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Identifying the Absolute Phrase. On the next slide are four sentences written by professional writers. 1. She returned to her bench. 2. The boy watched. 3. About the bones, ants were ebbing away. 4. Six boys came over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard.
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Identifying the Absolute Phrase On the next slide are four sentences written by professional writers.
1. She returned to her bench.2. The boy watched.3. About the bones, ants were ebbing away.4. Six boys came over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard.
Now compare the sentences with the originals. Notice that the additions account for the distinctiveness of the original sentences.
1a. She returned to her bench, her face showing all the unhappiness that had suddenly overtaken her.2a. The boy watched, his eyes bulging in the dark.3a. About the bones, the ants were ebbing away, their pincers full of meat.
4a. Six boys came over the hill half an hour early that afternoon running hard, their heads down, their forearms working, their breath whistling. (three absolutes)
The green phrases are absolute phrases. These phrases are an efficient way to combine related ideas in one sentence.
Characteristics of the Absolute Phrase • An absolute phrase is a modifier that somewhat resembles a complete sentence. Included in every absolute phrase is a subject and a partial verb, which is why it resembles a sentence. However, since the verb is only partial and complete, absolutes are considered phrases and not clauses.
Missing in every absolute phrase is an auxiliary verb—always a form of he verb to be (is, are, was, or were). Here are examples of absolutes phrases with auxiliary verbs inserted (in green) that would change the phrase into a complete sentence.
1a. Her face was showing all the unhappiness that had suddenly overtaken her.2a. His eyes were bulging in the dark.3a. Their pincers were full of meat.4a. Their heads were down. Their forearms were working. Their breath was whistling.
Another way to identify an absolute is that many absolutes begin with the words my, his, her, its, our, their (possessive pronouns). Absolutes can occur as sentence openers, subject-verb splits, or sentence closers.
Another distinguishing characteristic of most absolute phrases is the kind of word they usually begin with. In all of the phrases above, a possessive pronoun is the starting word. • 1a. her • 2a. his • 3a. their • 4a. their
The class of words called possessive pronouns has only a few members: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. In absolute phrases the possessive pronoun is stated, but sometimes it’s implied. In the first sentence below, the possessive pronoun that starts the absolute phrase is stated; in the second, it’s implied.
StatedNoiselessly Lenny appeared in the open doorway and stood there looking in, his big shoulders nearly filling the opening.John Steinbeck, Of Mice and MenImpliedThe good dogs came stiffly out of their little house, [their] hackles up and deep growls in their throats.John Steinbeck, The Red Pony
In summary, there are two ways to identify absolute phrases: (1) the phrase always can be changed into a sentence by adding an auxiliary verb—usually was or were-and (2) frequently, but not always, the starting word in the absolute phrase is a possessive pronoun, stated or implied.
Sentence openers • His hands raw, he reached a flat place at the top. • Each child carrying his little bag of crackling, we trod the long road home in the cold winter. • Outside, his carpetbag in his hand, he stood for a time in the barnyard.
Subject-Verb Splits • Miss Hearne, her face burning, hardly listened to these words. • High in the air, a little figure, his hands thrust in his short jacket pockets, stood staring out to sea. • A monk on a motorcycle, his long robes flying in the wind of his speed, passed John at such a clip that the spirals of dust from his turnings on the winding road looked like little tornadoes.
Sentence Closers • She screamed for Klaus--shrieked for him--and Klaus came on the dead run, his work boots whitened by the half-full pail of milk he had spilled on them. • He walked with a prim strut, swinging out his legs in a half-circle with each step, his heels biting smartly into the red velvet carpet on the floor.
Sentence Closers Continued • Those who had caught sharks had taken them to the shark factory on the other side of the cove where they were hoisted on a block and tackle, their livers removed, their fins cut off, and their hides skinned out, and their flesh cut into strips for salting. (four closers)
