Phrases

1
Phrases

• Miss Costantini
• English 3

2
Phrases 2

• Remember
• A phrase is a group of words that acts as a unit
• A phrase DOES NOT have a subject and a verb

3
Phrases - 2

• These are the four categories of phrases that we
  are studying
• Prepositional phrases
• Appositive phrases
• Verbal phrases
• Absolute phrases

4
Phrases 2

• We have already looked at prepositional phrases.
• Now we are going to look at the second type of
  phrases - appositives

5
Appositive Phrases

• An appositive phrase is another group of words
  that acts as a unit and does NOT have a subject
  and verb.
• It consists of a noun (and all of its modifiers)
  that renames or provides additional information
  about another noun in the sentence.

6
Appositive Phrases

• An appositive normally sits next to the noun it
  renames in other words, it is positioned next
  to that noun, which is why it is said to be in
  apposition.

7
Appositive Phrases

• Can you identify the appositive phrase in this
  sentence?
• One Fish,Two Fish, my favorite book by Dr.
  Seuss, is the the only book I have read
  completely on my own.

8
Appositive Phrases

• One Fish,Two Fish, my favorite book by Dr.
  Seuss, is the the only book I have read
  completely on my own.
• my favorite book by Dr. Seuss renames One
  Fish,Two Fish

9
Appositive Phrases

• Appositive phrases are either
• essential appositives
• or
• nonessential appositives

10
Appositive Phrases

• An essential appositive provides information that
  is necessary to the meaning of the sentence
• No comma is used to separate it from the rest of
  the sentence.

11
Appositive Phrases

• What is the essential appositive in this
  sentence?
• My favorite president Harry Truman led the
  American people through the end of World War II.

12
Appositive Phrases

• My favorite president Harry Truman led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• Harry Truman is the essential appositive. If I
  do not include his name, you will not have enough
  information to understand my meaning completely.

13
Appositive Phrases

• My favorite president Harry Truman led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• One check is to eliminate the appositive, and
  see what happens. Here, you have a complete
  sentence, but you really dont know to whom I am
  referring. The information is incomplete. I
  need to supply his name.

14
Appositive Phrases

• My favorite president Harry Truman led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• The second check is to see if I can change the
  appositive and keep the meaning of the sentence.
  If I do change this appositive and put in another
  name, I have changed the meaning of the sentence
  entirely.

15
Appositive Phrases

• My favorite president Bill Clinton led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• As you can see, this changes the basic meaning
  of the sentence, making it historically
  incorrect.

16
Appositive Phrases

• The other type of appositive is the nonessential
  appositive.

17
Appositive Phrases

• A nonessential appositive provides information
  that in itself may be important, but is really
  only additional information and is not necessary
  to the core meaning of the sentence.
• Commas are used to separate it from the rest of
  the sentence.

18
Appositive Phrases

• What is the nonessential appositive in this
  sentence?
• Harry Truman, my favorite president, led the
  American people through the end of World War II.

19
Appositive Phrases

• Harry Truman, my favorite president, led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• My favorite president is the nonessential
  appositive. I dont have to tell you he is my
  favorite president in order to tell you that he
  led the American people through the end of World
  War II.

20
Appositive Phrases

• Harry Truman, my favorite president, led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• And now for the second test. Can I change the
  appositive but keep the basic point of the
  sentence intact?

21
Appositive Phrases

• Harry Truman, the president who succeeded FDR,
  led the American people through the end of World
  War II.
• As you can see, the basic point of my sentence,
  that he led the American people through the end
  of World War II, remains intact.

22
Appositive Phrases

• With appositives, remember that if you need the
  phrase to make the meaning clear, or if changing
  the appositive changes the basic point of the
  sentence, it is an essential appositive and does
  not require commas.

23
Appositive Phrases

• My favorite president Harry Truman led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• If you need the phrase, you DONT need the
  commas.

24
Appositive Phrases

• If you do not need the phrase to make the meaning
  clear, and changing the appositive does not
  affect the basic point of the sentence, it is an
  nonessential appositive and requires commas.

25
Appositive Phrase

• Harry Truman, my favorite president, led the
  American people through the end of World War II.
• If you dont need the phrase, you DO need the
  commas.

26
Appositive Phrases

• In class, we will be practicing identifying
  appositives, determining whether they are
  essential or nonessential, and punctuating them
  correctly.

27
Appositive Phrases

• We will also look at how to use appositives to
  improve
• the basic sentence
• structure in your writing.

28
Appositive Phrases

• Verbs of being are weaker verbs that dont do
  much for your sentence.
• You want to eliminate as many of them as you can
  to use action verbs to make your writing vibrant.
  
• Using an appositive phrase is a good way to
  eliminate verbs of being in your writing.

29
Appositive Phrases

• Wilbur is the new class president. He is the
  president of the junior class. He met with his
  officers to plan fundraisers to offset the cost
  of the Prom.

30
Appositive Phrases

• In that group of sentences, we have three verbs,
  two of which are verbs of being. They are not
  dynamic enough to make the sentence vibrant. One
  way to improve these three choppy sentences is to
  combine them into one, eliminating the verbs of
  being.

31
Appositive Phrases

• Wilbur is the new class president. He is the
  president of the junior class. He met with his
  officers to plan fundraisers to offset the cost
  of the Prom.

32
Appositive Phrases

• Wilbur, is the new class president. He is the
  president of the junior class, He met with his
  officers to plan fundraisers to offset the cost
  of the Prom.

33
Appositive Phrases

• We will be working in class on ways to combine
  short, choppy, little sentences into more
  sophisticated ones by eliminating verbs of being
  using appositives.