Adjectival Phrase
An adjectival phrase is a group of words in a phrase that includes an adjective. It acts as an adjective by describing a noun, such as Wiggles is fluffier than most cats.
What is an Adjectival Phrase?
It’s easy to get confused between an adjective and an adjectival phrase.
An adjectival or adjective phrase is a group of words that include an adjective that modifies a noun or pronoun in a sentence.
What does an Adjectival Phrase consist of?
To identify an adjectival phrase, the key is to look at the first word of the group of words. If it is an adverb or preposition, it is an adjectival phrase consisting of an intensifier and an adjective.
Sometimes, one adjective isn’t enough, and a string of adjectives can create an adjective phrase to describe a noun.
What can an Adjectival Phrase do in a sentence?
Introducing adjectival phrases in your classroom will help your students with their writing skills, as using them will give their sentences more life and personality.
Sometimes, they will need a single adjective to make the sentence pop; however, to increase detail and engage them with their writing, using adjectival phrases will increase the detail provided.
Examples of Adjectival Phrases
A great way to fully understand and engage with adjectival phrases is to look at some examples and test students’ knowledge of them.
The happy dog wags his tail all day long
The dog, who seems very happy, wags his tail all day.
The bright sun shone through the window
The sun, which is so bright, shone through the window
Both of these mean the same thing; however, the first sentences use adjectives, whereas the second sentences have adjectival phrases.
Some adjectival phrases modify nouns, which look different:
The bakery, around the corner, sells cakes.
The cost of the shoes was way too high.
The bird in the tree flew away.
