Phrases and Clauses Practice (Do not write on this sheet!)

Identifying Prepositional Phrases (Rules 6 a, b)

For each of the following sentences, write each preposition, put a comma, and then write each object of the preposition.

EXAMPLE:  1. The wind is blowing from the north. 1. from, north

1. Santa Fe, which means “holy faith,” is the capital of New Mexico.

2. “Have you looked in the encyclopedia?” asked Azami.

3. “It didn’t have enough information about Ralph Waldo Emerson,” Janna said.

4. “Several friends and I correspond by e-mail,” Morgan said.

5. It seems that e-mail is the preferred way of communication now.

Identifying Participles and Participial Phrases

(Rules 6 a, c)

For each of the following sentences, write each participle or participial phrase, put a comma, and then write the word it modifies.

EXAMPLE:  1. Swimming close to shore, the porpoises attracted many watchers. 1. Swimming close to shore, porpoises

1. The puppies, crying from loneliness, watched for their mother.

2. Left for too long, they began to climb out of their box.

3. The basmati rice, steamed to perfection, was delicious with the curry.

4. Writing about Vietnam, Yusef Komunyakaa, a poet from Louisiana, is unflinchingly candid.

5. Knowing the meanings of clouds, my grandfather accurately predicts the weather.

Identifying Gerunds and Gerund Phrases (Rules 6 a, d)

Write the gerunds in the following sentences.

1. Wyatt learned television repair through taking correspondence courses.

2. Batini enjoys wearing kente-cloth skirts.

3. Walking daily is an excellent habit to acquire.

4. In fact, I give walking my highest recommendation.

5. One way of helping the environment is by recycling everything possible.

Identifying and Using Infinitives, Infinitive Phrases, and Infinitive Clauses (Rules 6 a, e, f)

Write the infinitive, infinitive phrase, or infinitive clause in each sentence.

1. The workout required us to stretch our bodies.

2. Our main goal is to keep the roadsides clean.

3. To plant a tree is an act of hope.

4. Edgar Allan Poe’s eerie stories have the power to disturb readers.

5. The poetry to memorize is Langston Hughes’s.

Identifying and Using Appositives and Appositive Phrases (Rules 6 a, g)

Write the appositive or appositive phrase in each sentence below.

1. Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca city, is high in the Andes Mountains.

2. George Washington Carver, a plant scientist, discovered many uses for peanuts.

3. My favorite form of peanuts, peanut butter, is always on hand.

4. Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, is a very large city.

5. Halibut, flat-bodied fish, live in the northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Clauses (Rules 7 a–g)

Write the subordinate clause in each sentence.

1. The first submarine that ever sank a warship was designed for the Confederacy by Horace L. Hunley.

2. It could reach a speed of four miles per hour if the wind and the tide were right.

3. The crew propelled the small ship, which was built from a converted boiler, by turning several hand cranks.

4. Although it cruised only three inches below the surface, it could submerge to a depth of six feet.

5. Its only victim was the Federal sloop Housatonic, which it sank off Charleston on February 17, 1864.