TYPES OF PHRASE

Words do not combine directly to form sentences, but that there are
two intermediate levels of syntactic organization. Words pattern into
phrases. This means that phrases may be described in terms of the
kinds or classes of words that function in them, and of the order in
which the words or classes of words are arranged relative to each
other. Five types of phrase are recognized in English: noun phrase,
verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, and prepositional
phrase. The first four of these take their name from the word that is
the chief word or head of the phrase. The prepositional phrase is
different in that there is no head word. For the other types of phrase
the minimal form of the phrase is the head. For example, in the
clause Lions become ferocious nightly, we have a noun, verb,
adjective, adverb sequence; and each of these words is in turn the
sole constituent and head of the corresponding phrase, ie noun
phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase and adverb phrase. A
prepositional phrase, on the other hand, is always composed of two
elements, a preposition and a noun, or rather noun phrase, eg at
night, in the jungle.

NOUN PHRASE

The noun phrase in English is composed potentially of three parts.

The central part of the noun phrase, the head, is obligatory: it is the
minimal requirement for the occurrence of a noun phrase. The other
two parts are optionally occurring. The head may be preceded by
some pre-modification, and it may be followed by some post-
modification. For example, in the noun phrase that old car in the
drive, car constitutes the head—it is the primary reference of the
phrase; that old is the pre-modification, and in the drive the post-
modification.

Heads

The most usual kind of head of a noun phrase is a noun, like car in
the example above. Alternatively, the head may be a pronoun of
some kind, very commonly a personal pronoun, eg he in He is there.
Other kinds of pronoun functioning as head of a noun phrase include:
indefinite pronoun, eg someone in Someone called; possessive
pronoun, eg mine in Mine are green; demonstrative pronoun, eg this
in This beats everything. When a pronoun functions as head of a
noun phrase, it usually occurs without any kind of modification: pre-
modification is virtually impossible for pronouns, though post-
modification may occasionally be found, eg he who hesitates. There
is also a restriction on the modification that may be found with
proper nouns, ie those referring to unique persons and things: again
post-modification is possible, while pre-modification rarely occurs,
eg Lovely Morecambe, which we visited last year.

Pre-modification
The pre-modification in a noun phrase consists of a number of word
classes or sub-classes in a specific order:
identifier—numeral/quantifier—adjective—noun modifier, as for
example in the noun phrase these five charming country cottages.
The class of identifiers includes articles (‘a’, ‘the’), demonstratives
(‘this’, ‘that’) and possessives (‘my’, ‘your’, ‘his’, etc); and they
come before any numerals or indefinite quantifiers that may be
present, eg those fifty postage stamps, the many enquiries, her first
attempt. Only one identifier may occur in any noun phrase; that is to
say, articles, demonstratives and possessives are mutually exclusive
in English. It is not possible to say ‘the my book’ or the like; and the
sequence this my book in fact consists of two noun phrases in
apposition, with this being a demonstrative pronoun functioning as
head of the first noun phrase: indeed, in writing, it would be usual to
write the sequence with a comma between the two noun phrases—
this, my book. If one wishes to combine article or demonstrative
identifier with possessive, then an ‘of’-phrase with the possessive
pronoun must be used, eg the/this book of mine.
More than one numeral/quantifier may, however, occur in a noun
phrase, though there is a restricted number of possible combinations.
Favourite sequences are ordinal numeral (especially ‘first’ and ‘last’)
+ indefinite quantifier, eg the first few hours-, ordinal + cardinal, eg
the second five days-, and indefinite quantifier + cardinal numeral
(especially round numbers), eg several thousand people, many
scores of ants.
There is a small group of words which may occur before the
identifier in a noun phrase, which are sometimes called pre-
determiners. They also have a quantifier reference, and the most
common members of this class are ‘all’, ‘both’ and ‘half’, together
with fraction numerals (‘one-third of, etc); eg both!all the desperate
terrorists. The linguistic function of the identifiers is to indicate the
status of the noun phrase in relation to its linguistic and situational
context: this is basically a textual function.
The function of adjectives is to amplify the head noun in some way,
come after the identifiers and numerals/quantifiers. Several
adjectives, or none at all, may occur in a noun phrase, and when a
number of adjectives do occur there appears to be some principle of
ordering at work. For example, native speakers regard the big red
fox as grammatical, but the red big fox as deviant. Likewise, in the
following noun phrase, the order given appears to be the normal one
and any deviation from it is in some way abnormal; a charming
small round old brown French oaken writing desk. It is often
assumed that the ordering is according to the semantic category of
the adjective although it is not clear that this is necessarily always the
case or that the ordering is entirely rigid. In the above example, the
categories represented are*: 1. epithet (charming), 2. size (small), 3.
shape (round), 4. age (old), 5. colour (brown), 6. origin (French), 7.
substance (oaken), 8. present participle (writing); and then these
might be followed by other adjectives of the type medical and social,
which are denominal (ie derived from nouns). It is, of course,
unusual for all the possible positions to be filled, except in a
linguist’s concocted example!
s%
Between adjectives and the head noun come noun modifiers. Thus
nouns may function not only as heads of noun phrases, but also as
modifiers in the noun phrase, eg a country garden, the village
policeman, the news agency. It is unusual for more than one noun
modifier to occur in a noun phrase (cf the village action group): in a
noun phrase like the child safety harness, child modifies the whole
of safety harness, so that harness is modified in the first instance by
just safety; similarly in the noun phrase the child poverty action
group, child modifies poverty, and child poverty together with
action modify group. Noun modifier + head noun constructions are
often the first stage in the formation of compound nouns. A word
like flycatcher probably started off as fly catcher (ie noun modifier +
noun) before progressing, in writing at least, to fly-catcher and
ultimately to flycatcher; cf armchair, lifestory, dishcloth.
There is one further kind of pre-modifier that we have not yet
mentioned and which we did not include in the earlier list. This is a
noun phrase in the genitive case, appearing in the pre-modification
of another noun phrase, eg this delightful old gentleman’s scruffy
bowler hat. This is analyzed as: noun phrase genitive (this delightful
old gentleman's), adjective (scruffy), noun modifier (bowler), head
noun (hat). Noun phrases in the genitive are marked by an's added to
their final word, and often, though not always, indicate possession;
for this reason they are more commonly found with animate nouns as
head than inanimate nouns (cf the ship's red funnel, 7 the bicycle’s
low saddle, 7the car's open window). The noun phrase genitive may
be considered to be substituting for a possessive identifier (my, your,
her, etc) in the noun phrase in which it occurs as pre-modifier, eg in
the example above his scruffy bowler hat. Clearly, the noun phrase
genitive may in turn be subject to analysis like any other noun
phrase, eg this (identifier), delightful (adjective), old (adjective),
gentleman (head noun); 's (genitive marker).

