Clearing his throat, Bill began to give his speech
Correct answer: A. Participle Phrase
- A. Participle Phrase
- B. gerund phrase
- C. infinitive phrase
- D. Appositive
Explanation
The phrase "Clearing his throat" is a participle phrase, which is a phrase that begins with a participle (a verb form ending in "-ing" or "-ed") and functions as an adverb.- In this case, the participle phrase "Clearing his throat" modifies the verb "began", indicating the action that occurred before or simultaneously with the start of the speech.
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About Phrases and Clauses
A phrase is a group of words without a finite subject-verb relationship, while a clause contains one and may be independent or dependent. The topic covers noun, adjective and adverb clauses, main and subordinate clauses, sentence patterns and the difference between a dependent clause, a phrase and a sentence fragment.
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