Absolute/Nominative

Phrases
Presented To: Ma’am Zainab Siddique
Presented by: Wareesha Khan
 Absolute Phrase
DEFINITION:
“An absolute phrase is a phrase having a subject
but no finite verb and modifying a whole sentence.”
OR
“A phrase that contains a noun which is followed
by a word or phrase that describes a noun.”
 COMPONENTS OF ABSOLUTE PHRASES

Noun Must Participle Modifiers optional object

A word, phrase or
A word used for A word form from a The entity that
clause that provides
naming people, verb and used as an is acted upon by
description in
places and things adjective the subject
sentence
 Examples
• We finished our first yoga class, our souls replenished.
Noun phrase Past Participle

• The concert finished, we all were ready to go to a restaurant.

Noun phrase Past participle

• My cousin finally returning to the homeland, we will have

Noun phrase Present participle Object

fun together
 How to Identify
• Set apart from a sentence …comma not conjunction
e.g.: Being a doctor, you should know it.

• No finite verb
e.g.: our souls replenished our souls were replenished.

• Modifies a whole sentence not a specific word.

Modification of noun in this phrase not
in independent clause
• “A phrase that contains a noun which is followed
by a word or phrase that describes a noun.”
• The noun of an absolute phrase can be modified by
An adjective
e.g : Their shoes muddy, the children were not allowed

into the house.

A past participle phrase
e.g : Her house destroyed by a tornado, she moved in

with her sister.

Present participle phrase

e.g : Their son walking across the stage, Joel and Ellen

applauded proudly.
A prepositional phrase
e.g : His car in his shop, Joni took the bus to work.

Absolute phrases in between a sentence

e.g : The eagle, its wings spread, circled above the

lake.
 Quiz
1. An absolute phrase must have a noun and usually a participle and
can have
a. Objects
b. Modifiers
c. Both a & b
d. It can’t have anything else

Both a & B
2. Find the absolute phrase
Her kids tucked into bed, she could finally go to sleep.
a. Her kids tucked into bed
b. Go to sleep
c. Jane could finally go to sleep
d. Tucked into bed
Her kids tucked into bed
3. An absolute phrase modifies
a. A full sentence
b. Part of sentence
c. A word
A full sentence