For the first lesson, we're going to learn about the building blocks of sentences. Basically, without it, a sentence will be hanging and meaningless.
So what are phrases actually? Phrases are group of words that act as part of speech but cannot stand alone as a sentence. Therefore, the
words in a phrase act together so that the phrase itself functions as a single
part of speech.
For example, phrases can function as nouns, verbs, adjectives,
or adverbs.
So that, if you understand how different types of phrases function, you can avoid
misplacing them or leaving them dangling in sentences.
A
noun phrase includes a noun—a
person, place, or thing—and the modifiers
which distinguish it
Modifiers can come before or after the
noun. Ones that come before might include articles, possessive nouns,
possessive pronouns,
adjectives,
and/or participles
Articles: a
dog, the dog
Possessive nouns:
Aunt Audrey's dog, the neighbor's dog, the police officer's dog
Possessive pronouns:
our dog, her dog, their dog
Adjectives: that
dog, the big dog, the spotted dog
Participles:
the drooling dog, the barking dog, the well trained dog
Noun Phrase
Noun
phrases play an important role in the construction of a sentence.
Without
knowledge of noun phrases in English, learners could not produce comprehensible
sentences.
Basic
noun phrases can be pronouns, numerals or head nouns with different determiners
while complex ones include pre-modification, head noun and post-modification.
Examples:
I
like the tall lecturer
in the front.
Lecturer is the key word and this is a noun.
Hence,
the constituent the
tall lecturer is a noun phrase. (premodification)
The
tall lecturer in the front is
also a noun phrase but this time with both pre & postmodification
But WAIT! There're also variations
E.g. 2: Men
with long hair look like hippies.
Men
with long hair is a noun phrase.
Men is
the head noun with postmodification.
E.g.
3 : I have never taught those students
at the back.
Those students at the back is
the noun phrase.
Students
is the head noun with pre & post modification.
E.g. 4: I saw three English films yesterday.
Three English films
is the noun phrase.
Films
is the head noun with premodification.
E.g.
5 -- I like David.
David
is the noun phrase & also the noun with no modification.
E.g.
6 – I saw something rather strange on TV last night.
Something rather strange is a
noun phrase.
Something
is the pronoun & the head noun with postmodification.
VERB PHRASE
It is
considered as a head verb with auxillaries
according to Greenbaum
& Quirk (1990) and Crystal (1996).
E.g.
We will have finished by Tuesday.
Will have finished
is
a verb phrase.
Finished
is the head.
Note:
verb phrase can have only premodification.
Sometimes
an action or condition occurs just—and it's over. Read these two short
sentences:
Offering
her license and registration, Sarah cried in the driver's seat.
Officer Afiq
was unmoved.
A single-word verb like cried or was cannot accurately describe what happened, so
writers use multipart verb phrases to communicate what they mean.
As many as four words can comprise a verb phrase.
A
main or base verb indicates the type of action or condition, and auxiliary—or
helping—verbs
convey the other nuances that writers want to express.
VERB TRANSIVITY
1)
Intransitive – I will sleep well tonight. (no object)
2)
Monotransitive
– I kicked
the ball hard. (one object)
3)
Ditransitive
– I gave
Ellen a wonderful gift. (direct and
indirect object)
4)
Copular – I feel
rather tired today.
(verb describes the subject and the constituent “rather
tired” following the verb is called a
subject complement.
5)
Complex transitive – I appointed Sally
my secretary.
(with
direct object & object complement)
Test:
Sally is
my secretary.
Adjectives Phrase
Adjective
Phrase is a constituent with an adjective as a head.
e.g.
1 The very cute girl is my sister.
Very cute
girl is
the adjectival phrase.
Cute
is the head adjective with a premodification.
e.g.
2 Your brother was very angry about the results.
Happy about
the results is the adjectival phrase.
Happy is
the head with postmodification.
E.g.
3
That
seems very expensive for a pen.
Expensive is the head with pre and postmodification
Adverb Phrase
It is
a constituent that has an adverb as its head.
E.g.1
Ali played the music very loudly.
Very loudly is an adverb phrase.
Loudly
is the head with premodification.
He
is talking strangely for a teacher.
Strangely for a teacher is
the adverb phrase.
Strangely
is the head with post modification.
Preposition Pharase
It is
a constituent that has a preposition as its head.
E.g.
1 The chair right at the back is broken.
At the
back is a preposition phrase
At is
the head
Note:
preposition phrase always has a noun phrase as a postmodifier.
Premodification
is not common though “right” can be considered as that in the sentence above.
Roles of Phrase In A Sentence
(1)
My
brother shot the robber.
(2)
The robber shot my
brother.
Form
for my
brother in both sentence is a noun phrase.
Function
(1)
My
brother functions as a subject.
(2) My brother functions as a direct object.
Direct & Indirect Object
E.g.
1 The man gave his girlfriend a rose.
girlfriend is an
indirect object
a rose is
direct object
Note:
Verbs that takes two objects are called ditransitive
verb.
Postphonement
test; The indirect object can be moved to the back.
i.e.
The man gave a rose to
his girlfriend.
E.g.
2 Michael bought his girlfriend some flowers.
Girlfriend
is an indirect object
Some flowers is
a direct object.
Postphonement
test:
Michael
bought some flowers for his girlfriend.
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
E.g.
1 John loved
the teacher.
E.g.
2 John became
the teacher.
In
e.g. 2 the
teacher is a subject complement because the
constituent following the verb describes the subject.
The
verb is called a copular verb.
Sentence
1 can be converted into a passive sentence.
“The
teacher was loved by John”.
OBJECT COMPLEMENT
We
have elected you our leader.
You is
the direct object.
Our leader is
the object complement.
To
identify an object complement, use the Be-Insertion Test
You are our leader. Hence the above is correct.
ADVERBIAL
It is
a constituent that describes time, place or manner.
1.
Susan quickly wrote a letter.
Quickly
– adverbial of manner
2.
I will take the final exam on Monday morning
On Monday morning –
adverbial of time
3.
Next week we have no more classes.
Next week –
adverbial of time.
PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENTS
E.g.
1 Our classroom is on the first floor.
on
the first floor is the preposition phrase
on – is the preposition
the first floor –
prepositional complement (contains a noun/pronoun
E.g.
2 My teacher is quite angry with me.
with –
is the preposition
me
– prepositional complement (contains a
pronoun)
PRE - MODIFIER & POST MODIFIER
E.g.
1 Very
tall men are often good at basketball.
“”
Very tall” -- premodifier of men
E.g.
2 I love music
by Beethoven.
“
by Beethoven” postmodifier
of music
E.g.
3 My
father sent that student
a
letter last week.
My –
possessive pronoun – determiner & premodifier
That
– demonstrative & premodifier
A –
article – determiner & premodifier
