Question

Identify the underlined element in the following passage from the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens. "Fog everywhere. Fog flowing up the river, among green banks and meadows; fog rolling down the river, where it hangs defiled among the ships and buildings of a great (and dirty) city." Infinitive phrase Prepositional phrase Sentence fragment Absolute phrase

Answer 1

I think that absolute phrases are the underlined element in this passage by Charles Dickens.   

The following ones can be identified: “… flowing up the river […] city”, “…rolling down the river […]city”. Absolute phrases happen when a noun and a participle (in this case the present participle –ing) function as an independent clause.  In this case, they describe the clause, the manner of the movement of the fog.