Phrase

Wren and Martin, High School English grammar

Page 157 to 161
Phrase
A group of words that makes sense, but not complete sense is
called a Phase.

A phrase is any group of related words that, unlike a sentence, has no

subject-predicate combination.

1. A group of words
2. It does not have no subject-predicate combination
 Phrase
The words in a phrase act together so that the phrase itself
functions as a single part of speech. For example, some phrases act
as nouns, some as verbs, some as adjectives or adverbs.

Remember that phrases can’t stand alone as sentences.

Phrase
“The term PHRME has traditionally been applied to a unit consisting of more than one word,

and this has meant some inconsistency in the interpretation of grammatical constituency.

Avoiding this inconsistency, many modem grammarians have used the term 'phrase' to refer to

a constituent consisting either of one word or of more than one word, and this usage will be

followed in this book”.

A Comprehensive grammar of English language, p.40, Quirk, Leech…

3 Different Forms of a Phrase
The red building
The red building looks amazing

has been doing

He has been doing it.

on the road
He is walking on the road.
Common Types of Phrase
There are following common types of phrases:
Noun Phrase
Verb Phrase
Adjective Phrase
Adverb Phrase
Prepositional Phrase
Common Types of Phrase
Noun Phrases
A noun phrase consists of a noun and all its modifiers.
Here are examples:

•The lost puppy was a wet and stinky dog.

•The flu clinic had seen many cases of infectious disease.
•It was a story as old as time.
•The sports car drove the long and winding road.
•Saturday became a cool, wet afternoon.
Verb Phrases
Verb Phrases
A verb phrase consists of a verb and all its modifiers.
 Common Types of Phrase
Prepositional Phrase
A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and can act as a noun, an adjective or an adverb.

Examples are:
•The book was on the table.
•We camped by the brook.
•He knew it was over the rainbow.
•She was lost in the dark of night.
•He was between a rock and a hard place.
•I waited for a while.
•He won the challenge against all odds.
Common Types of Phrase
Adverb Phrase

Examples:
Common Types of Phrase
Adjective Phrase

The movie was surprisingly good. (modifies noun: movie )