Revised as of
14 Feb 2023
I love this example phrase — The storks, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, circled high above us. — it’s so poetic. It also provides an excellent example of the absolute phrase AND how its placement within a sentence can affect how you read that sentence.
Exploring This Example
In the table below, the first half of the first sentence emphasizes the shapes and colors and only later provides context for those slender, sleek bodies, the black against the orange.
In the second sentence, it reverses the emphasis, causing us to see the storks first with the shapes and colors a secondary consideration.
The third sentence feels as if the clause and the phrase are addressed equally. We know these are storks, but have no idea what they’re doing. Those shapes, the colors, shows us something about the birds. But it’s the last third of this sentence that pulls it all together.
And I’m not sure if I prefer the first sentence because of the artist in me . . .
Grammar Explanations is . . .
. . . an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.
If you found this post on “Absolute Phrase” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Absolute Phrase |
| Definition: A group of words that modifies the whole independent clause [noun/pronoun, sometimes modified by a participle, no true finite verb]. Because they add information, they are always treated as parenthetical elements.
A.k.a. nominative absolute |
| Rule: It could come before, follow, or interrupt the clause, but the entire absolute phrase can be moved anywhere within the independent clause. |
|
Legend:
Their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, the storks circled high above us. The storks circled high above us, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky. The storks, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, circled high above us. Its branches covered in icicles, the tall oak stood in our yard. The tall oak, its branches covered in icicles, stood in our yard. The tall oak stood in our yard, its branches covered in icicles. The movie being over, the patrons flooded the lobby and parking lot. The movie over, the patrons flooded the lobby and parking lot. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Grammar Explanations by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Absolute Phrase
Nash, Kitty. “Absolute Phrases.” English Grammar 101. n.d. Web. 14 Feb 2023. <https://www.englishgrammar101.com/module-9/verbals-and-phrases/lesson-10/absolute-phrases>.
Nordquist, Richard. “What Are Absolute Phrases in English?.” ThoughtCo. Updated on 7 August 2019. Web. n.d. <http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/absoluteterm.htm>.
Pinterest Photo Credits
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Madrid, Spain, is Carlos Delgado‘s own work and is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. Peaceful Sunset by aashishchindaliya is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay.
