[Grammar] absolute phrase ( or absolute clause )

[duiter]

Hi all,

Does the following sentence contain '' absolute phrase ( or absolute clause ) '' ?

'' Julie crossed the finish line far ahead of the next runner, aware only that she'd broken her personal record, not that she'd broken a world record


Is '' aware only that she'd broken her personal record, not that she'd broken a world record '' an absolute clause / phrase ?

and Why ?

Many thanks

 

[Chicchick]

An English sentence must contain a subject and a verb

a clause contains a subject and a verb

a phrase does not have to

 

[TheParser]

Hi all,

Does the following sentence contain '' absolute phrase ( or absolute clause ) '' ?

'' Julie crossed the finish line far ahead of the next runner, aware only that she'd broken her personal record, not that she'd broken a world record


Is '' aware only that she'd broken her personal record, not that she'd broken a world record '' an absolute clause / phrase ?

and Why ?

Many thanks

NOT A TEACHER



(1) I think (think) that "aware that she had broken her personal record"

is not considered by many books as an "absolute" construction (type of

sentence).

(a) I believe that "absolute" is usually applied to a noun + participle

combination:

The teacher (noun) + being sick (participial phrase), the class was

canceled. As you can see, the absolute phrase has no GRAMMATICAL

connection to the main sentence. Of course, it would sound strange to

speak like this, so in conversation we would say:

The class was canceled because the teacher was sick.

(2) I think (think) that "aware that she had broken her personal

record" may be classified as a so-called "verbless clause."

(a) It does not have a verb. Thus: "verbless."

(b) It can be analyzed as "[She was] aware that she had broken her

personal record." Thus: "clause."

(c) I believe that some people would say that the missing verb is a form

of "be." Thus, your sentence might be analyzed as an ellipsis (missing

words) of a participial phrase:

Julie crossed the finish line, [being] aware that ....

or

[Being] aware that ..., Julie crossed the finish line. It shows

rather clearly that the participial phrase modifies the subject

("Julie").

 

[Pedroski]

Is 'Come here!' a sentence?