Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Using Absolute Phrases

An absolute phrase -- is a modifier generally made from a noun or noun phrase and a participle. It can modify a noun or pronoun or the whole of the base sentence to which it is attached.

e.g - Teeth chattering, we waited for hours in the bitter cold.

Sails flapping, the boat tugged at its mooring.

The participle may be expanded into a participle phrase --


Sails flapping in the brisk morning breeze, the boat tugged at its mooring.

An absolute phrase with other combinations

1). Noun and adverb phrase - Ram sat back comfortable, feet up on the desk.

2). Noun and adjective - Muscles taut, he hefted the barbells to his chest.


3). Noun and adjective phrase - She waved to the crowd, her face radiant with triumph.

4). Noun and adverb - Shoulders hunched, Ronaldo zigzagged past the linebacker.

We can use various absolute phrases in succession - Hair golden, eyes blue, body slender and tanned, he personified the California look.

Note - We can put an absolute phrase at the beginning of a sentence or at the end, setting it off with a comma.

We can also put an absolute phrase in the middle.

e.g - The speaker, his voice trembling with rage, denounced the hecklers. (note the pair of commas)

See the sentence number 14 at the link below

gmatsentencecorrection


2 comments:

Prachi Pareekh said...

D).The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monesteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago

Aashim,

In this choice instead of "are" we should use "were"---"centuries ago" - here "ago" is time dictic - it will go with past but will not fit with present.(e.g - There lived a king 100 years ago.)

Prachi Pareekh said...

You are right.
When the participle of an absolute phrase is a form of to be, such as being or having been, the participle is often left out but understood.

e.g

1). The season [being] over, they were mobbed by fans in Times Square.

2). [Having been] Stars all their adult lives, they seemed used to the attention