A scientist, he always thinks about what is best for the people.
Is this "a scientist" part a nominative absolute phrase? It seems like nominative absolute phrase has to have a verb or adjective after the noun like this:
The dragon slain, the knight could rest.
It is what makes me confused. I don't think the scientist sentence uses nominative absolute phrase since it only has a noun to describe "he". There is nothing more than a noun. So is it a nominative absolute phrase or not? If not, what's the name of that usage?
Best Answer
This article from 'The Garden of Phrases at Grammar.ccc.com gives a good overview:
I think it's best to disambiguate 'nominative absolute' and 'absolute construction' (I'd see the latter term as a hypernym). Constructions with free-standing adjectives/adjectivals:
Desperate to get to the car, he ran without an umbrella over his head.
Exhausted, he gave up after 20 miles.
are certainly recognised as 'absolute constructions' by many authorities.