PHRASES – CLAUSES - SENTENCES

INTRODUCTION
Word and sentence are two basic units to grammar, though they are by no
mean the only units of grammatical structure, and there is no direct relation
between words and sentences. Neither are they the smallest and largest units of
grammar respectively: there are recognizable units smaller than words, and
units larger than sentences. However, sentences do exhibit a structure that a
larger unit, i.e. paragraph or discourse, does.
Words do not pattern directly into sentences. This implies that there are
some intervening levels of organization between word and sentence.
Consider the following sentence: the grand old man of letters stumbled
along the dimly lit road, but the pen which he had lost had been picked up by a
small boy. This sentence cannot be viewed simply as a concatenation of words:
the + grand + old + man+ etc. Some groups of words belong more closely
together than any of them do with any others, and these longer stretches of
group words in turn form larger units. In this sentence, we can recognize the
following word groupings: the grand old man of letters, along the dimly lit
road, the pen which he had lost, had been picked up, stumbled, by a small boy.
These are called phrases. They combine in turn into larger units: the grand old
man of letters stumbled along the dimly lit road, the pen which he had lost had
been picked up by a small boy. These are called clauses. And then they are
linked together by BUT to form a complete sentence.
Thus, words pattern into phrases, phrases into clauses and clauses into
sentences. Or from the alternative perspective, a sentence is composed of one or
more clauses, a clause is composed of one or more phrases and a phrase is
composed of one or more words. Our investigation of grammar will, then, be
concerned with the kinds of words, phrases, clauses and sentences that occur in
contemporary English, and with the rules for their structure and combination.
(Jackson, pp3-4)

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 PHRASES

Classes of phrase:
We shall recognize five classes of phrase: NOUN PHRASE (NP),
ADJECTIVE PHRASE (ADJ.P), ADVERB PHRASE (ADV.P),
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (P.P) and VERB PHRASE (VP). Of these, noun
phrase (NP), adjective phrase (adj.p), adverb phrase (adv.p) all have the same
basic structure:
[Premodifier(s)] + HEAD + [Postmodifier(s)]

I. NOUN PHRASE (NP)

I.1- Structure: The structure of the NP is as follow:
Determiners + Adj Phrase + Noun modifier + HEAD + post modifiers
1 2 3 4 5

1. DETERMINERS may be:

All, both, half, twice, such (a), etc.
Articles: a, an, the.
Demonstratives: this, that, these, those.
 Possessives: my, your, our, John’s, etc.
Indefinite: some, any, another, each, every, no, enough, etc.
cardinal number: one, two, three, etc.
ordinal numbers: first, second, third, etc.
general ordinals: other, next, last,
2. ADJECTIVE PHRASE:
When there are more than one adjective in front of the head noun, they must be
aranged in the order OSASCO
O-S-A-S-C-O: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin
E.g. a handsome tall young American man
big blue eyes
a new black nylon shirt
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3. NOUN PREMODIFIER:
E.g. evening class; gold rings
4. The HEAD of an NP may be:
(i) a noun: the beauty, Linda, these cats, etc.
(ii) a pronoun: them, itself, everyone in the street, etc.
(iii) an adjective: the rich, the young, etc.
(iv) a genitive phrase: the teacher’s, Lan’s, etc.
(v) an enumerator: all fifteen, her twenties, etc.
Two of the less usual possibilities are illustrated in:
E.g. The greedy will take all three.
In such cases there is usually a noun which semantically is understood to
be the head: the greedy = the greedy people, all three = all three loaves.
5. The POSTMODIFIERS of an NP may be:
Prepositional phrases:
E.g. the best day of my life, his desire for fame, etc.
The occurrence of subordinate PPs as postmodifiers is very common, and
it is important to distinguish cases like:
E.g. (1) the girl by the table with the carved legs
(2) the girl by the tablewith the sunburnt legs
In (1) one PP postmodifies “girl”, and the other PP is subordinate to it,
postmodifying “table”. In (2), however, both PPs postmodify “girl”.
Adjective phrases:
E.g. something strange, people alive, etc.
 Adverb phrases:
E.g. the room upstairs, the house opposite, etc.
 Noun phrase as apposition:
E.g. the bandicoot a tiny marsupial
 Relative clauses:
E.g. a quality that I admire, the book which I bought at a book festival, the
man who leads the collection campaign, etc.

