Read the following paragraph and think about what you’ve learned about identifying the use of prepositional, participial, and absolute phrases. The sun forever at its center, our solar system spans millions upon millions of miles. Eight planets make their way around the light- and life-giving sun, including Mercury nearest to the sun and Neptune furthest away. Of these eight planets, Jupiter is the largest and one of the fastest-moving. Revolving at breakneck speed, Jupiter nevertheless takes 12 Earth years to make it all the way back to its starting point. Compared to Neptune, though, that’s short. It takes 165 Earth years for Neptune to return to its starting point! Activity Identify the use of at least one prepositional phrase, one participial phrase, and one absolute phrase. For each of these phrases, explain how you knew what type of phrase it was.

Question

GPT-4o mini · Answer

Sure! Here are examples of each of the three types of phrases found in the paragraph, along with explanations of how to identify them:

1. Prepositional Phrase

Example: "around the light- and life-giving sun"

Explanation: This is a prepositional phrase because it starts with the preposition "around" and includes the object of the preposition ("the light- and life-giving sun"). Prepositional phrases typically provide additional information about time, location, direction, or relationships between elements in a sentence.

2. Participial Phrase

Example: "Revolving at breakneck speed"

Explanation: This is a participial phrase because it begins with the participle "Revolving," which describes an ongoing action. Participial phrases often function as adjectives, providing more information about a noun—in this case, Jupiter. The phrase gives context to Jupiter's movement in relation to its orbit around the sun.

3. Absolute Phrase

Example: "The sun forever at its center"

Explanation: This is an absolute phrase because it consists of a noun ("The sun") and a modifying phrase ("forever at its center") that provides additional details but does not contain a verb. Absolute phrases typically add details to a sentence but are not directly connected to the main clause; they often describe the scene or provide context.

In summary, the identification of these phrases relies on recognizing their structures and functions within the sentences. Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions, participial phrases use participles, and absolute phrases consist of a noun plus modifiers.