To establish context or give texture to a main clause, we typically use a phrase to modify it. This modifying phrase commonly takes one of these five forms—a
prepositional phrase,
appositive phrase,
infinitive phrase,
gerund phrase, or
participial phrase. Such phrases work in either of two ways:
as an adjective modifying a noun in the main clause, or
as an adverb modifying a verb in that clause.
Look at samplers of these five forms of modifying phrases at work:
IMAGE CREDIT: ENGLISHSTUDYHERE.COMPrepositional phrase. “
In Philippine senatorial lineups, the major political parties often offer a sprinkling of movie actors or husbands of movie actresses.” The prepositional phrase “in Philippine senatorial lineups” serves as an
adjectival phrase modifying the subject “the major political parties” of the main clause.
Appositive phrase. “The tropical island
, a favorite summer hideaway of affluent foreign tourists, is sinking due to rising sea levels.” The appositive phrase “a favorite summer hideaway of affluent foreign tourists” serves as an
adjectival phrase modifying the subject “tropical island” in the main clause.
Infinitive phrase. “
To improve sales, the company launched an aggressive marketing campaign.” The infinitive phrase “to improve sales” serves as an
adverbial phrase modifying the subject “the company” in the main clause.
Gerund phrase. “
Winning the national championship firmly in mind, the chess player spent months of gruelling practice.” The gerund phrase “winning the national championship firmly in mind” is an
adjectival phrase modifying the subject “the chess player.”
Participial phrase. “
Impressed by her credentials, the recruiter immediately hired the applicant.” The participial phrase “impressed by her credentials” serves as an
adjectival phrase modifying the subject “recruiter.” Modifying participial phrases can also take the present participle form: “
Learning simply from experience, he became one of the company’s ablest managers.”
Always keep in mind that all of these five modifying phrase forms directly modify a particular noun or verb in the main clause.
Now that we have a clearer idea of how these five modifying phrases work, we should now be ready to take up a sixth type of modifying phrase that represents a major departure from all five of them. It’s called the
nominative absolute or
absolute clause, which some grammarians call the
absolute phrase instead. It doesn’t directly modify a specific word in the main clause. Rather, the
absolute clause modifies the entire main clause, providing context and not just add information to it.
Take a look at these sentence constructions that use an absolute clause as a modifier: “
The score sheet having been lost, the release of the game results was delayed.” “
Night having fallen, the park filled up with promenaders.” “
Her tour of duty in Europe completed, the veteran diplomat took a well-deserved retirement.” “
His mind in a daze, the pilot failed to make the scheduled flight.” “The big game over, they immediately went home.”
An absolute clause usually consists of a noun or pronoun followed by a participle—never a finite verb—and a related modifier. For instance, in the first example above, the absolute clause “the score sheet having been lost” uses the present participle “having been,” while the second, “night having fallen,” uses the present participle “having fallen.” In the third example, however, the absolute clause “her tour of duty in Europe
[having been] completed” has done away with the form of “be” altogether and just uses the participle “completed.”
In some special cases, the absolute phrase can drop even the participle itself, as in the third and fourth examples above, “his mind
[being] in a daze” and “the big game
[being] over.” That the construction is an absolute clause we can only infer from the context of the statement.
We will discuss the unique characteristics and usage of absolute clauses in more detail next week.
This essay, 2101st of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the June 2, 2022 digital edition of The Manila Times
, ©2022 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.Read this essay online in
The Manila Times:
Getting to know the absolute phrase better(Next week:
The absolute clause as subtler, smoother combiner of ideas)
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
