1.) Identify the underlined phrase in the following sentence: I wanted to learn about the revolution in Egypt. (Underlined phras
e is "to learn") a. prepositional
b. appositive
c. gerund
d. infinitive
2.) Identify the underlined phrase in the following sentence: My neighbor, Lisa, sure does love her pets. (Underlined phrase is "Lisa")
a. prepositional
b. appositive
c. gerund
d. infinitive
The infinitive can be defined as the basic form of a verb. It is a form with no inflections - no changes due to a relationship with a subject- that normally comes preceded by "to". In the sentence "I wanted to learn about the revolution in Egypt", the phrase "to learn" is an infinitive that functions as the object of the verb "wanted".
Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that rename another noun next to it. In the sentence "My neighbor, Lisa, sure does love her pets," "Lisa" is an appositive, since it is renaming the noun "neighbor". "Lisa" comes between commas because the speaker thinks it is non-essential information. It is not crucial for the listener to know it is Lisa who loves pets. Just knowing it is a neighbor is enough. If it were essential information, no commas would have been used.
While the lawyer was more inclined towards life imprisonment for a convict, the young banker did not approve of either life imprisonment or capital punishment. They also have a heated argument regarding both the forms of punishment. Suspense picks up when the banker challenges the young lawyer to spend fifteen years in solitary confinement and the lawyer accepts it in lieu of money worth two millions.