Sometimes the simple-verb version might seem unconventional, so it's safer in most cases to use the gerund version. Appositive phrases explain, identify, or rename words that it follows. An appositive may be a noun phrase, a gerund phrase, and infinitve phrase, or a prepositional phrase. An absolute phrase modifies a whole clause or sentence, not just one word. It consists of a noun or noun equivalent usually followed by a participle.
Absolute phrases are grammatically independent of the rest of the sentence.
It is never a subject, nor does it modify any word in the sentence, but is used absolutely or independently. Absolute phrases are always separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. A prepositional phras e consists of a preposition followed by a noun or pronoun used as its object, together with any modifiers the noun or pronoun may have. The prepositional phrase functions usually as an adjective or an adverb. In each of the following sentences identify the italicized phrase.