IV. NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE

IV. NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE

+479.+ The simple predicate may be modified by a +nominative absolute+ (§ 345).

A substantive in the +absolute construction+ makes with its modifiers an adverbial phrase.

_The ship having arrived_, we all embarked.

We shall sail on Tuesday, _weather permitting_.

_That done_, repair to Pompey’s theatre.

_The bridge across the chasm being only a single tree trunk_, we hesitated to attempt the passage.

In the first sentence, the adverbial absolute phrase, _the ship having arrived_, is equivalent to the adverbial prepositional phrase, _on the arrival of the ship_, and defines the time of the action expressed by the verb _embarked_.

V. INDIRECT OBJECT

+480.+ The simple predicate may be modified by an +indirect object+ (§ 105).

He gave _me_ a watch. [= He gave a watch _to me_.]

Tom told _me_ the whole story. [= Tom told the whole story _to me_.]

In these sentences, the indirect object _me_, being equivalent to a prepositional phrase, is an adverbial modifier.

The objective of service (§ 106) is also an adverbial modifier.