Exercises

Make an analysis of the following noun phrases in terms of the word

classes that they comprise.
Example:Those (ident) delicious (adj) ice-creams (head); my
brother’s (NP gen) first (num) two (num) nephews (head); my (ident)
brother (head) ’s (gen)
1. Five green bottles
2. My third currant bun
3. Jim’s many fatal mistakes
4. All our many grievous sins
5. An ugly large yellow submarine
6. Plenty of delicious rice pudding
7. This mischievous tax collector’s grabbing hand
8. Hi's underrated musical talent
9. Her blue collapsible silk’ umbrella
10. All our relations’ dirty screaming offspring.
Post-modification
The post-modification position in a noun phrasé is most commonly
filled not by specific word classes or subclasses, but by phrases or
clauses. Three kinds of phrasal/clausal post-modification occur:
relative clauses, non-finite clauses, and prepositional phrases.
Additionally, it is possible for an adjective or an adverb to function
as a post-modifier in a noun phrase.

Adjective post-modification is found usually with indefinite

pronouns as head: these cannot be pre-modified by adjectives; eg
something strange, somebody brave. Adjectives do not normally
come after nouns, except in a few set phrases (probably copied from
French), eg blood royal, heir apparent. Adverbs are rather more
frequently found as post-modifiers in noun phrases, eg the time
before, the room above, the morning after, the bus behind. These
examples could possibly be regarded as reductions of a prepositional
phrase, eg the time before this one, the room above us; and it seems
that the most usual kind of post-modifying adverb is one that may
function alternatively as a preposition (eg back, in front (of), below,
etc).

A relative clause is a full clause, one of whose members (ie phrases)

consists of a relative pronoun as head, which refers back to the head
noun of the noun phrase in which it occurs as a post-modifier. For
example, in the noun phrase the man who came here yesterday, the
relative clause is who came here yesterday, with who as the relative
pronoun which refers back to the head man, and which is the subject
noun phrase within the relative clause. Compare this with the noun
phrase the man who(m) l saw yesterday, where who(m) is a relative
pronoun functioning as object in the relative clause. The relative
pronouns who and whom are used to stand for heads that refer to
persons; which is used for non-humans, and that may be used for
both. In addition, there is a ‘genitive’ relative pronoun whose, as in
the man whose car was stolen, which functions like an NP genitive
within one of the noun phrases of the relative clause. Whose is
generally regarded as the genitive form of who (ie = of whom), but it
may also be used with non-human head nouns, eg the car whose
windows were broken. Some native speakers,'however, prefer to
avoid whose with non-human heads, but the alternative (of which)
sounds formal and cumbersome, eg the car the windows of which
were broken or the car of which the windows were broken. If the
relative pronoun is functioning as object in the relative clause, then it
may be omitted, eg the man I saw yesterday, where the relative
clause is who(m)lthdt / saw yesterday.

