Identifying Four Types of Phrases in Sentences

This week we had a quiz on phrases and clauses. I am adept at using phrases in my sentences, but apparently not so great at identifying their names; so I’m going to take this time to discuss the phrases covered in the quiz. The four phrases in the quiz were: participial, infinitive, prepositional, and gerund. All phrases consist of a head word plus the complements of that head word.

A participial phrase begins with an –ing word. It functions in a sentence as an adjective so it describes a nearby noun. For example, in the sentence “Clearing his throat, Michael began the wedding toast,” the participial phrase “Clearing his throat” describes what Michael, the noun, is doing. Of course, phrases can appear at the end of a sentence too, as in “I voted for the contestant wearing the red sash.” The participial phrase is “wearing the red sash” and it describes the contestant, a noun.

In an infinitive phrase, the head word is combined with the complement, which is often its direct object, and may have a modifier such as an adverb. Infinitive forms of verbs almost always begin with to and are followed by the simple form of the verb. In the sentence “I like to read books,” the infinitive is “to read” and the infinitive phrase is “to read books.”

The head word in a prepositional phrase is obviously, a preposition. Its complement can be a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause and it may also have modifiers. When it functions as an adjective it answers the question which one? When it functions as an adverb, it answers one of these questions: How? When? Where?

In the sentence “We went out to dinner at Modesto,” the prepositional phrase “at Modesto” serves as an adverb and answers the question “Where did we go to dinner?” In the sentence “The dog on the bed is chewing a bone” the prepositional phrase “on the bed” serves as an adjective and answers the question “Which dog?”

A gerund phrase always functions as a noun so these phrases are subjects, subject complements, or objects in the sentence. For example, the sentence “Running through the sprinkler is a lot of fun when it’s 100 degrees outside” contains the gerund phrase “Running through the sprinkler,” which replaces the noun in the sentence. It’s easy to confuse a gerund phrase with a participial phrase because they both begin with –ing words. I know that from personal experience; that’s the trouble I had with the quiz this week. To see how similar they can appear, compare these two similar phrases (the first one is the participial phrase), both consisting of the words “Whistling a tune”:

1.      Whistling a tune, Barb thought about the romantic dinner she had on Valentine’s Day.  – Participial phrase describing the proper noun.

2.      Whistling a tune is a sign that the whistler is happy. – Gerund phrase where “whistling a tune replaces the noun and serves as the subject of the sentence.

After looking more closely at these four phrases and their functions, I will be able to keep them straight in the future. I’m also thankful that this week’s quiz was not graded although I’d pass that quiz with flying colors now.

Work Cited

Clark, Mary M. The Structure of English for Readers, Writers, and Teachers, Glen Allen: College Publishing, 2003.