Advanced Grammar 3

Phrases

Phrases
Words can be arranged into higher units phrases There are: - head:noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase and prepositional phrase. Each class of lexical words has its own phrase.

noun phrases
a house, these houses, their house, the girl next door, Jennifer, the popular assumption that language simply serves to communicate 'thoughts' or 'ideas', her refusal to show any sign of emotion. (abstract/concrete noun, determiners, that-clause, infinitive clause, complements, head noun, proper nouns, pronouns)

verb and adjective phrases

The current year has definitely started well. (lexical/primary verb, auxiliary verb, finite verb, non-finite verb, action, state, process) old, incredible, guilty of a serious crime, he's a deeply sick man (attributive adjective, subject predicative)

adverb phrases
Often expresses degree. Can modify an adjective or adverb phrases.
there, pretty soon, so quickly you don't even enjoy it (optional modifiers, head adverb, complement)

Adverb phrases are different from adverbial clauses: Those two were pretty much horribly spoiled. She smile sweetly.

How many phrases are there?

The opposition demands a more representative government. (NEWS) They passed the table with the two men (FICTION)

Prepositional phrases
preposition + 1.noun phrases (prepositional complement) or 2. complement clauses (same role as noun phrases but with wh-clauses or ing-clauses): 1. to town, in the morning, on the night of the first
day, in a street with no name. 2. Component drawings carry instructions on where they are used (ACAD). It was hard to live in Missouri after spending so much time in California (CONV).

syntactic roles of prepositional phrases

as an adverbial on the clause level: He worked in a shop - probably at that time. as a modifier or complement following a noun: He was a poet, a teacher of philosophy, and a man with a terrible recent history.

Reflection on these sentences

Mother and I saw it. (CONV) Uh huh (CONV). work on the dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield.

Summary
Phrases can be a single word or a group of words Phrases can be embedded You can test by using a substition test.