Absolute Phrase
Here’s a list of sentences written by professional writers, but with some parts deleted.
She returned to her bench
The boy watched.
About the bones, ants were ebbing away.
Six boys over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard.
Now compare the above sentences with the originals. Notice that the part deleted accounts for the distinctiveness of the original sentences. The boldface phrases are absolute phrases, one of the sentence parts that differentiate professional writing from student writing. They’re frequently used by professional writers but rarely by students. Absolute phrases are an efficient way to combine related ideas in one sentence.
1a. She returned to her bench, her face showing all the unhappiness that had suddenly overtaken her.
Theodore Dreiser, An American Tragedy
2a. The boy watched, his eyes bulging in the dark.
Edmund Ware, “An Underground Episode”
3a. About the bones, ants were ebbing away, their pincers full of meat.
Doris Lessing, African Stories
4a. Six boys came over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard, their heads down, their forearms working, their breath whistling.
John Steinbeck, The Red Pony
Characteristics of Absolute Phrases
An absolute phrase is a modifier that somewhat resembles a complete sentence. Included in every absolute phrase is a subject and a partial verb, which is why it resembles a sentence. However, since the verb is only partial and not complete, absolutes are considered phrases and not clauses. Missing in every absolute phrase is an auxiliary verb—always a form of the verb to be (is, are, was, or were). Here are examples of absolute phrases with auxiliary verbs inserted (in parentheses) that would change the phrase into a complete sentence. The absolute phrases are taken from the above four sentences.
1a. Her face (was) showing all the happiness that had suddenly overtaken her.
2a. His eyes (were) bulging in the dark.
3a. Their pincers (were) full of meat.
4a. Their heads (were) down. Their forearms (were) working. Their breath (was) whistling.
Another distinguishing characteristic of most absolute phrases is the kind of word the usually begin with. In all of the absolute phrases above, a possessive pronoun is the starting word.
1a. her
2a. his
3a. their
4a. their
The class of words called possessive pronouns has only a few members: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. In absolute phrases the possessive pronoun is usually stated, but sometimes it’s implied. In the first sentence below, the possessive pronoun that starts the absolute phrase is stated; in the second, it’s implied.
Stated
Noiselessly Lenny appeared in the open doorway and stood there looking in, his big shoulders nearly filling the opening.
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
Implied
The good dogs came stiffly out of their little house, [their] hackles up and deep growls in their throats.
John Steinbeck, The Red Pony
In summary, there are two ways to identify absolute phrases: (1) the phrase always can be changed into a sentence by adding an auxiliary verb—usually was or were—and (2) frequently, but not always, the starting word in the absolute phrase is a possessive pronoun, stated or implied.
An absolute phrase can be used as a sentence opener, subject-verb split, or sentence closer.
Sentence Openers
His hands raw, he reached a flat place at the top.
Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game”
Each child carrying his little bag of crackling, we trod the long road home in the cold winter afternoon.
Peter Abrahams, Tell Freedom
Outside, his carpetbag in his hand, he stood for a time in the barnyard.
Jessamyn West, “A Time of Learning”
Subject-Verb Splits
Miss Hearne, her face burning, hardly listened to these words.
Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
High in the air, a little figure, his hands thrust in his short jacket pockets, stood staring out to sea.
Katherine Mansfield, “The Voyage”
An Arab on a motorcycle, his long robes flying in the wind of his speed, passed John at such a clip that the spirals of dust from his turnings on the winding road looked like little tornadoes.
Elizabeth Yates, “Standing in Another’s Shoes”
Sentence Closers
She screamed for Klaus—shrieked for him—and Klaus came on the dead run, his work boots whitened by the half-full pail of milk he had spilled on them.
Stephen King, “The Two Dead Girls”
He walked with a prim strut, swinging out his legs in a half-circle with each step, his heels biting smartly into the red velvet carpet on the floor.
Carson McCullers, “The Jockey”
Those who had caught sharks had taken them to the shark factory on the other side of the cover where they were hoisted on a block and tackle, their livers removed, their fins cut off, and their hides skinned out, and their flesh cut into strips for salting. (Contains four closers.)
Ernest Hemmingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Practice 1
Each of the professionally written sentences below contains an absolute phrase. For each sentence, do the following:
Identify the absolute phrase (underline it) and test your identification by changing the phrase into a complete sentence by adding was or were in brackets. E.g. [was]
Indicate the possessive pronoun that starts the absolute phrase (underline it). Where the pronoun is implied rather than stated, identify the intended pronoun in brackets. E.g. [his]
State the position of the absolute phrase (sentence opener, subject-verb split, sentence closer).
High in the air, a little figure, his hands thrust in his short jacket pockets, stood staring out to sea.
Katherine Mansfield, “The Voyage”
He walked with a prim strut, swinging out his legs in a half-circle with each step, his heels biting smartly into the red velvet carpet on the floor.
Carson McCullers, “The Jockey”
Outside, his carpetbag in his hand, he stood for a time in the barnyard.
Jessamyn West, “A Time of Learning”
Father lay crumpled up on the stone floor of the pantry, face down, arms twisted at a curious angle….
Christy Brown, Down All the Days
Practice 2
Although most absolute phrases begin with possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) some do not. Here are examples:
He hoisted the sack of feed and took it into the wire dogpen, the bird dogs crowding around him, rearing up on him in their eagerness.
Borden Deal, “The Christmas Hunt”
Generally, ships sailed in long convoys, merchant ship after merchant chip, like trains of vessels on the water strung out almost as far as the eye could see.
Edward Rome Snow, “The Light at South Point”
To identify absolute phrases, use the test that applies to every absolute phrase. If you can change it into a sentence by adding was or were, it’s an absolute phrase.
The bird dogs [were] crowding around him.
Merchant ship [was] after merchant ship.
Each scrambled sentence below contains an absolute phrase that doesn’t begin with a possessive pronoun. Identify the sentence part that is the absolute phrase (underline it) and then unscramble each sentence to produce the most effective arrangement of the sentence parts. Punctuate correctly.
1a. was awake for quite a long time
b. the moonlight on her face
c. thinking about things
d. I
e. and watching Catherine sleeping
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
2a. each child carrying his little bag of crackling
b. we
c. in the cold winter afternoon
d. trod the long road home
e. one of many small groups of children
Peter Abrahams, Tell Freedom
3a. I
b. each set upon a carved wooden base
c. looked across to a lighted case of Chinese designs
d. which held delicate-looking statues
e. of horses and birds, small vases and bowls
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
