Page 73 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking
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■ The thunderstorm would have awakened anyone.
■ We need a motion to end this meeting.
5.6.3 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
Prepositional phrases do not have a verb or a subject and, like noun phrases and
verb phrases, function as a unit.
They contain a preposition and the object of the preposition (see section
13.0, Prepositions), with adjectives sometimes appearing between them. These
phrases can act like adjectives and adverbs.
■ The gold dress with the shiny trim looks blue.
■ Our awareness of our unconscious minds is weak.
■ As the train climbed through the snowy Swiss Alps, I felt cozy in my
berth.
5.6.4 ABSOLUTE PHRASES
Absolute phrases modify the entire sentence and are set off by commas or dashes
from it.
■ Our work finished, we headed down to the pub.
■ The show over, the cast and crew went to Sardi’s for drinks.
5.7 Complements
A complement completes the predicate. It finishes the idea started by the subject
or object or a verb.
A subject complement comes after a linking verb (see section 6.9) and
describes or redefines the subject.
■ Her dog is a beagle.—Beagle is the subject complement.
■ You seem worried.—Worried is the subject complement.
