Appositives,+Prepositional,+and+Gerund+Phrases

====** Appositive Phrases **- a noun or pronoun that is placed next to another noun or pronoun to identify it or give additional information about it. An appositive phrase is the appositive plus any words that modify the appositive.====

Examples:
 * My friend **Jodi** works at the hospital. ( Jodi is the appositive because it is another name for my friend)
 * She works with Dr. Martin, **an award-winning pediatrician**. ( the phrase an award-winning pediatrician is an appositive phrase because it's renaming Dr. Martin)

Use commas to set off any appositive or appositive phrase that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence

Examples:
 * Jodi's coworker **Emma** has five children. ( the appositive Emma is essential because Jodi has more than one coworker)
 * Emma's husband, Phil, is a carpenter. ( the appositive Phil is not essential because Emma has only one husband)

Usually an appositive or an appositive phrase follows the noun or pronoun it identifies or explains. Occasionally an appositive phrase comes before the noun or pronoun.

Example: **A compassionate person**, Jodi helps many patients.

commas= non essential ( not needed) no comma= essential (needed to make sense)

** Prepositional Phrases **- a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or a pronoun, which is called the object of the preposition.
Examples:
 * The new picture hangs **on the wall**. ( Wall is the object of the preposition on)

*The room **beside the kitchen** is empty. ( Kitchen is the object of the preposition beside, do not include is empty)
Be careful in distinguishing between the preposition //to// ( to the house, to Tucson) and //to// that marks an infinitive ( to read, to jog). Adjectives and other modifiers may be places between a preposition and its object. Also, a preposition may have more than one object.

*The view was **to the east and the south**. ( two objects: east, south)
Prepositional phrases may also occur in a sequence of two or more.

Example: The bird **at the top of that tree** is chirping. ( two prepositions right after each other: at, of)
A prepositional phrase usually functions as an adjective or an adverb. When it is used as an adjective, it modifies a noun or a pronoun and is called an adjective phrase. An adjective phrase always follows the word it modifies.

Example: I pressed the button **on the right**. ( adjective phrase modifying the noun button)
Adverb prepositional phrase modifies a verb, adverb, and adjective and may appear in different positions in a sentence.

Examples:
 * After work** I returned the shirt. ( adverb phrase modifying the verb returned)
 * I returned the shirt **after work.** ( same just in a different position in the sentence)

** Gerund Phrases **- contain a gerund (a verb from that ends in -ing and functions in the same way a noun does) plus any modifiers and complements.
Examples:
 * Climbing the mountain** was a challenging activity.
 * I enjoy **down- home cooking**.

1) Gerunds function as nouns 2) If you can replace the word or phrase with it or this and it makes sense, the word or phrase is a gerund


 * __PRACTICE EXERCISES__**

1) T/F Does this sentence contain a gerund phrase? Having learned German as a child, I could understand Florian. 2) T/F Does this sentence contain a prepositional phrase? I went to jog this morning. 3) Place commas where appropriate for this sentence or if not needed leave alone. My teacher Mrs. Abood gave me homework tonight. 4) Is the appositive essential or non essential? Our best mechanic, Robby has worked here for several years. 5) What is the prepositional phrase in this sentence? I woke up before my mom this morning. 6) A gerund functions as a _? 7) Is the prepositional phrase an adverb phrase or adjective phrase? The phone is by the computer.


 * Underline the phrase or phrases. Identify the type of phrase and if it is a prepositional phrase tell if adverb or adjective:**

8) Jamming too much clothing into a washing machine will result in disaster. 9) The shell was hidden underneath the sand. 10) During the dinner conversation, Clifford, the messiest eater at the table, spewed mashed potatoes.