This exercise will give you a chance to apply the principles introduced in Building Sentences with Absolute Phrases. Combine the sentences in each set below into a single clear sentence with at least one absolute phrase. Here's an example:
- The paperboy stood shivering in the doorway.
- His teeth were chattering.
- His palm was extended.
Sample combination:
His teeth chattering, his palm extended, the paperboy stood shivering in the doorway.
If you run into problems while working on this exercise, review the following pages:
When you are done, compare your sentences with the sample combinations at the bottom of the page.Exercise: Building Sentences with Absolutes
- Ed and the little man climbed the stairs together.
Each was lost in his own strange world. - I sat on the highest limb of a sturdy oak tree.
Its branches were reaching to the clouds.
The branches were reaching as if to claim a piece of the sky. - The wolf trots away.
His head and tail are erect.
His hips are slightly to one side and out of line with his shoulders. - The raccoon goes down on all fours and strides slowly off.
Her slender front paws are reaching ahead of her.
Her slender front paws are like the hands of an experienced swimmer. - My grandparents were holding hands in a New York City subway train.
Their faces were old.
Their faces were beautifully lined.
Their gray heads were almost touching. - I sat huddled on the steps.
My cheeks were resting sullenly in my palms.
I was half listening to what the grownups were saying.
I was half lost in a daydream - One sunny morning I whipped down the Roxbury Road on my bicycle.
The front spokes were melting into a saw blade.
The wind was shrilling tunes.
The tunes came through the vent holes in my helmet. - An elderly woman shuffles slowly to a park bench and sits down heavily.
Her wig is slightly askew.
Her wig is ash-blond.
Her wig is showing tuffs of hair.
The hair was thin.
The hair was gray. - Arthur fidgets on his high-legged chair.
A pencil is poking out from behind his ear.
Arthur is in his box-like office.
His office is in the old Loft's candy factory on Broome Street. - There were several species of turtle.
These species took to the sea between 90 million and 100 million years ago.
The turtles had stubby legs.
Their legs were adapting into flippers.
The flippers were streamlined.
Sample Combinations
Keep in mind that in most cases more than one effective combination is possible.
- Ed and the little man climbed the stairs together, each lost in his own strange world.
- I sat on the highest limb of a sturdy oak tree, its branches reaching to the clouds as if to claim a piece of the sky.
- The wolf trots away, his head and tail erect, his hips slightly to one side and out of line with his shoulders.
- Her slender front paws reaching ahead of her like the hands of an experienced swimmer, the raccoon goes down on all fours and strides slowly off.
- Their faces old and beautifully lined, their gray heads almost touching, my grandparents were holding hands in a New York City subway train.
- Half listening to what the grownups were saying and half lost in a daydream, I sat huddled on the steps, my cheeks resting sullenly in my palms.
- One sunny morning I whipped down the Roxbury Road on my bicycle, the front spokes melting into a saw blade, the wind shrilling tunes through the vent holes in my helmet.
- An elderly woman, her ash-blond hair slightly askew and showing tuffs of thin gray hair, shuffles slowly to a park bench and sits down heavily.
- A pencil poking out from behind his ear, Arthur fidgets on his high-legged chair in his box-like office in the old Loft's candy factory on Broome Street.
- Between 90 million and 100 million years ago, several species of turtle took to the sea, their stubby legs adapting into streamlined flippers.