A further type of relative clause is one involving comparison, eg She

buys more clothes in a month than l buy in a year. Here the relative
clause is the f/ion-clause, and the equivalent of the relative pronoun
is the than, which refers back to the quantifier more in the noun
phrase. In the clause She buys more expensive clothes than she can
afford, the more expresses thé comparative degree of the adjective,
and the than now refers back to the comparative adjective. A
superlative adjective as pre-modifier may be followed by a relative
clause introduced by that, eg the most expensive clothes (that) she
can afford; in this instance, as the that functions as object in the
relative clause, it may be omitted.
Non-finite clauses are clauses usually without subjects, introduced
by a non-finite form of the verb. There are, therefore, three kinds of
non-finite clause, according to the form of the verb that introduces
them: infinitive clause, eg to answer this question-, present
participle clause, eg coming down the road; and past participle
clause, eg expected to arrive at any moment. Besides being able to
substitute for noun phrases as subject or more usually object of a
clause (see Chapter 14), non-finite clauses may function in the post-
modification of a noun phrase, eg in the following noun phrases: the
man to answer this question; the car coming down the road; the
woman expected to arrive at any moment, Non-finite clauses can
often be regarded as reductions of relative clauses, eg the man who
should answer this question, the car which is coming down the
road, the woman who is expected to arrive at any moment. It will be
noted that the present participle clause relates to a progressive form
(‘be’ + -ing) of the verb, and the past participle clause to a passive
form (‘be’ + -ed) in the relative clause. While a past participle clause
is always linked to a passive and is thus restricted to transitive verbs,
a present participle clause is not always relatable to a progressive
form, though it always relates to an active; eg Someone knowing the
circumstances is related to someone who knows the circumstances,
not to ‘someone who is knowing . .,’.
For present and past participle clauses as post-modifiers in noun
phrases the implied subject is the head of the noun phrase, ie the car
in the car coming down the road, the woman in the woman
expected to arrive at any moment. For infinitive clauses, however,
the implied subject is not always the head of the noun phrase. Clearly
it is so in the man to answer this question -, but not in the man to
ask about this question, which can be related to something like
EverybodylYou should ask the man about this question. It is also
possible to insert a specific subject by means of a /or-phrase, eg a
good man for Harry to see about his problem.
The most frequently occurring kind of post-modifier in a noun
phrase is a prepositional phrase. Examples of post-modifying
prepositionalphrases are: the man after me, in which after me is the
prepositional phrase as post-modifier; the man in the queue on the
boat, in which in the qpeue on the boat is post-modifier to man, and
on the boat is post-modifier to queue. The fall range of prepositions
is used to introduce post-modifying prepositional phrases. Like non-
finite clauses, prepositional phrases may be related to a fuller relative
clause, very often with the verb be, eg the man who is after me, the
man who is in the queue which is on the boat. Verbs other than be
are, however, implied in the newspaper as a propaganda
instrument, the man of the hour, the girl with freckles.
One striking fact about these different kinds of phrasal/dausal post-
modification emerging from our discussions is the degree of
explicitness associated with each of them. As one passes from
relative clauses through non-finite clauses to prepositional phrases,
so one finds a gradation from most to least explicit; cf the cow
which is standing in the meadow, the cow standing in the meadow,
the cow in the meadow.
Exercise 14
Analyse the following noun phrases in terms of the word classes or
subclasses or other kinds of phrase or clause that comprise them,
eg the (ident) bleak (adj) landscape (head) covered in snow (post-
mod non-fin cl); the (ident) sixth (nutn) ballpoint (N mod) pen (head)
that I have broken (post-mod rel cl),
1. the old cupboard with the blue handles
2. all the coal stacked outside the back door
3. the third unpleasant task to be assigned to me
4. the fourth place behind Jim
5. the major upset of the year
6. the clearest instructions that anybody could have been given
7. this sudden disaster approaching us
8. all the eighty elderly passengers in the front coach
9. several irate gentleman farmers waiting for the prime minister
10. a poor little boy who seems to be lost.
VERB PHRASES
In the verb phrase all the elements are verbs of one kind or another.
A verb phrase contains one lexical verb as head and may have up to
four auxiliary verbs, besides the negative word not, as modifiers.
The lexical verb is always the last element in the verb phrase; eg
may not have been being interrogated, in which the lexical verb is
interrogate and the other elements auxiliary verbs together with not.
The lexical verb carries the primary reference of the verb phrase,
relating to an action, process or event in extralinguistic reality. The
lexical verb may be composed of more than one (orthographic or
phonological) word, especially in the case of ‘phrasal’ and
‘prepositional’ verbs. For example, in the sequence she is looking
after her aged mother, the lexical verb is most conveniently
considered to be look after. And in the sequence he must have
looked up the word in the dictionary, the lexical verb is look up.
Look after is an example of a prepositional verb: the preposition is
the only one possible in the context and it always comes immediately
after the verb word. Look up, on the other hand, is a phrasal verb: the
adverb particle up may come either before or after an object which is
a noun, cf he must have looked the word up\ and it must come after
if the object is a pronoun, eg he must have looked it up not ‘he must
have looked up it’. Multi-word verbs also include so-called phrasal-
prepositional verbs, which include both an adverb particle and a
preposition, eg put up with, look down on.
Among auxiliary verbs we distinguish between primary auxiliaries
(be, have, do) and modal auxiliaries (can, may, will, must, etc.).
Auxiliary verbs serve to realize the grammatical categories
associated with the verb phrase, especially tense, aspect and mood
(see below for discussion of these categories). The modal auxiliary,
of which there may be only one in a verb phrase, always comes first
if it is present and is followed by the infinitive (without to) form of
the verb, eg he may come, they can stay. The negative word always
takes up second position. The primary auxiliary be has two uses;
have has one. Be is followed by the present participle (-ing form of
the verb) to indicate progressive (alternatively called continuous)
aspect, as in he is coming, she was going. Be is followed by the past
participle (-ed form of the verb) to indicate passive voice, as in it is
finished, it was eaten. Have is followed by the past participle (-ed
form of the verb) to indicate perfect or perfective aspect, as in he
has gone, they had eaten.
When combinations of auxiliary verbs occur, the verb form that a
particular auxiliary requires is taken by the verb immediately
following the auxiliary in question, whether that verb is a lexical
verb or an auxiliary verb. The relative order among auxiliary verbs is
as follows:
 modal—have—be (progressive)—be (passive).
And the forms they require are, then, as follows: modal requires
infinitive, have requires past participle, be (progressive) requires
present participle, and be (passive) requires past participle. Which
form the lexical verb has, depends on the immediately preceding
auxiliary.

