PHRASES
Can you tell what a phrase is? There are many students who mistake phrases for sentences
perhaps because there are phrases that are very long and may look like sentences. However,
the length or number of words in a somewhat ordered way is not necessarily a sentence.
Examine the following.
the man at the corner of the house eating the bread
the man
to go home
Is singing
Music
Under the house
At the top
Likes running
One thousand dollars on the ground
Playing a game of cricket
laughing his socks off
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ENG 1105 2013
stand up for your rights
knock out
babe in arms
After he slept
run around
Kindly man
Wealth and riches
Hold back
Since he ran away
To hang on
pass away
When he came back
kick off the game
knuckle down
Adventurous experience
Pass out
run down
take a stand
Break up
thumbs up
The cash
On the way
Take over
Cave in
A phrase is simply a group of words that cannot be considered a sentence. All of the items in
the list above are all phrases because they do not complete an expression or fit the description
of a sentence as they do not carry subjects and verbs. There are a variety of kinds of phrases
Let’s now use some of those phrases above to make sentences.
The man at the corner of the house eating the bread is my uncle
The lady in the dark green coat walked across the street to meet the tall the man
I want to go home
Mary is singing
Lennox listens to music everyday
The robber hid under the house
At the top of the mountain, we stopped.
Notice also that sentences can be broken down into several phrases. And large phrases can be
broken down into smaller units as well. Let’s see how many phrases we can get from the
phrase “The man at the corner of the house eating the bread”.








The man
At the corner
the corner
Of the house
The house
Eating
Eating the bread
The bread
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ENG 1105 2013
Types of Phrases and their functions
There are different types of phrases. Just like parts of speech, phrases are named according to
their function in sentences. Phrases can function like nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs.
They are generally named or classified by the part of speech of their main word or sometimes
their beginning word. Can you name the parts of speech? How many of them are there? Do
you understand how they function in sentences? If not, you should find out?
The noun phrase
A noun phrase obviously consists of a noun but can consist of a noun and a modifier (articles
or adjectives). See the noun phrases below



the fish
a large fish
two men
In the first phrase, the word ‘the’ is a definite article and simply introduces the word “fish”.
We may also say “This fish”, “that fish”, “those fish”, “a fish”. The words this, that and
those are demonstrative adjectives and the word “a” is called an indefinite article. If you
would like to know more about these grammatical concepts you will have to read more about
them on your own.
The verb phrase
The verb phrase functions like a verb in a sentence. Eg:


The man with the broken leg hopped through the field.
He is sitting where we sat yesterday
As you notice, the verbs in the above sentence are “hopped and is sitting”
The adverbial phrase
Can you remember what the job of the adverb is? Well, the adverbial phrase does the same
job as the adverb. It modifies a verb in a sentence.





The man with the broken leg hopped, hopelessly through the field.
He is sitting where we sat yesterday
We visited our grandmother in Texas last summer when she got ill.
The child’s father cheered loudly after she had sung her song.
At nights, the wind blows furiously
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ENG 1105 2013
Adjectival phrases
Adjectival phrases function like adjectives in sentences. They modify or describe nouns or
noun phrases.




The athlete who ran the 100 m race sprained her ankle
That was quite a devastating experience
In fact, we had never seen such an exhilarating performance
An eclipse of the moon is perfect a romantic evening
Prepositional phrases
Prepositional phrases can function as adjectives or adverbs within sentences - a prepositional
phrase is a group of words beginning with a preposition and usually ending with a noun or
pronoun.






They were standing near the door.
The woman with the helmet is a motorcyclist.
The cashier gave the change to me.
We visited our grandmother in Texas when she got ill.
We saw the robber on the bus.
Mark and john were at their grandmother’s house
EG: Birds with large wings fly at a slow pace.


BIRDS with large wings (adjectival phrase modifying the noun/noun phrase
BIRDS)
FLY at a slow pace (adverbial phrase modifying the verb FLY)
Verbals and Verbal Phrases
Verbals are forms of a verb that are used not as verbs but as other parts of speech. Their chief
function is to act as adjectives, nouns and adverbs. There are three kinds of verbals:
participles, gerunds and infinitives.
A participle is a verb form used as an adjective –

