Thursday, 3 October 2013

Phrases and Clauses



Topic 8                 Phrases and Clauses


Phrases
A phrase
According to this grammarian, it may mean a single word. 

Traditionally a phrase is a coherent string of words.

The head word is the main word in a phrase and determines the type of phrase it is.

Types of phrases
1.  Noun phrases    
2.  Verb phrases
3.  Adjective phrase  (Adjectival)
4.  Adverb phrase  (Adverbial)
5.  Prepositional phrase

1.  Noun Phrase
    -----  take the noun as head word
    -----  a noun      
    -----  a pronoun  -----  P1 /P3 /P4
          (1)  [The little boys] are playing with (their pets) happily.
          (2)  [He] doesn’t like (spice food).
          (3)  [Greediness] is /the cause of all evils/.  (greedy)
          _________________________________________________________________
          (4)  [The front-right car window] can’t be wound down easily.
               ______________________________________________________________

2.  Verb Phrase 
    -----  take the verb group as head word
    -----  tenses  -----  the Active Voice
                                the Passive Voice 
                               modal verb + main verb  (active & passive)

                               can V ---  can be F4

    -----  also include other constituents
          (1)  Verb group phrase  (Vgp)
          [She] is cooking.

(2)  extensive verb (vt) + (an object)
          a)  [Paul] lifted up (a stone) .
          b)  [She] washes (dishes).

          (3)  intensive verb + adjective
          [She] felt angry .

          (4)  extensive verb + adverb
          [She] stayed there for a week last June.
          (5)  verb-to-be + prepositional phrase
          a)  [The book] is on (the floor).
          b)  [The children] are in (the park) now.

3.  Adjective Phrase
    ----- take adjective as head word
           adverb of degree -----  Adjective
          a)  [She] is amazingly talented.
          b)  [Jean] felt very uneasy.
          c)  [The little boy] was too restless to sit still.  (so… that)
          _________________________________________________________________

4.  Adverb Phrase
    -----  take adverb as head word
            adverb of degree  -----  adverb of manner
          a)  [He] always does (his work) very well.
          b)  [She] dances very gracefully.
          c)  [He] can run very fast.
          d)  [Mr Rahman] is not free now.
          e)  [My grandmother] always plays (the piano) before (lunch) every day.

5.  Prepositional Phrase
    -----  take preposition as head word  
          a)  [The poor man] lives alone in (a dilapidated small house).
          b)  [On the table] is /an old clock/.
          c)  [I] am usually not at ( home) in (the afternoon).
          d)  [Nora] strolled with (her family) along (the beach) last Saturday.
          e)  [He] sometimes speaks to (his wife) in (a loud voice).
          f)  [Mark] sit in front of (me) in (the class).

Note:
a)  [The very cute little girl with (plaited hair)] is /my cousin/.
b)  [Something unusual] took place in (my neighbourhood) late in (the night)
     yesterday.
c)  [The only possibility now] is try /to try/ trying (your best).

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