Overview

"We met at the movies." "David, Denise's brother, arrived before me." "No one would eat the burned popcorn." The italicized words in the previous sentences are examples of phrases. Phrases are groups of words that function together in a sentence but do not make a complete sentence by themselves. There are three main types: prepositional phrases (at the movies), appositive phrases (Denise's brother), and verbal phrases (burned popcorn).

A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition (at) and ends with an object of the preposition (movies). Prepositional phrases act as modifiers in sentences in the same way that adjectives or adverbs do. In this example, the prepositional phrase, at the movies, behaves like an adverb. It answers the question where and modifies the verb met.

An appositive is a noun or pronoun that is placed directly next to another noun or pronoun to provide more information about it. For example, "My friend Sanjay came with me to see the movie." Sanjay identifies the noun friend. An appositive phrase is an appositive plus any words that modify that appositive. "Karis, the movie reviewer, sat with David."

Verbals are verb forms used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. There are three kinds of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. A verbal phrase includes a verbal plus any complements and modifiers. Participles are verb forms, in past or present tense, used as adjectives (burned popcorn). Gerunds are verb forms used like a noun (eating popcorn). Infinitives are verb forms that are usually preceded by to; they can be used as either a noun, an adjective, or an adverb (to eat popcorn).