Here are some examples of verb phrases with combinations of

auxiliary verbs:
he has been going (fe«ve-perfective + fee-
progressive) he had been being examined (feuve-
perfectivc + fee-progressive + fee-passive)
he will not have been being interviewed (modal +
negative + feave-perfective + fee-progressive + fee-
passive).
The first auxiliary in a verb phrase is called the operator, and has a
number of special functions:

1. The operator is the element in the verb phrase that is marked for
tense; that is, the distinction between ‘past’ and ‘present’ (see
below). If there is no auxiliary in the verb phrase, then the lexical
verb itself is marked for tense. Examples: he is coming, he was
coming; she has gone, she had gone; he walks, he walked.
2. The operator changes places with the subject of a clause in most
questions; for example, is she coming?, What has she been doing?,
Where will she be coming from?, but cf Who has seen her? where
the wfe-word (interrogative pronoun) is the subject of the clause and
comes first like all wfe-interrogatives.
3. The negative word not is placed immediately after the operator
and before any other auxiliaries; for example, he has not come,
she may not be staying. A contracted form of the negative word
may occur in this position, joined in writing to the operator; for
example, he isn’t coming, she mightn’t be staying, they won’t be
needed.
4. The operator is the item that is repeated in a tag question. Tag
questions are ‘tagged on’ to a statement clause and request
confirmation or disconfirmation of the statement. Examples: he is
coming, isn’t he?, she hasn’t been seen, has she?, they can’t have
been interviewed yet, can they?.
5. The operator is the item in the verb phrase that is usually able to
take contrastive stress; for example, he IS coming, she HAS been
seen, they CAN’T have been interviewed.
If there is no auxiliary (modal, be or have) in the verb phrase in a
clause that is a question, or is negated, or has a tag question, or in
which the verb phrase carries contrastive stress, then the auxiliary
verb do must be used. As an auxiliary, this is the sole use of do: to be
there in instances where an auxiliary is needed but where one is not
present (ie in case 2 to 5 listed above when there is no other
operator). Following are examples based on the clause: She likes
cream cakes:
2. Does she like cream cakes?, not ‘Likes she cream cakes?’
3. She doesn’t Jike cream cakes, not ‘She likes not cream cakes’
4. She likes cream cakes, doesn’t she?, not ‘. .., likesn’t she’ or ‘. ..,
likes she not’.
5. She DOES like cream cakes, rather than ‘She LIKES cream
cakes’.
It should be pointed out that the primary auxiliaries (be, have, do)
may also be used as lexical verbs. Or, to put it another way, theTe
are (at least) two verbs be, have and do: the auxiliary be etc and the
lexical be etc. Here are examples of be, have. and do used as lexical
verbs:
Bert is an engineer, She is having a lot of visitors, He is doing his
homework. Thus, if it is the last item in a verb phrase, be, have or do
is a lexical verb; if it is followed by another verb in the same verb
phrase it will be'tm auxiliary verb.

Non-finite verb phrases

All the verb phrases that we have considered so far have been finite
verb phrases; that is, they have contained a finite form of the verb,
showing tense distinction between ‘past’ and ‘present’, and being
associated with a particular subject (first, second or third person,
singular or plural). This function is performed by the operator or by
the lexical verb if there is no auxiliary present. Non-finite verb
phrases are those that consist of non-finite forms of the verb, ie the
infinitive form (usually with to), the present participle, or the past
participle, as for example in:

