PHRASES AND ITS TYPES

Types of Phrases

A phrase is a group of related words (within a sentence) without both subject and verb. For
example, He is laughing at the joker.

A phrase functions as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective or preposition in a sentence. The function
of a phrase depends on its construction (words it contains). On the basis of their functions and
constructions, phrases are divided into various types i.e. noun phrase, verb phrase, adverb
phrase, adjective phrase, appositive phrase, infinite phrase, participle phrase and gerund
phrase.

Noun Phrase

A noun phrase consists of a noun and other related words (usually modifiers and determiners)
which modify the noun. It functions like a noun in a sentence.

A noun phrase consists of a noun as the head word and other words (usually modifiers and
determiners) which come after or before the noun. The whole phrase works as a noun in a
sentence.

Noun Phrase = noun + modifiers (the modifiers can be after or before noun)
Examples.
He is wearing a nice red shirt. (as noun/object)
She brought a glass full of water. (as noun/object)
The boy with brown hair is laughing. (as noun/subject)
A man on the roof was shouting. (as noun/subject)

A sentence can also contain more noun phrases.

For example. The girl with blue eyes bought a beautiful chair.

Prepositional phrase

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, object of preposition(noun or pronoun) and

may also consist of other modifiers.
e.g. on a table, near a wall, in the room, at the door, under a tree

A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and mostly ends with a noun or pronoun.
Whatever prepositional phrase ends with is called object of preposition. A prepositional phrase
functions as an adjective or adverb in a sentence.
Examples.
A boy on the roof is singing a song. (As adjective)
The man in the room is our teacher. (As adjective)
 She is shouting in a loud voice. (As adverb)
He always behaves in a good manner. (As adverb)

Adjective Phrase.
An adjective phrase is a group of words that functions like an adjective in a sentence. It
consists of adjectives, modifier and any word that modifies a noun or pronoun.
An adjective phrase functions like an adjective to modify (or tell about) a noun or a pronoun in a
sentence.

Examples.
He is wearing a nice red shirt. (modifies shirt)
The girl with brown hair is singing a song. (modifies girl)
He gave me a glass full of water. (modifies glass)
A boy from America won the race. (modifies boy)

Prepositional phrases and participle phrases also function as adjectives so we can also call them
adjective phrases when they function as adjective. In the above sentence “The girl with brown
hair is singing a song”, the phrase “with brown hair” is a prepositional phrase but it functions as
an adjective.

Adverb Phrase
An adverb phrase is a group of words that functions as an adverb in a sentence. It consists of
adverbs or other words (preposition, noun, verb, modifiers) that make a group with works like an
adverb in a sentence.
An adverb phrase functions like an adverb to modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

Examples
He always behaves in a good manner. (modifies verb behave)
They were shouting in a loud voice. (modifies verb shout)
She always drives with care. (modifies verb drive)
He sat in a corner of the room. (modifies verb sit)
He returned in a short while. (modifies verb return)

A prepositional phrase can also act as an adverb phrase. For example in above sentence “He
always behaves in a good manner”, the phrase “in a good manner” is a prepositional phrase but it
acts as adverb phrase here.

Verb Phrase

A verb phrase is a combination of main verb and its auxiliaries (helping verbs) in a sentence.
Examples.
He is eating an apple.
She has finished her work.
You should study for the exam.
She has been sleeping for two hours.
According to generative grammar, a verb phrase can consist of main verb, its auxiliaries, its
complements and other modifiers. Hence it can refer to the whole predicate of a sentence.
Example. You should study for the exam.

Infinitive Phrase

An infinitive phrase consist of an infinitive(to + simple form of verb) and modifiers or other
words associated to the infinitive. An infinitive phrase always functions as an adjective, adverb
or a noun in a sentence.

Examples.
He likes to read books. (As noun/object)
To earn money is a desire of everyone. (As noun/subject)
He shouted to inform people about fire. (As adverb, modifies verbshout)
He made a plan to buy a car. (As adjective, modifies nounplan)
Gerund Phrase
A gerund phrase consists of a gerund(verb + ing) and modifiers or other words associated with
the gerund. A gerund phrase acts as a noun in a sentence.

