LECTURE NOTES – The SIMPLE SENTENCE

A Simple sentence can consist of just a subject and a verb e.g. Jessica fell. A brief
simple sentence like this one gives only basic information, but simple sentences
can be quite elaborate, expanded and enriched with additional words and
phrases.

PHRASES – Kinds and Function

A PHRASE is a group of related words without a subject and a verb. This group of
words may make sense, but not complete sense.
The following are examples of phrases: into the house; at nine o’clock; in the
morning; to buy candy; swimming the river; could have had;
PHRASES may be classified according to their introductory words as
prepositional, participial, infinitive or gerund, and verb.
The prepositional phrase begins with a preposition e.g. in the morning; into the
house.
The beautiful bird returned in the morning. He quickly ran into the house
The participial phrase begins with a participle – the present participle (watching)
or the past participle (watched). e.g. walking the dog; watching the movies;
encouraging remarks;
Encouraged by the voter turnout, the candidate predicted a victory.
The infinitive phrase begins with an infinitive e.g. to buy candy; to evaluate the
evidence;
They gave us permission to buy candy. The jury recessed to evaluate the
evidence.
The gerund phrase begins with a gerund e.g. swimming the river; taking it easy;
Swimming the river was a difficult task. Taking it easy always makes sense.
A verb phrase consists of a main verb and all its auxiliary verbs:
Time is flying. You could have had a V8. She should have been here since last
week.
I will be travelling to New York soon.

N.B. Because Infinitives, Participles and Gerunds are Verbals (Non-Finite verbs),
the phrases which they begin are referred to as Verbal Phrases.

The function of a phrase is determined through the context in which it is used.

Phrases may function as nouns, adjectives or adverbs.
To do is to learn. (To do and to learn are both infinitive phrases. Each begins with
an infinitive. An infinitive is a verb word which is preceded by ‘to’. It is a non-
finite verb or Verbal.
In this sentence, to do is the subject of the verb is and to learn is the
complement of the verb is. (The subject or the object or the complement of a
sentence is always a noun, hence these phrases are noun phrases.)
He enjoys playing football. (Playing football is a gerund phrase because it begins
with a gerund. A Gerund is a non-finite verb or Verbal. It is a verb word that
always functions as a noun. It resembles the Present Participle because it ends
in ‘ing’.)
In this sentence, it is the object of the verb ‘enjoys’, hence it is functioning as a
noun phrase.
The view through the window is pretty. (Through the window is a prepositional
phrase because it begins with a preposition but in this sentence it functions as an
adjective phrase because it qualifies the noun word (Subject) view.
They gave us permission to buy candy. (To buy candy is an infinitive phrase
because it begins with an infinitive, but in this sentence it is functioning as an
adjectival phrase qualifying the noun word permission which is the object of the
verb gave.)
Encouraged by the voter turnout, the candidate predicted a victory. (Encouraged
by the voter turnout is a participial phrase because it begins with the past
participle- ‘encouraged’. Participles, when they are not working with auxiliaries,
function as adjectives qualifying nouns. In this sentence, the participial phrase
‘encouraged by the voter turnout’ qualifies the noun word candidate, which is
the noun subject of the sentence, hence it functions as an adjectival phrase.
The bird flew through the window. (Through the window begins with a
preposition, but in this sentence it is functioning as an adverb phrase modifying
the verb flew.)
Joseph put his shoes by the door. (By the door begins with a preposition, but in
this sentence it is functioning as an adverb phrase modifying the verb put.)

N.B. The subject or object or complement of a sentence is always a noun. Any

phrase, therefore, that is at the subject or object or complement of a sentence
would function as a noun phrase. It can be simply identified by asking the
question ‘who’ or ‘what’ of the verb.
The adjective phrase always qualifies the noun subject or noun object of the
sentence. It asks the question ‘which’, ‘whose’, ‘who’, ‘whom’ of the noun
subject or noun object.
The adverb phrase always modifies the verb/verb phrase in the sentence. It asks
the question ‘why’; ‘when’; ‘where’; ‘how’, of the verb.

EXPANSION OF THE SIMPLE SENTENCE USING PHRASES

Simple sentences can be expanded by adding single words or phrases in the
sentence. For example, let us expand the following sentence: The man went to
the market.
We can add one word: The elderly man went to the market.
We can add one phrase: The elderly man in the blue shirt went to the market.
We can add another phrase: The elderly man in the blue shirt went to the big
market.
We can add another phrase: The elderly man in the blue shirt went to the big
market in the city.
You will notice that even though the sentence is expanded, it still remains a
simple sentence because it contains only ONE finite verb – went.
However, be careful with your sentence construction. Sometimes the position of a
phrase changes the meaning of a sentence. For example: ‘The woman in the
house hit the dog.’
‘The woman hit the dog in the house.’
What is the difference in meaning of these sentences?