I want to go home, Going along the road . . ., Fixed up with the

necessary cash . . . respectively. Present participle and infinitive
non-finite verb phrases may also contain auxiliary verbs, but these
must also be in a non-finite form (infinitive or participle). Modal
verbs do not occur in non-finite verb phrases; they do not, in any
case, have non-finite forms. The type (infinitive, present participle)
of the non-finite verb phrase is indicated by the form of the first
member. Thus a present participle non-finite verb phrase may
contain a have auxiliary, as in Having gone along the windy road , .
and it may contain alternatively or additionally a fee-passive
auxiliary, as in Being encouraged by the crowd . . ., Having been
asked about his identity . . . . The infinitive verb phrase may contain
a fee-passive, eg He wants to be fed; it may alternatively contain a
fee-progressive, eg They want to be going; and it may contain a
feave-perfective, eg He likes to have shaved before 8.00 am. Have
and fee-passive appear to be able to combine in an infinitive verb
phrase, eg He regrets not to have been consulted. This example also
illustrates that a non-finite verb phrase is negated by positioning the
not first in the phrase.

Tense
The grammatical category of tense is related to real-world time.
Time is divided into past, present and future; and many languages
have tenses marked in the verb phrase corresponding to these
divisions. In English there is a clear distinction marked between past
tense and present tense, eg wulk(s)—walked, show(s)— showed. In
fact it is the past tense that is marked, in its regular form by -ed (see
further Chapter 18); and the present is marked only in the third
person singular, by means of the -s ending.

The past tense forms of the verb phrase nearly always refer to
actions and events in past time. But the reference of present tense
forms is not nearly so straightforward. Simple present tense forms,
eg walk(s), show(s), may be used for:
‘eternal truths’, eg the earth is round
habitual actions, eg Bill jogs every evening
present actions in a commentary, eg Lilley comes in, bowls, and
Boycott hits it for six
future actions, eg Harry flies to New York tomorrow.
In the case of habitual actions and future actions the reference to
‘habit’ and ‘future’ is by means of the adverbial expressions, eg
every evening, tomorrow; but the form of the verb phrase used is
present tense. Arguably, in a few uncommon cases, a present tense
verb may refer to an action or event in past time, eg I hear that
you've had an accident, where hear is a present tense form but
presumably refers to a past event. To refer to actions going on at the
present moment in time, it is usual to use a present progressive form
of the verb (see below), eg / am washing my hair.

What of the future? Clearly, a future tense is not marked in the verb
in the way that past tense is. It is generally thought, however, that the
future tense in English is formed by means of the (modal) auxiliary
shalllwill followed by the infinitive of the lexical verb, eg I
shalllwill come tomorrow. But while this may be the most frequent
way of referring to future events, it is by no means the only way. In
this sense there is no future tense in English, merely a number of
ways of referring to future time. Among these ways are the
following:
shalllwill + infinitive, eg We shalllwill visit the museum
tomorrow present progressive, eg We are visiting the
museum tomorrow be going to + infinitive, eg We are
going to visit the museum tomorrow simple present, eg
We visit the museum tomorrow be to + infinitive, eg We
are to visit the museum tomorrow.
As is evident from these examples, none of the ways of referring to
the future does so in a totally neutral manner: talking about the future
inevitably involves talking at the same time about intentions, plans,
certainty and uncertainty.

Aspect
The grammatical category of aspect relates to the way in which the
action or event referred to by the lexical verb is regarded, particularly
in respect of its extension in time, In English there are two pairs of
distinctions to be drawn: a verb phrase may be regarded as either
progressive or non-progressive, eg 1 was walking—I walked; a verb
phrase may be regarded as perfective or non-perfeetive, eg I have
walked—I walked.
The main meaning of the progressive in English is to view the action
or event as continuing over time or being in progress, rather than as
just taking place. Clearly some verbs are inherently durative in this
sense, eg sleep, but even then the progressive can be used and
emphasises the progression or duration of the event, cf He was
sleeping when the thunderstorm started, He slept white the
thunderstorm raged. The pa& progressive, as used here, often refers
to an action or event that is in progress when something else
happens. We have mentioned already that the present progressive is
the usual form for referring to events taking place at the present
moment in time, perhaps because such events are viewed as spanning
the present and including immediate past and immediate future, eg
What are you doing1}—I am writing a letter. One other meaning of
the present progressive is to refer to a ‘temporary’ action or event in
contrast to an ‘habitual’ one represented by the simple present. For
example, I water Bill’s garden refers to an habitual action, while lam
watering Bill’s garden (while he’s on 'holiday) refers to an action
with a limited duration.

The present perfective verb phrase (/ have seen) contrasts with the
simple past (/ saw) in the following way: the simple past refers to an
action or event that took place at some point in past time, usually
explicitly referred to by a time adverbial or at least implied in the
context; the present perfect, on the other hand, refers to an action or
event which began in the past and which either lasted up to the
present (moment of speaking) or has relevance for the present. For
example, I saw three kingfishers yesterday views the action as taking
place at that moment in past time, while / have seen three kingfishers
implies that the speaker is on the look out for more, or at least that
there is the possibility of seeing more. Compare also: We have lived
in Birmingham for ten years and We lived in Birmingham for ten
years, where the present perfect implies that we still live there, while
the simple past implies that we no longer do. Compare: / lost my
umbrella yesterday in Oxford and I have lost my umbrella, where the
present perfect implies that the event is still relevant at the time of
speaking—note that it would be impossible to add a point-of-time
adverbial to the present perfect example (‘I have lost my umbrella
yesterday’). The past perfect (/ had seen) transfers the meaning of the
present perfect into the past, where it refers to an action or event
beginning at a point in the past and continuing to another more recent
point or event in the past, which has to be specified, eg / had seen six
kingfishers by the time dusk fell. One further meaning of the present
perfect is to refer to ‘indefinite’ past time, when a point in time is not
or cannot be specified, eg Have you (ever) visited Peking?—Yes I
have been there (but I don’t remember when).

