1
After the meeting, we revised the timeline. — Prepositional phrase: after the meeting.
8 Phrase Examples
Use these examples to study structure, specificity, tone, and variation. They are demonstrations—not claims about a real person or organization unless the example itself makes that explicit.
Before you copy
What to notice in the examples
Useful phrase analysis helps writers see how noun, verb, prepositional, participial, gerund, and infinitive groups add detail without creating unnecessary clauses or fragments.
- Identify the group of words acting together as one grammatical unit.
- Determine what job the phrase performs in the sentence.
- Distinguish the phrase from a clause by checking for a complete subject-verb relationship.
2
The dog with the red collar belongs next door. — Prepositional phrase: with the red collar.
3
To finish before noon is our goal. — Infinitive phrase: to finish before noon.
4
Walking through the archive, Mina found the missing register. — Participial phrase: walking through the archive.
5
Reading old maps relaxes him. — Gerund phrase: reading old maps.
6
The extremely narrow path turned east. — Adjective phrase: extremely narrow.
7
She spoke surprisingly softly. — Adverb phrase: surprisingly softly.
8
The files stored in the basement need review. — Participial phrase: stored in the basement.
Keep the underlying decision or pattern, then replace the subject, evidence, relationship, constraints, and tone with details that belong to your situation. If your final line still works after swapping only one noun, it may be too close to the example.