UNIT 1 – From Phrases to Clauses

Before starting with the main topic of this unit, we will first look at a set of concepts that
we need to bear in mind when we talk about sentence structure.

Four primary sub-sections, representing the most common phrases that you will analyze in
English:

Syntax and Phrases - Syntax offers a linguistic approach to analyzing the structure of
language. This subsection offers a very brief introduction to phrase-structure diagrams.
Main Verb Phrases - The main verb phrase consists of the main verb of the clause plus its
auxiliary or helping verbs in an unchanging order.
Prepositional Phrases - Prepositions are structure-class words that precede a nominal,
which is the object of the preposition. Together, the preposition and its object form a unit
that can modify words, phrases, clauses, or whole sentences: the prepositional phrase.
Nonfinite Verb Phrases - A nonfinite verb is a verb without tense. Nonfinite Verb Phrases
DO NOT occur as part of a main verb phrase and can function nominally, adjectivally, or
adverbially. You will be able to analyze the function of infinitive, participle, and gerund
phrases as they are functioning in the context of their sentences.
The primary goal for this sub-section is to help you develop analytical strategies at the
PHRASE level. This means an ability to identify in context:

• main verb phrase of any clause

• verb tenses and compound verb forms
• passive structures
• prepositional phrases and their functions
• infinitive phrases and their functions
• participle phrases (as adjectival or adverbial) and gerund phrases (nominal)
Once you have read all of the pages in this section, you can develop your anlaytical skills
further by reading through the ANALYZING EXAMPLES section, then working your way
through the Practice Exercises in the ACTIVITIES section.

Revision: Syntax and Phrases

This section will present a brief introduction to phrase structure grammar and phrase
structure diagrams (or tree diagrams). This part may be useful to students who want a
more in-depth understanding of how phrases and constituents combine to build clauses
from a syntactical perspective.
Syntax refers to the ways that words are meaningfully combined into phrases, clauses, and
sentences. The rules that govern phrases and phrase structure within clauses can help you
understand how sentences are transformed into passive voice, or how independent clauses
can be transformed into dependent clauses such as relative clauses. Phrase structure can
also clarify the role that a dependent clause might be playing in another clause.

Phrase structure is often represented by a phrase structure diagram, or tree diagram, which
provides a visual map of the relations of words and phrases in a clause.
You can analyze a sentence fully by identifying the form and function of each constituent,
and not use phrase structure diagrams at all; however, phrase structure diagrams might
help you if you are a visual learner, because they are visual representations. And if you are
interested in understanding grammar at a deeper level, phrase structure diagrams can
represent the transformations that we use to make an active sentence passive, or
transform an independent clause into a dependent clause, or any of the other activities we
do every day to enrich our communication.
Phrase structures are especially useful in that they can demonstrate the process of
analysis in a non-linear way. This process offers a better approximation of the process we
use when we analyze and make meaning out of the language we hear.

Sample Tree Diagram Process

Let’s begin with a sample sentence, from Pinker’s The Language Instinct.

In 1066, William the Conqueror, known as Guillame le Batard in French because of his
dubious parentage, invaded Britain and brought with him the Norman dialect of French,
which became the dialect of the ruling class.

A tree diagram starts by dividing the sentence into the subject and predicate, just as you
would when you start identifying sentence constituents:

In 1066, William the Conqueror, known as Guillame le Batard in French because of his
dubious parentage,

invaded Britain and brought with him the Norman dialect of French, which became the
dialect of the ruling class.

We can represent this as a simple NP + VP (dividing the branches between the subject and
predicate):
We’ll move the initial prepositional phrase to the VP side of the sentence because it is
adverbial (you can tell because of its mobility: only adverbials can move around in a
sentence).
You’ll notice that unlike many sentences, the NP part of this sentence is very long. NPs can
be further subdivided into their constituent parts. This particular NP is very complex, with
some embedded parts.

First, note that the noun phrase is mapped as NP = NP + ADJP.

This is how our sentence fits this pattern:

KNOWN AS GUILLAME LE BATARD IN FRENCH BECAUSE OF HIS DUBIOUS

PARENTAGE
is an ADJECTIVAL (FUNCTION) phrase, modifying the NP William the Conqueror. In its
FORM, it is a past participle phrase.
We could break this ADJECTIVAL phrase down further, as it contains two
ADVERBIAL prepositional phrases within the adjectival phrase, but we will leave this
phrase as is for now. You'll find this is a very common structure in English: when
prepositional phrases or participle phrases immediately follow nouns, they may be
modifying the noun.

Let’s move on to our analysis of the verb phrase. Verb phrases break down to MV (a
mandatory constituent) plus other constituents, depending on the clause type.
This VP contains an MV and another NP, a common pattern in English clauses. In fact,
there are two main verbs, joined with a coordinating conjunction. Remember
that coordinating conjunctions can join two or more like constituents (words, phrases, or
clauses); in this case, the conjunction AND is joining two VPs to a single subject NP.
Let’s start with the first:

invaded Britain (MVP + NP2).

This is how the words are mapped onto the tree:

We can see that this noun phrase, Britain, contains a single noun which is not the same as
the subject (NP1).

Now let’s move on to the second, longer VP.

brought with him the Norman dialect of French, which became the dialect of the ruling
class.

We’ll move WITH HIM over to the right, in the adverbial space, so we can see how the MV
relates to the other constituents.
We then see the same pattern as in the previous VP: MV + NP2

NP2 can be further analyzed, as we saw with the lengthy subject NP.

Mapping the words into the tree diagram, we have

Once again, we can further break down the final ADJP, containing a relative clause, in this
way:

Clause
NP1 + linking verb + NP1 + ADJP (prep phrase)
which + became + the dialect + of the ruling class
Now, we can put them all together into a very complex phrase structure diagram.

Again, this brief introduction is informational and not meant to provide you with a complete
working knowledge of phrase structure trees. I hope to offer here a simple glimpse into
what is possible when analyzing deep structures.