Mood
The grammatical category of mood relates to the attitude of the
speaker or of the subject (of the clause) to the action or event
referred to by the verb phrase together with the clause of which it is a
part. Meanings associated with mood are realized in the verb phrase
by the modal verbs (can, may, shall, will, must). On the one hand
modal verbs realize meanings such as ‘ability’ (He can swim),
‘permission’ (You may go now), ‘volition’ (They will look after your
guinea-pig), ‘obligation’/ ‘prohibition’ (The landlord shall be
responsible for the condition of the premises, ‘You must not walk on
the grass). On the other hand, modal verbs realize meanings such as
‘certainty’, ‘possibility’, ‘probability’ and their opposites, eg She
may telephone us tonight, They can’t have missed the train, That
knock on the door will be the postman, She might have caught the
later bus, They must have got home by now.
The other use of the term ‘mood’ relates to clauses or sentences,
more than to verb phrases, and refers to the distinction between
declarative, interrogative and imperative clauses, illustrated by:
The secretary has opened the letters—-
declarative Has the secretary opened the
letters?—-interrogative Open the letters!
—imperative.
These, too, relate in a broad sense to the attitude of the speaker,
though perhaps more in regard to his interlocutor than to the action
or event itself. This can be illustrated by the fact that the terms
‘declarative’, ‘interrogative’ and ‘imperative’ are not synonymous
with the terms ‘statement’, ‘question’ and ‘command’ respectively.
For example, it is possible to give a command using any of the
moods indicated, cf Open the window!, Would you mind opening
the window?, I wonder if you would open the window. As can be
seen from these examples, the choice of mood reflects the
relationship (or attitude) of the speaker to the addressee, and they
could be regarded as constituting a scale of politeness or directness
for commands.

Voice
The term ‘Voice’ relates to the distinction in English between active
and passive, a distinction that refers not just to the verb phrase (I saw
—I was seen) but to the whole clause, involving a rearrangement of
the elements in the clause besides a special form of the verb phrase;
cf The police arrested the thief—The thief was arrested by the
police. In an active clause the subject is the ‘actor’ or ‘agent’
involved in the action, while in a passive clause the subject is the
‘patient’ or ‘goal* or ‘affected participant’ in the action.

Exercises

Analyze the verb phrases in the following, indicating for each

auxiliary verb its type, eg he has (perfective) been (passive) found
(lexical past part); he must (modal) be (progressive) joking (lexical
pres part); they might (modal) have (perfective) said (lexical past
part)
1. he may have sat
2. he can’t have been singing
3. you have been drinking
4. they are being stopped
5. he doesn’t know
6. you wouldn’t have been caught
7. he can’t have been being executed
8. I haven’t finished
9. I might be seen
10, it has been being heated.
ADJECTIVE PHRASE

As the name suggests, adjective phrases have as their heads

adjectives, eg very enthusiastic about his latest idea. As with noun
phrases and verb phrases the head is the minimal form. From the
example given it is clear that an adjective may be both pre-modified
and post-modified. Pre-modification in an adjective phrase may only
be by an adverb. Usually the adverb is one of a restricted set of
‘intensifying’ adverbs, eg very, quite, somewhat, rather, extremely,
fairly, highly—which express varying degrees of intensity.
Occasionally other adverbs may occur in this position, eg beautifully
cool, annoyingly simple, disgustingly rich, incredibly slow.

The post-modification in an adjective phrase is sometimes called the

‘complement’ of the adjective. Three kinds of post-modifier or
complement occur in adjective phrases: a prepositional phrase, eg
very anxious about Jim’s health-, an infinitive clause (clause
introduced by an infinitive form of verb), eg very anxious to please
everybody, a f/mi-clause (clause introduced by the conjunction that),
eg very anxious that no-one should accuse him of laziness. We
have illustrated the three kinds of adjective complement with one
head adjective (anxious), but adjectives vary in the kinds of
complement that are possible after them. Many adjectives do not
allow_anv kind of complement. egjbig.CÉÎue^ astute, sudden, tall.
Some adjectives allow only one or two kinds of complement; eg
interesting may take only an infinitive clause, as in this book is
interesting to read-, attentive allows only a prepositional phrase, as
in the audience was attentive to the speaker; safe allows either a
prepositional phrase or an infinitive clause (but not a tfmf-clause), as
in this toy is safe for children, this tree is safe to climb up. For most
adjectives post-modification is optional; for a few, however, it is
obligatory, the adjective does not occur without a complement; eg
aware is always followed by a prepositional phrase introduced by of,
as in He was aware of a creaking noise.