The burning leaves smelled good.
 A cracked record can ruin a stylus.
A participial phrase consists of a participle and its related words, such as modifiers and
complements, all of which act together as an adjective.
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ENG 1105 2013
Examples:
 Approaching the curve, the truck slowed down.
 I could see Frank sitting three seats away.
 I heard him whispering to his friend.
 Acquitted by the jury, the defendant shook hands with her lawyer.
 The ship, buffeted by the storm, struggled to safety.
Gerunds
Gerunds and present participles are formed exactly alike. Both are formed by adding – ing
to the base form of the verb. The difference between them is in their use. Present participles
are used as adjectives; gerunds are used as nouns.
A gerund phrase consists of a gerund together with its complements and modifiers, all
of which act together as a noun.
 Examples:
 Thinking clearly is essential. (thinking is a gerund – subject)
 A thinking person will avoid excess. ( thinking is present participle –
adjective)
 Looking at the clock is a bad habit (the gerund phrase is used as the subject
of the sentence)
The infinitive
The infinitive is a verb from, usually preceded by to, that is used as a noun, adjective, or
adverb.
 To err is human.
 The plane was ready to go
 She is a candidate to watch
The infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive together with its complements and modifiers.
Example: To hit a curve ball solidly is very difficult.
Note the difference between verb phrase and verbal phrases
SENTENCES
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ENG 1105 2013
It is often said that a “sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought”
(makes sense) and ends with an end mark. A sentence also must have a subject and a verb.
Sentences have two main parts:
1. The subject (announces what the sentence is about) predicate (what is said about the
subject)
2. The predicate –contains the verb and everything that is said about the subject
Subjects and predicates
Subjects
Predicates
The man at the corner of the house eating
the bread
is my uncle
The lady in the dark green coat
walked across the street to meet the tall the
man
I
want to go home
Mary
is singing
Lennox
listens to music everyday
The robber
hid under the house
I
cried
THE SENTENCE BASE/CORE
Every sentence has a base. The base may be compared to the foundation of a building. It is
the part upon which all other parts rest. The sentence base is composed usually of two parts:
the subject and the verb.
A cloud of smoke appeared (base: cloud appeared)
plans for the trip were discussed (base: plans were discussed)
Mary is singing (base: Mary is singing)
Lennox listens to music everyday (Base: Lennox listens)
The robber hid under the house (Base: robber hid)
At the top of the mountain, we stopped. (base: we stopped)
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ENG 1105 2013
In these examples, the sentence base consists of only a subject and verb. In many sentences,
however, something else is required in the predicate to complete the meaning of the subject
and verb. This third element is a complement (a completer).
Examples:
 Lennox listens to music
 At the top of the mountain, we stopped.
Types of subjects and predicates
A sentence can have a compound subject. A subject with two or more parts.

Tomatoes and carrots are colourful vegetables.
A sentence can have a compound predicate –
 Horses gallop and charge
A sentence may have both a compound subject and a compound predicate –
 Butterflies and hummingbirds / dart and dip in the air.
Improving and expanding sentences
How do we expand sentences?
Sentences can be expanded by modifiers (words, phrases and clauses). A modifier is a word
or a group of words that makes the meaning of another word more definite.
Words as modifiers:
Two parts of speech are used as modifiers: the adjective, which modifies a noun or pronoun;
and the adverb, which modifies a verb, and adjective or another adverb.
Extremely odd styles sometimes become rather surprisingly popular.
The base of the sentence above is “odd styles become popular”.
The word “extremely” modifies “odd styles”, the word “sometimes” explain or clarify the
verb “become” and the phrase “rather surprisingly” modifies “popular”
Phrases as modifiers:
Prepositional phrases may be used to modify nouns or pronouns in much the same way as
single-word adjectives.
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ENG 1105 2013
 Eg: a heroic act

The blue one
an act of heroism
the one in blue
A prepositional phrase that modifies a noun or pronoun is an adjective phrase.
 The rooms of the house smelled damp and dusty.
A prepositional phrase that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb is an adverb
phrase. Unlike adjective phrase, which always follow the words they modify, adverb phrase
can appear at various places in the sentence. More than one adverb phrase can modify the
same word.
 The fox escaped into its hole ( the phrase modifies the verb escaped)
 Althea Gibson was graceful on the tennis court. (the phrase modifies the
adjective graceful)
 The sun rises earlier in the morning now. (the phrase modifies the adverb
earlier)
 In the first inning she pitched with great control. (both phrases are
modifying the verb pitched)
Clauses as modifiers:
Independent/Main clauses are clauses which can stand alone.

The cast bowed and the audience applauded.
EG: The cast bowed. The audience applauded.
Dependent/Subordinate clauses are those which cannot stand alone as sentences. They are
introduced by either a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun used as a
subordinating conjunction.
An adverbial clause
An adverbial clause functions as an adverb and usually begins with subordinating
conjunctions such as: as, as if, as though, than, if, until, since, before, because, after, while,
when, and so that.
 The cast bowed when the audience applauded. ( adverb clause)
Adjectivals
Adjectivals are noun modifiers that identify a large number of distinctive features in the
nouns they modify. An adjectival clause functions as an adjective and usually begins with a
relative pronoun – who whom whose which, that. The subordinating conjunctions where and
when may also begin an adjective clause.
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ENG 1105 2013
 The student who directed the play also took a bow.
 That is the spot where we set up camp.
 I will always remember the time when I hiked to Pike’s Peak.
Example of a simple sentence expansion using words, phrases and clauses:
 BIRDS (Subject)
 Parts of speech
FLY (Verb) – Sentence Base
(adjective) Big BIRDS
FLY slowly (adverb)
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ENG 1105 2013