Absolute Phrase

You must have heard about phrases. Phrases are a group of words that join together to make a clause. There are various types of phrases or various categories in which phrases can be divided. One such category is absolute phrase and today we will discuss about that.

Absolute:

The term absolute (short form absol.) is used in English grammar to indicate a word or a phrase that is usually present along with another word or phrase but can also exist singly.

Absolute phrase:

A phrase that has the capability to modify the noun of the main phrase and does not make use of a conjunction to be connected to the sentence is called an absolute phrase. Instead of a conjunction, it uses a comma to form a connection.

Example:

Sam was shouting loudly, his lungs out of air.

Notice in this example, his lungs out of air is an example of an absolute phrase. Note that it did not made use of a conjunction but only used a comma to be connected to the main phrase.

An absolute phrase can also be recognized by the property that if you remove this phrase, the main phrase will still make sense and the meaning of the sentence will remain the same.

Example:

Samantha was planning a vacation this week, provided she gets the paycheck.

Look at this example and note that the example shows that if we remove the absolute phrase that is provided she gets the paycheck the sentence still makes sense and has the original meaning.