Adjective phrases have two uses or functions: an attributive function

and a predicative function. The attributive function is when
adjectives or adjective phrases are found in the pre-modification of a
noun phrase, as for example in avert interesting story, a somewhat
anxious mother. That is to say, strictly speaking, a pre-modifying
adjective should in fact be regarded as an adjective phraseTthough
when, ^-lsTîiostlylïïc~case.,-adje^iveI^lone^ocgur4ie--thê minimal
form of an adjective-phrase), itTs^more-sensible fmm a praçtirai
analytical viewpoint to consider them like any other^words’ entering
the pre-modification of a noun phrasejyhen an adjective (phrase) is
functioning attributively, it may not, in any Case, be followed by a
complement. That is to say, adjective phrases containing
complements (ie post-modification) may function only predicatively.
The predicative function of an adjective phrase is its occurrence after a ‘copula’ verb such as
be, seeing sound, feel; for example, Naomi is anxious about Jim’s health, Jim seems
concerned that Naomi will worry too much. An adjective phrase functioning predicatively
does not obligatorily contain a complement: as we have seen, some adjectives do not allow
complements, eg criminal in His actions were criminal. However, we noted that some
adjectives (eg aware) are obligatorily followed by a complement. This fact clearly implies
that some adjectives must be restricted to functioning in predicative position (since attributive
adjective phrases may not contain complements).

Indeed, an adjective does not have to be obligatorily post-modified to be restricted to

predicative position. The vast majority of adjectives may function either attributively or
predicatively, eg the charming girl, the girl is charming. But there is a small set restricted to
predicative position, and likewise a small set restricted to attributive position. For example,
main occurs only attributively, as in the main reason; it is not possible to say ‘the reason is
main’. Likewise mere is found only in attributive position, eg a mere youth, but hot ‘the
youth is mere’. Adjectives restricted to predicative position include, for example, faint as in
he feels faint (but not ‘a faint man’), asleep as in the dog is asleep (but not ‘the asleep dog’),
and alone as in the girl is alone (but not ‘the alone girl’). Some native speakers would include
‘ill’ among this group; ie they would accept the cow is ill but not ‘the ill cow’; other native
speakers would accept the latter. Among adjectives restricted to predicative position and
obligatorily followed by a complement are also: averse as in lam not averse to a cup of tea;
tantamount as in Her remarks were tantamount to slander; loath as in They are loath to
leave this district.

ADVERB PHRASE
As the name implies, adverb phrases have as their heads adverbs. An adverb is the minimal
form of an adverb phrase; indeed, many adverb phrases occur in the minimal form. An adverb
may, however, be pre-modified; though postmodification is not found at all in adverb phrases.
The only kind of pre-modifier occurring in adverb phrases is another adverb, usually of the
same restricted set of ‘intensifying’ adverbs as is found in the pre-modification of adjective
phrases, eg very quickly, quite wonderfully’, somewhat fleetingly, extremely faithfully.
However, as with adjectives, other adverbs may also function as pre-modifiers in adverb
phrases, eg amazingly well, understandably badly, horribly fast, incredibly gracefully, This
kind of modifying adverb appears to be either directly (amazingly) or indirectly (horribly) an
expression of personal evaluation.

Adverb phrases have three uses or functions. Their main function is in the adjunct position in
clause structure to provide circumstantial information about the action, process or event talked
about in the clause in which they occur. Circumstantial information includes information
about the place, time, manner, etc of the action, process or event. The majority of adverb
phrases have this adjunct function, eg very soon (time), right here (place), extremely
carefully (manner), rather noisily (manner).
The other two functions of adverb phrases are the conjunct function and the disjunct function.
The sets of adverbs or adverb phrases that may perform these functions are limited in number,
and the adverbs involved are not, as a rule, modified. Adverb phrases with the conjunct
function serve to link or ‘conjoin’ one clause or sentence to another. In the following
example, therefore and besides are functioning as conjuncts: Harry is inefficient. It is, not,
therefore, worth considering him for the post. Besides, George is the ideal man. Other
conjuncts include: however, yet, moreover, thereupon, indeed (see further Chapter 16). They
typically come first in a sentence, or at least early on, and in writing are bounded by commas:
That, however, is another question', However, that is another question.
Adverb phrases with a disjunct function also tend to occur initially in a sentence. The disjunct
function refers to the expression of the speaker’s stance or attitude to what he is saying; a
disjunct adverb (phrase) reflects explicitly the way in which a speaker intends what he is
about to say to be interpreted. Disjunct adverb phrases (unlike adjuncts) are not really
constituents of the clauses that they introduce; eg Frankly, I can't see George doing the job
either. Here, frankly is the disjunct adverb, expressing the speaker’s intention as to how he
wishes his statement to be understood; it could be considered a kind of abbreviation for
something like I am telling you frankly, where frankly is now an adjunct of manner.
Disjuncts involve the speaker reflecting on his own use of language. Adverb phrases
functioning as disjuncts may occasionally contain a pre-modifier in the form of an
‘intensifying’ adverb, eg Quite honestly, I don’t see a solution to the problem. Other adverbs
having a disjunct function include: seriously, candidly, bluntly, generally, personally-

