolute phrase and an appositive or participial phrase is that the absolute phrase is grammatically independent. It would probably be diagrammed separately from the main sentence (though I can't be sure, because Rex Barks doesn't use the term either) whereas participial and appositives are diagrammed with the word they modify.

 

Thank you for making me try to stretch my brain and learn something new today!

[Kalmia]

About.com defines absolute phrase:

 

"A group of words that modifies an independent clause as a whole.

An absolute is made up of a noun and its modifiers. It may precede, follow, or interrupt the main clause:

 

 

• Their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, the storks circled high above us.
  
• The storks circled high above us, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky.
  
• The storks, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, circled high above us.
  

 

An absolute allows us to move from a description of a whole person, place, or thing to one aspect or part."

[Crimson Wife]

I'm still confused but if Image Grammar discusses absolute phrases, then I need to go ahead and order it now instead of waiting until next school year.

[Kalmia]

Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers agrees with About.com and Image Grammar.

 

I'm thinking the primary difference between a participial phrase and an absolute phrase is that the participial phrase begins with a participial while an absolute phrase begins with a noun or pronoun and contains a participle.

 

 

And I think the primary difference between an appositive and a absolute phrase is that an appositive must follow the noun or pronoun it renames while the absolute phrase can occur at the beginning, middle or end of the sentence AND the appositive does not contain a participle AND the appositive modifies a noun or pronoun while absolutes modify the whole sentence (but many examples do not seem to follow this last rule to me).

[StephanieZ]

OK, so I've got a good feel for appositives & participials from MCT. . . I've never heard of absolute phrases until this thread, but I'll play!!

 

From what folks have written about absolutes above, I am thinking that absolutes are sort of like appositives, but not a 'defining' type of phrase. . . Let me try. . .

 

Participial phrases (participial=verby modifiers along with some objects/additional words, otherwise it wouldn't be a phrase) would be things like:

 

Jenny, flexing her muscles, stood in the dugout.

Their home, standing tall on the hill, was a refuge in the storm.

 

Appositive phrases (interrupting definitions, generally a noun or pronoun w/ or w/o modifiers. Not a verby thing at all.) would be things like:

 

Jenny, our baseball coach, stood in the dugout.

Their home, a giant mansion, was a refuge in the storm.

 

Whereas an absolute phrase would be things like. . . those listed in the examples from the books listed above, hehehe. OK, I won't cop out. I am not confident, but here goes:

 

Jenny, her strong arms bulging with muscles, stood in the dugout.

Their home, its windows sparkling in the moonlight, was a refuge in the storm.

 

What do you think? Have I got it?

 

FWIW, the Killgallon & about.com examples of absolutes listed above do NOT seem to follow the stated Killgallon rule that the absolute phrase modifies the entirety of the rest of the sentence. Perhaps that is just an error in the definition? It seems to me that in every example, the absolute phrase is modifying a single noun in the example sentence -- similar to an appositive phrase but NOT an interrupting definition, rather an expansion/clarification/detail of some sort -- more of a modifying adjective type of phrase.

[Capt_Uhura]

I'm not entirely certain but I do think you've gotten it right! My feeling is that absolute phrases are more clausey (:lol:) than appositives. With the participle, they seem almost subj-verb but are not complete thoughts.

[wapiti]

OK, so I've got a good feel for appositives & participials from MCT. . . I've never heard of absolute phrases until this thread, but I'll play!!

 

From what folks have written about absolutes above, I am thinking that absolutes are sort of like appositives, but not a 'defining' type of phrase. . . Let me try. . .

 

Participial phrases (participial=verby modifiers along with some objects/additional words, otherwise it wouldn't be a phrase) would be things like:

 

Jenny, flexing her muscles, stood in the dugout.

Their home, standing tall on the hill, was a refuge in the storm.

 

Appositive phrases (interrupting definitions, generally a noun or pronoun w/ or w/o modifiers. Not a verby thing at all.) would be things like:

 

Jenny, our baseball coach, stood in the dugout.

Their home, a giant mansion, was a refuge in the storm.

 

Whereas an absolute phrase would be things like. . . those listed in the examples from the books listed above, hehehe. OK, I won't cop out. I am not confident, but here goes:

 

Jenny, her strong arms bulging with muscles, stood in the dugout.

Their home, its windows sparkling in the moonlight, was a refuge in the storm.

 

What do you think? Have I got it?

 

FWIW, the Killgallon & about.com examples of absolutes listed above do NOT seem to follow the stated Killgallon rule that the absolute phrase modifies the entirety of the rest of the sentence. Perhaps that is just an error in the definition? It seems to me that in every example, the absolute phrase is modifying a single noun in the example sentence -- similar to an appositive phrase but NOT an interrupting definition, rather an expansion/clarification/detail of some sort -- more of a modifying adjective type of phrase.

 

I admit I've never heard of absolute phrases before, but it seems from these examples that in the absolute phrase, there is a noun within the phrase that acts like a "subject" (if you will) of the participle(?), whereas in the participle phrases, the "subject" of the participle is the noun being modified by the phrase. I agree with you that they appear to be modifying a noun rather than the whole sentence - I like your definition better ;).