PHRASE AND CLAUSES PACKET
I. Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional Phrases: ______
______
After conducting the marriage ceremony, Captain Carl sailed to the Antarctic with his crew.
Prepositional phrases consist of ______
______
Common Prepositions
Identifying Prepositional Phrases
I shiver in a frozen sleeping bag. The inside fur is a mass of ice, congealed from my breath. One creeps into the bag, zips up with half frozen fingers, and hears the crackling of the ice. Drops of thawing ice fall on one’s head. Then comes a fit of shivers.
Types of Prepositional Phrases
Adjective phrases ______
Example: Then comes a fit of shivers.
Adverb phrases ______
Example: Carl shivered in a frozen sleeping bag.
Practice with Prepositional Phrases
Directions: You may know Michael Palin from the television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, “Python” films, or other movies. He has also written many books—several about travel adventures. As you read the following sentences about the 50,000-mile journey he describes in Full Circle, circle the prepositional phrase and tell whether each is an adjective phrase or an adverb phrase.
1. It is day 175 of Michael Palin’s 1997 journey. ______
2. Palin is traveling around the Pacific Rim. ______
3. Full Circle makes you his companion on the adventure. ______
4. Today before dawn you left San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. ______
5. Soon you arrive at the El Tatio geyser field. ______
6. This is the highest-altitude geyser field on earth. ______
7. Here steam from the geysers condenses and freezes fast. ______
8. Tiny ice crystals sparkle in the early morning sunlight. ______
9. To your delight, a geyser’s blow-hole produces heat. ______
10. You use the heat for cooking your breakfast eggs. ______
Directions: Clarify locations of people and things by adding a prepositional phrase to each sentence that answers the question following it.
1. Palin stands. (He stands where?)
2. The steam gushes. (Gushes from what?)
3. It billows like big clouds. (It billows where?)
4. Palin’s crew takes pictures. (From where?)
5. This is just one amazing sight they capture. (They capture where?)
II. Appositive Phrases
Appositive means ______
Example: The English biologist Dian Fossey wrote about eyewitness accounts of gorillas.
Practice:
Fossey studied the mountain gorilla, an endangered species. Icarus, one of the gorillas Fossey studied, was the only member of his group who was not afraid of her at first. The group included two silverbacks, elder males whose fur had turned a silver color. The silverback Beethoven weighed about 350 pounds and was probably around 40 years old. Fossey wrote about Beethoven and the other gorillas in her only book, Gorillas in the Mist.
Appositives vs. Adjective Clauses (both interrupters)
APPOSITIVES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSESRename the noun / Tell which one
Influenza, a silent stalker, looms on often-touched surfaces, waiting to infect its next victim. / Influenza is a disease which looms on often-touched surfaces, waiting to infect its victims.
III. Indepen dent & Subordinate Clauses
A clause is ______
______
Independent Clause / Subordinate ClausePurpose:
Example:
Many people travel. / Purpose:
Example:
Because they crave excitement.
Practice: Identify the italicized words as independent or subordinate clauses.
1. Before you sign up for a vacation trip, read the fine print.
2. Most tour companies are responsible operators.
3. However, travelers must agree to their terms and conditions.
4. Whenever you see the word “liability,” read the text carefully.
5. Pay attention to the details as you read.
6. Tour companies hire outside services, but they aren’t responsible for mishaps with those services.
7. If the airline loses your luggage, the tour company isn’t accountable.
8. When there’s no heat in the mountain lodge, the tour guide can only sympathize.
9. In fact, he or she will probably complain as much as you will.
10. Of course, no one is responsible if Mother Nature rains on your vacation.
III. a & b Adjective & Adverb Clauses
Types of Subordinate Clauses
Adjective Clause / Adverb ClauseDefinition:
Examples:
1. Scientists who explore the sea face many hazards.
2. The waves, which pounded the shore, were 12 feet tall.
3. The day before the storm hit was clear and calm.
4. The crow’s nest, where the lookout usually stood, was empty.
5. Those were the days when no one expected to survive such a storm. / Definition:
Examples:
1. Whenever I have the chance, I travel.
2. Spaceships are bigger than I thought they were.
3. Planes move faster than boats ever will.
IV. Noun Clauses
A noun clause is a ______
Examples
1. Whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
2. Travel tests how we cope with problems.
3. It gives whoever wants it practice with flexibility.
4. New experiences are what we crave.
5. Think about where you’d like to go.
6. Turning whichever corner we find brings new excitement.
7. To go where we have never been before is true adventure.
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