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Prepositional phrases are unlike any of the other types of phrase: they do not have a head, and
thus also do not have a minimal form consisting of just one word. A prepositional phrase is
composed of a preposition and a noun phrase, eg in the garden, after the party. Both
elements are obligatory and neither may substitute for the phrase as a whole, in the way that a
head noun may substitute for a noun phrase, for example. Phrases like noun phrases are said
to be endocentric, while a prepositional phrase is exocentric. An endocentric construction may
be substituted for as a whole by one of its constituent units; eg a noun may stand for a whole
noun phrase, cf big African lions roaming the jungle—lions. In an exocentric construction
no such substitution is possible, eg in a prepositional phrase both the preposition and the noun
phrase must occur; one of them alone cannot stand for the whole phrase. Here are some
further examples of prepositional phrases: on the boat, behind the bus, on Friday night, into
the final straight, at the stroke of ten.
Prepositions are of various kinds; they have a relational role. The kinds of relation expressed
most often are those of space and time, eg beneath the spreading chestnut tree, throughout
the long and stormy voyage. Space may be subdivided into location and direction, eg in the
kitchen (location), towards the town (direction). Time may be subdivided into point of time
and extent of time, eg before the wedding (point), for several days (extent), A number of
other relations are also expressed by prepositions; for example, topic as in the chilling story
about ghosts; purpose, as in a key for the opening of the safe-, similarity, as in a boy like
his father, instrument, as in with an axe-, accompaniment, as in with a bowler hat.
In all the cases mentioned in the previous paragraph, the preposition has a specific meaning,
namely the meaning of the relation that it represents and refers to. Sometimes prepositions are
used without specific meaning of this kind, when they are attached to particular verbs,
adjectives or nouns. For example, the verb blame is followed either by the preposition on
(They blamed the mess on Jim) or by the preposition for (They blamed Jim for the mess)-, in
either case the preposition is predictable, and so lacking in specific meaning. Similarly , the
adjective interested is followed b; in (/ am interested in your offer), and proud by of (She is
proud of her children). The noun anxiety is followed by about (There is great anxiety about
his future), and sympathy by for (We have a lot of sympathy for you). In all these cases the
preposition has a purely syntactic relational function in relating a verb, adjective or noun to a
following object or complement. It is more or less meaningless, since it cannot be replaced by
any other preposition and thus enter into a meaningful contrast. Indeed, in the case of verbs
like blame on, blame for, wait for, look after, the preposition is often considered to be part of
the verb, and linguists speak of ‘prepositional verbs’.
Given these two functions of prepositions, there are, then, two kinds of prepositional phrase.
There are, those prepositional phrases that represent circumstantial information about an
action, process or event, indicating time, place, manner, reason, etc, and which have a similar
semantic and syntactic function to adverbs and adverb phrases (filling adjunct position in
clause structure). And there are those prepositional phrases which follow particular verbs and
adjectives, and also occasionally nouns, as objects or complements. In the case of such nouns
we are thinking of items like anxiety about, desire for, submission to, which require a
specific preposition; rather than the more general post-modification of nouns by prepositional
phrases (eg the man behind the wall, the morning after the wedding), where the
prepositional phrase is functioning more like an adjunct than a complement. However, the
post-modifying prepositional phrases here are providing circumstantial information, usually
either of time or of place, about a ‘thing’ rather than about an action, process or event. Nouns
requiring specific prepositions and complements are usually derived from verbs or adjectives,
eg anxiety from anxious, desire from the verb desire, submission from submit.

Exercises
Identify the phrases in the following, and give an analysis in terms of the classes or subclasses
of words that comprise them.
eg Understandably (adv P disjunct) Sam (NP) has declined (VP) the offer (NP); Sam (head N)
has (aux perf) declined (lex V) the (ident) offer (head N), His arrival (NP) looks (VP)
extremely unlikely (adj P) now (adv P adjunct); his (ident) arrival (head N), looks (lex V),
extremely (intens adv) unlikely (head adj), now (head adv).
He (NP) could have told (VP) us (NP) this very good news (NP) yesterday (adv P adjunct); he
(head pron), could (modal) have (aux perf) told (lex V), us (head pron), this (ident) very good
(adj P) ne&s (head N), yesterday (head adv); very (intens adv) good (head adj).
1. a very earnest look
2. he sounds very interested in our proposal
3. unfortunately, he is very busy now
4. a quite ridiculously worded statement
5. is he certain of our support
6. I am quite sure that he is certain to win
7. a rather baffling description
8. so, that makes it awkward to find
9. astonishingly, he can walk very fast
10. he was rather concerned that no-one should know.