Sentence: "His head held high, the athlete walked across the finish line."
Absolute phrase: "His head held high"
Breakdown:
* Subject: "His head"
* Verb (participle): "held"
* Modifier: "high"
How it works:
* The absolute phrase modifies the entire sentence, providing additional information about the athlete's demeanor.
* It functions like a mini-sentence, using a past participle ("held") to describe the state of the subject ("his head").
* The phrase is set off from the main clause by a comma, indicating it's an additional detail.
Other examples of absolute phrases:
* Her eyes shining with tears, she hugged her mother.
* The storm raging, the ship tossed violently on the waves.
* His work completed, he went home to rest.
* Their hearts pounding with excitement, the children ran towards the playground.
Key takeaways:
* Absolute phrases add descriptive detail and nuance to a sentence.
* They often use past participles and modify the entire sentence.
* They are usually set off by commas.