LECTURE 4 : PHRASES

Outline:

TYPES OF PHRASES :

• Noun Phrase

• Verb Phrases

• Prepositional Phrases

• Adverbial Phrase

•Adjective Phrase

• Appositive Phrases

• Verbal Phrases :

Participial Phrase (Adjective)

Gerund Phrase (noun)

Infinitive Phrase (“to” + verb)

• Absolute Phrases

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DEFINITION

A phrase is a group of related words that functions as a unit (as modifier or noun). A
phrase lacks a subject, predicate, or both.

1. NOUN PHRASES

FORM = noun or a pronoun + modifiers

• A noun phrase is a group of related words which plays the role of a noun. Like
all phrases, a noun phrase does not have a subject and a verb.

• A noun phrase consists of a noun as a head and all of its modifiers. It can
function in a sentence as a subject, object, or complement.

EXAMPLES

1. SUBJECT: Four French tourists got injured

2. SUBJECT COMPLEMENT: Gary is his elder brother

3. DIRECT OBJECT: They bought a large house

4. INDIRECT OBJECT: She told her husband the truth

5. OBJECT COMPLEMENT: She called him a liar

6. ADVERB:

• One day you’ll know the secret.

• They are going to England next month

2.VERB PHRASES

VERB PHRASE FORM = main verb + helping verbs+ modifiers

Verb phrases usually contain lexical verbs as main verbs (HEAD), and they may be
preceded by one or more auxiliary verbs.

FUNCTION:

A verb phrase can function only as the predicate of a sentence

EX: Workers rest. (One verb phrase)

Workers are resting

- Workers have been resting after their working hours

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3. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

1. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES consist of a preposition as a HEAD (in, on, under,

over, beside, etc.) + a noun, or a pronoun (called the object of the preposition), as well as
any modifiers of the object.

EXAMPLE:

During the rodeo, the bull became belligerent.

Lauren is extremely angry about the parking ticket.

A prepositional phrase may function as:

3.1 ADJECTIVE an adjective when it modifies a noun or pronoun.

Each of the dancers won an award.

I kept a written account of my travels.

The chair in the corner is wobbly. (Which chair?) describes the SUBJECT chair

We flew a plane with twin engines. (What kind of plane?) describes the DIRECT
OBJECT plane

I sent my cousin in Davos some photographs of us. (Which cousin?) INDIRECT

OBJECT cousin.

The dictator declares himself a president in life.( Which kind of president?) OBJECT
COMPLEMENT president

3.2 ADVERB: an adverb when it modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb by

pointing out where, when, in what manner or to what extent.

Kathy was nervous during her interview.

Last year I worked as a clown in the circus.

We sat on the park bench. (Sat where?)

I will leave in one hour. (Will leave when?)

ADVERBIAL & ADJECTIVAL PHRASE

Adverbials Adjectival
He opened it extremely easily. He was quite unexpectedly kind.

I'll do it quite soon. They are really enthusiastic.

I ran so fast.

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4. APPOSITIVE PHRASES

APPOSITIVE PHRASE is a noun or pronoun placed near another noun or pronoun to

explain or identify it. It includes with the appositive all of the words or phrases that
modify it.

EXAMPLES

- My favorite pastime, cow tipping, often results in dirty shoes

- My uncle, a mediocre chef, is no Julia Childs since he often drops his cigar ashes into
the food he is preparing.
- We visited Boston Harbor, the site of the Boston Tea Party.
- The Kenai Peninsula is the home of the Alaskan moose, the largest deer in the world.
- A great speaker, Thomas Paine, inspired the colonists to resist the British.

5. VERBAL PHRASES

VERBAL PHRASES are verb forms that function as nouns, adjectives or adverbs. There
are three types of verbal phrases: participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

5.1 PARTICIPIAL PHRASE: It function as an adjective and can take four forms:
present, past, perfect and passive perfect.

It consists of the participle THE HEAD, its modifiers and complements. It is a word
ending in -ing or in -ed that helps describe something.

Present: Competing in the race, the athlete felt a surge of adrenaline.

Past: Bothered by her husband’s snoring, the woman kicked the poor man.

Perfect: Having typed the paper, the student was finally able to relax.

Passive Perfect: The police officer, having been threatened by the suspect, called for
assistance.

NOTE : Some participles are formed from irregular verbs. Past form of irregular verbs:

Swept away by the storm, the building’s roof was severely destroyed.

The old toy, forgotten in a corner, was destined for the garage sale box.

5.2: GERUND PHRASES

A gerund is a verbal that always ends in –ing. It is used in almost every way that a noun
can be used: subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, object of a
preposition, appositive. It consists of the gerund, THE HEAD, its modifiers and
complements.

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Subject: Piercing her ear 100 times was a decision Ruby came to regret.

Direct Object: My brother finished watering the lawn.

Indirect Object: He gave studying chemistry all his attention.

Object of Preposition: Walter Mitty daydreamed of being a courageous pilot.

Predicate Nominative: Her greatest flaw is being a perfectionist.

Appositive: My favorite pastime, listening to cds, doesn’t require much thought.

5.3 INFINITIVE PHRASES

An infinitive is a verb form that usually begins with the word “to”. It can function as an
adjective, a noun or an adverb.

Noun: I like to scuba dive in the bathtub.

Adjective: His effort to convince me to buy a new car was a failure.

Adverb: She was too silly to be easily understood.

Used as a Noun: To finish homework is our plan. (Subject)

Used as a Noun: Julia wants to go to the beach with us on Sunday. (Direct Object)

Used as a Noun: Mike plans to give homework more attention. (Indirect Object)

Used as a Noun: Jeanette’s plan is to make ten bracelets before Christmas. (Predicate
nominative)

Used as an Adjective: Napoleon’s plan to conquer Europe failed.

Used as an Adverb: Because of his sprained ankle, Chico was unable to play in the game.

6. ABSOLUTE PHRASES

An absolute phrase is a group of words consisting of a noun or pronoun and a participle

as well as any related modifiers. They modify the entire sentence, adding information.
They are always treated as parenthetical elements and are set off from the rest of the
sentence with a comma or a pair of commas (sometimes by a dash or pair of dashes). It
contains a subject (which is often modified by a participle), but not a true verb. The
absolute phrase may appear at the beginning, at the end of a sentence and sometimes
even between the subject and the verb

The hunters, breaths gathering in the frosty air, rested for a moment in front of the
shack.

The season being over, they were mobbed by fans in Times Square.

The old firefighter stood over the ruins, eyes watering from the intense smoke.