1) as a noun to be subject • You must know your enemy. • That is the best defense. • Knowing your enemy is the best defense.
2) as a noun to be predictive • He finishes his supper. • He takes a short walk. • That is his habit. • In this habit, he keeps healthy. • His habit to keep healthy is taking a short walk after supper. 3) as a noun to be appositive • His dream is finding lost treasure. • His dream almost came true recently. • His dream, finding lost treasure, almost came true recently.
5. He wanted to follow me around all morning. I had to think of a way. By the way I can prevent him from that.
I had to think of a way of preventing him from following me around all morning.
• Nobody was at home. • The thief took a lot of things away. • Nobody (being) at home, the thief took a lot of things away.
II.2. Function • An absolute phrase functions as an adverb, indicating manner,
I. Gerund Phrases
Both a gerund and a present participle end in –ing but they function as different parts of speech. A gerund is used as a noun, whereas a present participle is used as an adjective or an adverb.
3) When the action happened in the past, a gerund is usually used.
• She has had quick thinking. • That saved us all a lot of trouble. • Her quick thinking saved us all a lot of trouble.
• Living a happy life is everyone’s deepest desire. • (normal subject, more natural) • To live a happy life is everyone’s deepest dcommon)
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• we waiting in line • the students holding a
meeting • the ruler broken • the train crowded • the climate (being) mild • the soil (being) rich in
6. I tried to wake up my wife. I rang the doorbell. She was fast asleep.
I tried to wake up my wife by ringing the doorbell, but she was fast asleep.
I.1. Form and function • A gerund phrase includes the gerund and the object of the
gerund or any modifiers related to the gerund. Like a gerund, it is used as a noun—as subject, predictive, object, object of a preposition, or appositive.
4) The following is a list of verbs that can have gerund objects, but not infinitives
• admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, complete, consider, • defend, delay, deny, detest, discuss, dislike, • enjoy, escape, excuse, finish, • get through, give up, go on, can't help, • imagine, involve, keep (on), would like (him), • mention, (not) mind, miss, • postpone, practice, put off, quit, • recall, recollect, recommend, report, resent, resist, resume,
time, place, cause, condition, or degree . It modifies the whole sentence rather than a particular word. All absolute phrases can be turned into correspondent adverbial clauses. • The wings were damaged by the storm. • The aircraft crashed. • Its wings damaged by the storm, the aircraft crashed. • (Or: Because its wings were damaged by the storm, the aircraft crashed.) • The weather permits. • We will have the picnic tomorrow. • Weather permitting, we will have the picnic tomorrow. • (Or: If the weather permits, we will have the picnic tomorrow.)
risk, • (can't) see, stop, suggest, take up, tolerate, understand
4. The woman simply took the parcel. She walked out of the shop. She didn’t pay.
The woman simply took the parcel and walked out of the shop without paying.
II.3. Position and punctuation
As an absolute phrase acts as an adverb, its position in a sentence is very flexible. As sentence opener or subject-verb split, an absolute phrase usually expresses cause, time, condition, or purpose. As sentence closer, it shows effect or adds more detail or focus to the idea of the main clause, particularly when the absolute refers to an event that occurs later than the event in the main clause.
4) as a noun to be object • I travel in the country. • I love that. • I lose my way. • I don’t like that. I love traveling in the country, but I don't like losing my way. 5) as a noun to be object of a preposition • They wanted to travel to foreign country. • They have made preparation for it. They have made preparation for traveling to a foreign country.
College English Grammar:
Grammar and Writing
Unit 10
Phrases: Gerund Phrases and Absolute Phrases
• Grammar: 1. Gerund Phrases 2. Absolute Phrases
• Writing: Correcting: Missing Commas with Nonessential Elements Rewriting: Intra-sentence coherence
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