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  Non-finite clauses:
3 types of non-finite clause can occur as postmodifiers:
+ To infinitive:
E.g. the man to see
the energy to run away
+ Ing participle:
E.g. the man carrying the shotgun
three men digging for gold
+ Ed participle:
E.g. the techniques used
the film directed by Mel Gibson
I.2- Function:
* In the clause, NPs act as subject (S), as object (O), or as complement
(C) and as adverbial (A).
E.g. The house was empty. NP = S
The cost of living in London is high NP = S
We have bought a new house. NP = Od
They gave him some money. NP = Oi
This must be their house. NP = Cs
Her youngest daughter has become a very famous violist. NP = Cs
They elected him the monitor NP = Co
We called him a fool NP = Co
We moved to Ho Chi Minh City last year. NP = A
The couple is going to Dalat for their honeymoon next week. NP = A

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II. THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (PP)
II.1. Structure:
PP = Preposition + NP/-V-ing/finite clause

II.2. Function:
In the clause, PPs act as adverbials (A):
E.g. We have been living here for 10 years.
The children go to school every day.
The adverbial PPs have various meanings. In the following sentence the
three PPs are adverbials of time-when, means, and place, answering the
questions When? How? and Where?
E.g. By Monday we had arrived by train in New York.
In NPs, Adj.Ps, Adv.Ps and PPs, subordinate PPs act as postmodifiers.
E.g. the girl in the room
afraid of spiders
too quickly for comfort
on the top of the bookshelf

III. THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE AND THE ADVERB PHRASE

III.1. The adjective phrase (Adj.P)
III.1.1. Structure:

[Premodifier(s)] + HEAD + [Postmodifier(s)]

a) The head of an Adj.P must be an Adjective which may be simple,

comparative or superlative.
E.g. quite cheap, her elder brother, the most intelligent boy, etc.
b) Premodifiers are always adverbs: typically, adverbs of degree
(extremely, rather, too, very) or other adverbs (surprisingly, convincingly).
Some, especially very and too, can be reduplicated (very very very tall).

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 c) Postmodifiers can be:
Adverbs (indeed, enough)
E.g. very tall indeed, nice enough
 PPs:
E.g. too hot for comfort
 Non-finite clauses:
E.g. too difficult for me to understand
 Finite clauses:
E.g. more interesting than I thought

III.1.2. Function:
 In the clause, Adj.Ps function as complement (C):
E.g. This coffee is hot.
Adolphus drinks his coffee hot.
In the phrase, Adj.Ps can function as premodifiers in NPs:
E.g. a very large slice of bread
the most boring book

III. 2. The adverb phrase (Adv.P)

III.2.1-Structure:

[Premodifier(s)] + HEAD + [Postmodifier(s)]

a) The head of an Adv.P must be an adverb

E.g. very successfully, quite quickly, etc.
b) Otherwise, the structure of Adv.Ps is the same as that of Adj.Ps:
E.g. too quickly for comfort
more slowly than we expected
clearly enough for me to understand
III.2.2-Function:
Adv.Ps function in the clause as adverbials (A).
E.g. She sang very well.
The passengers are talking extremely noisily in the outside the station.

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IV. THE VERB PHRASE (VP)
The VP always acts as predicator (P) in the clause.
IV.1. We need to distinguish between finite and non-finite verb phrases:
The verb forms operate in finite and non-finite verb phrase, which are
distinguished as follows:
Finite verb phrase:
(i)- Finite verb phrases have tense distinction:
E.g. He works as a builder.
He worked as a builder.
(ii)- Finite verb phrase occurs as the verb element of a clause. There is
person and number concord between the subject and the finite-verb. Concord is
particularly overt with BE.
E.g. I am/ she is/ we are...
With most lexical verbs, concord is restricted to a contrast between 3rd
and non-3rd person singular present:
E.g. He reads the paper every morning.
They read the paper every morning.
With modal auxiliaries there is, no concord:
E.g. I/ you / he / they/ we {could come.
{can play the guitar.
(iii)- Finite-verb phrases have mood. In contrast to the “unmarked”
indicative mood, we distinguish the “marked” moods and imperative and
subjunctive.
E.g. He spoke to me as if I were deaf.
It is necessary that every member inform himself of these rules.
Be reasonable!
Non-finite verb phrase:
The non-finite forms of the verb are the infinitive (with or without TO),
the -ing participle, and the -ed participle. Non-finite verb phrases consist of one
or more such items. Compare:

