English 11 / Unit 9: Advanced Grammar and Style
9.6 Phrases, Agreement and Clear Reference
Notes
Advanced writers add detail with phrases and keep sentences clear.
- Appositive: a noun phrase renaming another noun ("Emily Dickinson, a poet from Amherst, wrote nearly 1,800 poems").
- Participial phrase: "Exhausted by the climb, the hikers rested."
- Absolute phrase: a noun plus a participle, modifying the whole sentence: "Her essay finished, Dana relaxed."
- Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the subject, not a word in between: "The box of pencils is on the desk." With neither...nor or either...or, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: "Neither the coach nor the players were ready."
- Who is a subject (the person who called); whom is an object (the person whom I called).
- Pronoun reference must be clear: "When Maria met Ana, she was late" is ambiguous.
Practice
Which sentence has correct subject-verb agreement?
The subject is "bouquet," which is singular.
Choose the correct word: "The teacher, ___ I admire, retired."
"Whom" is the object of "admire."
Which sentence contains an absolute phrase?
"The bus arriving late" is a noun plus a participle that modifies the clause.
Ready for more? Take the Unit 9 test.