Examples
I like writing good essays. (As noun/object)
She started thinking about the problem. (As noun/object)
Sleeping late in night is not a good habit. (As noun/subject)
Weeping of a baby woke him up. (As noun/subject)

Participle Phrase
A participle phrase consists of a present participle (verb + ing), a past participle (verb ending
in -ed or other form in case of irregular verbs) and modifiers or other associate words. A
participle phrase is separated by commas. It always acts as an adjective in a sentence.

Examples
The kids, making a noise, need food. (modifies kids)
I received a letter, mentioning about my exam. (modifies letter)
The table, made of steel, is too expensive. (modifies table)
We saw a car, damaged in an accident. (modifies car)

Absolute Phrase
Absolute phrase (also called nominative phrase) is a group of words including a noun or pronoun
and a participle as well as any associated modifiers. Absolute phrase modifies (give information
about) the entire sentence. It resembles a clause but it lack a true finite verb. It is separated by a
comma or pairs of commas from the rest sentence.

Examples
He looks sad, his face expressing worry.
 She was waiting for her friend, her eyes on the clock.
John is painting a wall, his shirt dirty with paint.

CLAUSE AND ITS TYPES

Clause
“A clause is a group of related words containing a subject and a predicate”
For example, he laughed.

A clause refers to a group of related words (within a sentence or itself as an independent

sentence) which has both subject and predicate.

Example

I will meet him in office.

The part of above sentence “I will meet him” is a clause because it has a subject(I) and a
predicate(will meet him). On the other hand, the rest part of above sentence “in office” lacks
both subject and predicate(verb) such group of word is called phrase.

A clause may stand as a simple sentence or may join another clause to make a sentence.
Therefore, a sentence consists of one, two or more clauses.

Examples

• He is sleeping. (one clause)

• The kids were laughing at the joker. (one clause)
• The teacher asked a question, but no one answered. (two clauses)
• I am happy, because I won a prize. (two clauses)
• I like Mathematics, but my brother likes Biology,
because he wants to become a doctor. (three clauses)

Clauses are divided into main clause (also called independent clause) andsubordinate clause
(also called dependent clauses).

Types of Clauses
There are two major types of clauses main (or independent) clause and subordinate (or
dependant) clause.
 Main Clause and Subordinate Clause – Comparison

He is buying a shirt which looks very nice.

The above sentence has two clauses “He is buying a shirt” and “which looks very nice”. The
clause “He is buying a shirt” expresses a complete thought and can alone stand as a sentence.
Such a clause is called main or independent clause.

While the clause “which looks very nice” does not express a complete thought and can’t stand as
a sentence. It depends on another clause (main clause) to express complete idea. Such a clause is
called subordinate or dependent clause.

Main or Independent Clause

“Main (or independent) clause is a clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand as a
sentence.

Examples

I met the boy who had helped me.

She is wearing a shirt which looks nice.
The teacher asked a question but no one answered.
He takes medicine because he suffers from fever.
He became angry and smashed the vase into peaces.

In the above sentences each underlined part shows main clause. It expresses complete though
and can stand as a sentence that is why a main or an independent clause is normally referred as a
simple sentence.

Subordinate or dependent Clause

Subordinate (or independent) clause is a clause which does not express complete thought and
depends on another clause (main clause) to express complete thought. Subordinate clause does
not express complete idea and can’t stand as a sentence. A sentence having a subordinate clause
must have a main clause.

Example

He likes Chinese rice which tastes good.

The clause “which tastes good” in above sentence is a subordinate clause because it does not
express complete thought and can’t stand as a sentence. It depends on main clause (he likes
Chinese rise) to express complete thought.

Examples

I met the boy who had helped me.

 I bought a table that costs $ 100.
He takes medicine because he suffers from fever.
The teacher asked a question but no one answered.