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 E.g. Finite - verb phrases Non - finite verb phrases
He smokes heavily To smoke like that must be dangerous
He is working I found him working.
IV.2. The structure of finite verb phrases:
The structure of the VP is mentioned in two kinds of elements: The main
verb (Mv) and auxiliaries (Aux). The auxiliaries are optional, and precede the
main verb.
At the most general level the structure of VP is:

{ Aux } {Aux } {Aux }Mv

In practice we can distinguish sixteen different kinds of VP, and

moreover, four different functions performed by the auxiliaries (see the table
below - Table 1). In this table, the general label Aux can be replaced by some
more specific function labels: Modality, perfect aspect, progressive and passive.
Table 1:
MODALITY PERFECT PROGRESSIVE PASSIVE MAIN
ASPECT ASPECT VOICE VERB
(Mod.) (Perf.) (Prog.) (Pass.) (Mv.)
modal have be be V

shook 1
might shake 2
had shaken 3
was shaking 4
was shaken 5
might have shaken 6
might be shaking 7
The might be shaken 8
branch
had been shaking 9
had been shaken 10
was being shaken 11
might have been shaking 12
might have been shaken 13
might be being shaken 14
had been being shaken 15
might have been being shaken 16

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V. SUMMARY
The following, then are the formal structures of the five types of phrase
A. Noun phrases (NP): {Mn} H {Mn}.
Where H (head) may be: N, pronoun, Adj., etc.; M before H (premodifiers) may
be: det., Adj., N, etc.; M after H (postmodifiers) may be: PP, NP, Adv.P, Adj.P,
relative clause, etc.
B. Prepositional phrases (PP): p{Mn } H {Mn }
Where P is a preposition, and M, H, and M are exactly as in noun phrases.
C. Adjective phrases (Adj.P): {Mn } H {Mn }
Where H (head) is an Adjective; M before H (premodifiers) are normally Adv.;
M after H (postmodifiers) are PP, Adv, and some clauses.
D. Adverb phrases (Adv.P): {Mn } H {Mn }
Where H (head) is an Adv, and M are Adv.Ps.
E. Verb phrases (VP):{Aux} {Aux} {Aux} {Aux} Mv
Where all Aux are v (operator - verbs), and Mv is either v (operator - verb) or V
(full - verb).
The functions of these phrase classes in the clause can be summarized as
shown in the following figure. The arrow X ----- Y is to be interpreted: X may
be a Y.

S V O C A
Subject verb Object Complement Adverbial

VP NP Adj.P Adv.P PP

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PRACTICE EXERCISES: 
1. Make an analysis of the following noun phrases in items of the word
classes that they comprise.
e.g.: Those delicious ice-creams

det. adj. head

1. that attractive young woman in the blue dress
2. Jim's fatal mistakes
3. all our many grievous sins
4. an ugly large yellow submarine
5. an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop
6. her blue collapsible silk umbrella
7. our relations' dirty screaming offspring

2. The following are NPs in which the order of premodifiers is scrambled:

1. some, fresh, bread, brown, nice
2. green, a, small, leather, handbag
3. designs, Chinese, old, those, all
4. old, a few, friends, of mine
5. brilliant, that, first-year, student
6. Morgan’s, steam, revolution
7. a/an, tower, grey, ancient
8. first, tourists, the, foreign, all, almost
9. responsibilities, new, his, heavy
10. people, these, young, highly, educated

3. Find out noun phrases in the following sentences, analyze their constituents
and functions:
1. The woman wearing a plastic nose is our history professor.
2. Opinions expressed here are not those of the editors.
3. This is an experience you'll always remember.

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4. She loves any dish involving cheese.
5. Any article left by students in the office will be taken to the lost property office.
6. The bad weather compelled us to stay indoors.
7. The man behind the door is my old teacher.
8. The man to feed the kangaroo is my uncle.
9. His decision to use all female cast surprised all of us.
10. The next plane to arrive is from Bangkok.
11. The poor little boy who seems to be lost is my friend's daughter
12. The clearest instructions that anybody could have been given were already
made.
13. The fourth place behind Jim was reserved for Peter.
14. Several irate gentleman farmers waiting for the prime minister came from
the south.
15. This sudden disaster approaching us made us very worried.

