1.
Building Phrases
A phrase is a group of two or more grammatically
linked words without a subject and predicate -- a group of
grammatically-linked words with a subject and predicate is
called a clause.
The
group "teacher both students and" is not a phrase because the words
have no grammatical relationship to one another. Similarly, the group "bay
the across" is not a phrase.
In both cases, the
words need to be rearranged in order to create phrases. The group "both
teachers and students" and the group "across the bay" are both
phrases.
You use a phrase to add
information to a sentence and it can perform the functions of a
subject, an object, a subject complement or object
complement, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.
The highlighted words
in each of the following sentences make up a phrase:
She bought some spinach
when she went to the corner store.
Lightning flashed
brightly in the night sky.
They heard high pitched
cries in the middle of the night.
In early October,
Giselle planted twenty tulip bulbs; unfortunately, squirrels ate the
bulbs and none bloomed.
Small children often
insist that they can do it by themselves.
A.
The Function Of Phrases
A
phrase may function as a verb, noun, an adverb, or
an adjective.
1)
Verb Phrases
A
verb
phrase consists of a verb, its direct and/or indirect objects, and
any adverb, adverb phrases, or adverb clauses which happen to modify it. The
predicate of a clause or sentence is always a verb phrase:
Corinne is trying to
decide whether she wants to go to medical school or to go to law school.
He did not have
all the ingredients the recipe called for; therefore, he decided to make
something else.
After she had learned to
drive, Alice felt more independent.
We will meet at
the library at 3:30 p.m.
2)
Noun Phrases
A
noun
phrase consists of a pronoun or noun with any associated modifiers,
including adjectives, adjective phrases, adjective clauses, and other nouns in
the possessive case.
Like a noun, a noun
phrase can act as a subject, as the object of a verb or verbal, as a subject or
object complement, or as the object of a preposition, as in the following
examples:
subject
Small children
often insist that they can do it by themselves.
object of a verb
To read quickly and
accurately is Eugene's goal.
object of a preposition
The arctic explorers
were caught unawares by the spring breakup.
subject complement
Frankenstein is the name of the
scientist not the monster.
object complement
I consider Loki my favorite cat.
Noun Phrases using
Verbals
Since some verbals --
in particular, the gerund and the infinitive -- can act as nouns, these also
can form the nucleus of a noun phrase:
Ice fishing
is a popular winter pastime.
However, since verbals
are formed from verbs, they can also take direct objects and can be modified by
adverbs. A gerund phrase or infinitive phrase, then, is a noun
phrase consisting of a verbal, its modifiers (both adjectives and adverbs), and
its objects:
Running a marathon in the Summer
is thirsty work.
I am planning to buy a house
next month.
3)
Adjective Phrases
An
adjective
phrase is any phrase which modifies a noun or pronoun. You often
construct adjective phrases using participles or prepositions together with
their objects:
I was driven mad by the
sound of
my neighbour's constant piano practising.
In this sentence, the prepositional
phrase "of my neighbour's constant piano practising" acts
as an adjective modifying the noun "sound."
My father-in-law locked
his keys in the trunk of a borrowed car.
Similarly in this
sentence, the prepositional phrase "of a borrowed car" acts as an
adjective modifying the noun "trunk."
We saw Peter dashing across
the quadrangle.
Here the participle
phrase "dashing across the quadrangle" acts as an
adjective describing the proper noun "Peter."
We picked up the
records broken in the scuffle.
In this sentence, the
participle phrase "broken in the scuffle" modifies the noun phrase
"the records."
4)
Adverb Phrases
A
prepositional phrase can also be an adverb phrase, functioning as an adverb,
as in the following sentences.
She bought some spinach
when she went to the corner store.
In this sentence, the
prepositional phrase "to the corner store" acts as an adverb
modifying the verb "went."
Lightning flashed
brightly in the night sky.
In this sentence, the
prepositional phrase "in the night sky" functions as a adverb
modifying the verb "flashed."
In early October,
Giselle planted twenty tulip bulbs; unfortunately, squirrels ate the bulbs and
none bloomed.
In this sentence, the
prepositional phrase "in early October" acts as an adverb modifying
the entire sentence.
We will meet at the
library at 3:30 P.M.
In this sentence, the
prepositional phrase "at 3:30 P.M." acts as an adverb modifying the
verb phrase "will meet."
The dogs were capering
about the clown's feet.
In this sentence, the
prepositional phrase "about the clown's feet" acts as an adverb
modifying the verb phrase "were capering."
Source : http://arts.uottawa.ca/writingcentre/en/hypergrammar/building-phrases