Subordinate (or dependent) clauses are further divided into tree types,
1. Noun Phrase, 2. Adjective Phrase, 3. Adverb Phrase

Types of Subordinate Clause

Functions of Subordinate Clause.

A subordinate (dependent) clause may function as a noun, an adjective or an adverb in sentence.

On the basis of their function in a sentence, subordinate clauses can be divided in to following
types.

1. Noun Clause
2. Adjective Clause.
3. Adverb Clause

Noun Clause
“A dependent clause that functions as a noun in a sentence is called noun clause.”
A noun clause performs same function like a noun in a sentence.

Example
What he did made a problem for his family.

In above sentence the clause “what he did” functions as a noun, hence it is a noun clause. A noun
clause works as a noun that acts as a subject, object, or predicate in a sentence. A noun clause
starts with words “that, what, whatever, who, whom, whoever, whomever”.

Examples

Whatever you learn will help you in future. (noun clause as a subject)
What you said made me laugh. (noun clause as a subject)
He knows that he will pass the test. (noun clause as an object)
Now I realize what he would have thought. (noun clause as an object)

Adjective Clause
“A dependent clause that functions as an adjective in a sentence is called adjective
clause.”

An adjective clause works like adjective in a sentence. The function of an adjective is to modify
(describe) a noun or a pronoun. Similarly a noun clause modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Example
He wears a shirt which looks nice.

The clause “which looks nice” in above sentence is an adjective clause because it modifies noun
“shirt” in the sentence.
An adjective clause always precedes the noun it modifies.

Examples

I met the boy who had helped me.

An apple that smells bad is rotten.
The book which I like is helpful in preparation for test.
The house where I live consists of four rooms.
The person who was shouting needed help.

Adjective clause begins with relative pronoun (that, who, whom, whose, which, or whose) and
is also relative clause.
Adjective (relative) clauses can be restrictive clause or nonrestrictive clause

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses

Adjective (relative) clauses can be restrictive clause or nonrestrictive clause. A

restrictive clause limits the meaning of preceding noun or pronoun. A nonrestrictive clause tells
us something about preceding noun or pronoun but does not limit the meaning of preceding noun
or pronoun.
Example

•The student in the class who studied a lot passed the test. (restrictive clause)

•The student in the class, who had attended all the lectures, passed the test.
(nonrestrictive clause)
In the first sentence the clause “who studied a lot” restrict information to preceding
noun(student), it means that there is only one student in the class who studied a lot, hence it is a
restrictive clause.

In the second sentence the clause “who had attended all the lectures” gives us information about
preceding noun but does not limit this information to the preceding noun. It means there can be
several other students in the class who had attended all the lectures.

A comma is always used before a restrictive clause in a sentence and also after nonrestrictive
clause if it is within a main clause. “That” is usually used to introduce a restrictive clause while
“which” is used to introduce a nonrestrictive clause.

Example
The table that costs $ 100 is made of steel. (restrictive clause)
 The table, which costs $ 100, is made of steel. (nonrestrictive clause)

Adverb Clause
“A dependent clause that functions as an adverb in a sentence is called adverb clause”
An adverb clause like an adverb modifies a verb, adjective clause or other adverb clause in a
sentence. It modifies(describes) the situation in main clause in terms of “time, frequency
(how often), cause and effect, contrast, condition, intensity (to what extent).”

The subordinating conjunctions used for adverb clauses are as follows.

Time: when, whenever, since, until, before, after, while, as, by the time, as soon as.
Cause and effect: because, since, now that, as long as, so, so that.
Contrast: although, even, whereas, while, though.
Condition: if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, providing or provided that, in case.

Examples

Don’t go before he comes.

He takes medicine because he is ill.
Although he tried a lot, he couldn’t climb up the tree.
Unless you study for the test, you can’t pass it.
I will go to the school unless it rains.
You are safe as long as you drive carefully.
You can achieve anything provided that you struggle for it.