4. What part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb….) might be put in

the blanks?
1. … intelligent boy is from class 10B2.
2. That ……….. apple pie smells delicious.
3. My ………food is fried chicken.
4. The…….. to feed the kangaroo is…….. uncle.
5. ………….made no move to greet me.
6. His …………to use an all-female cast surprised all of us.
7. The next ………….to arrive is from Bangkok.
8. The ………….. girl who seems to be lost is my friend's daughter.

5. State whether the bold prepositional phrases in each sentence are used as
an adverbial or a postmodifiers to nouns.
1. The people in the gallery could not hear.
2. We are going to meet the new comers in the gallery.
3. He punched the man in the face.

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4. He punched the man in the black.
5. The men fled from the police.
6. Everybody stared at the man from the police station.
7. The ripe apples from the biggest tree might hit the people on the head.
8. The spectators were sitting in the grandstand.
9. The spectators in the grandstand were singing.
10. I took my car to the garage in the village.
11. In the village, there are several old cottages.
12. A house was destroyed near us.
13. The house next to ours was damaged.
14. Oranges in Spain are huge.

6. Find out adjective phrases and adverb phrases in the following sentences
and analyse their constituents + functions
1. That is a bit premature, isn't it?
2. I found it rather tight.
3. I'd be quite keen to try anything like that really.
4. What you have been doing then has been so wild.
5. I expect you are glad you're not a vegetarian.
6. I am sure it isn't much difficult than you say.
7. She was uncertain what to do.
8. He gave me a very earnest look.
9. He sounds very interested in our proposal.
10. Unfortunately, he is very busy now.
11. It was a quite ridiculously worded statement.
12. Is he certain of our support?
13. I am quite sure that he is certain to win.
14. He was rather concerned that no-one should know immediately.
15. He runs very fast.
16. It is a surprisingly high price.

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17. He intentionally took the calculator.
18. They excitedly welcomed the music band.
7. Underline verb phrases in the following sentences and decide whether they
are finite or non finite:
1. At the station, we were met by a man carrying a copy of the Times.
2. He was accompanied by a porter weighing at least 150 kilos.
3. A car, coming unexpectedly out of a side street, crashed into us.
4. We collided with a car driven by a young man without a license.
5. Any diver not having a license ought to be sent to jail right away.
6. The train standing at platform six is for Brussels and Ostend.
7. Any articles left in this bus were taken at once to the Lost property Office.
8. Any dutiable articles not declared to the custom will be liable to
confiscation.
9. Presents costing less than ten pounds in all may be imported duty free.
10. Anyone not hearing that noise must have been stone deaf.

8. Find out verb phrases in the following sentences and analyse them;
1. We were waiting for hours.
2. Yee Ling has never been to Scotland.
3. Those people are really lucky.
4. We will not give you that information.
5. They appointed him the chairman of the committee.
6. Ali must have spent a fortune last week.
7. They could help you.
8. They will arrive tomorrow morning.
9. The thieves may have left by now.
10. When did you see Mr. Lim?

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9. A part of each of the sentences below is marked. Indicate by which of the
following linguistic structures the bold part is being realized:
a. finite verb phrase
b. non - finite verb phrase
c. prepositional phrase
d. noun phrase
e. adjective phrase
f. adverb phrase
g. non-finite clause
h. finite clause
1. Fire can cause great damage to any city.
2. The Great Fire of London started in a bakery.
3. It burnt furiously for four days.
4. Pepys has given us a vivid account of it.
5. Who has given a vivid account of it?
6. The man who has just spoken is Benjamin Hall.
7.They suddenly decided to christen the bell Big Ben.
8.The man who won the contract was Dent
9. The next day we were sitting in the car
10. Leaving us at the gate, they disappeared.
11. Leaving us at the gate like that was very thoughtless.
12. Hand the man at the gate your ticket.
13. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting June again.
14. Meeting her again has left me very happy.
15. We doubts whether peace will last.

10. Identify types of phrases in the following sentences and indicate their
functions.
1. They found her presentation on global warming quite persuasive.
2. What colour is she going to dye her hair?

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3. Young people are now surprised at the belief that people should give the
company their unconditional loyalty.
4. The data used by the “green” groups were collected decades earlier.
5. Stocks of fish are declining at a much faster rate.
6. I considered him the best art critic to have emerged in London.
7. He is in a good mood.
8. They are painted in a variety of methods.
9. She has written me a very nice letter.
10. I shall never forget the immense sensation of space the first moment we
entered that room.
11. A full moon was rising over Godrevy.
12. The surprisingly increasing price of petrol is one of the reasons for the city’s
economic crisis.

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