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UNIT 5:  PHRASES

I. Lesson points:

• Noun Phrase (NP)

 • Prepositional Phrase (VP)

II. Content:

Word and sentences are two basic units to grammar; however, words do not pattern directly into sentences. This implies that
there are some intervening levels of organization between word and sentence.

 Consider the following sentence: The old man of letters stumbled along the dimly lit road, but the pen which he had lost had
been picked up by a small boy. This sentence cannot be viewed as a concatenation of words: the + old + man + etc. Some groups
of words belong more closely together than any of them do with any others, and these longer stretches of grouping words form
larger units. In this sentence, we can recognize the following word groupings: the old man of letters; stumbled; along the dimly
lit road; the pen which he had lost; had been picked up, by a small boy. These are called phrases. They combine in turn into
larger units: the old man of letters, along the dimly lit road; the pen which he had lost had been picked up by a small boy. These
are called clauses. These are linked together by but to form a complete sentence.

 Thus, words pattern into phrases, phrases into clauses, and clauses into sentences. Grammar is concerned with the kinds of
words, phrases, clauses, and sentences that occur in contemporary English, and with the rules for their structure and
combination.
 
 PHRASES
 

 Throughout the Phrases lessons, we shall recognize five classes of phrases: NOUN Phrase (NP), ADJECTIVE Phrase (Adj.P),
ADVERB Phrase (Adv.P), PREPOSITIONAL Phrase (PP), and VERB Phrase (VP). Of these, we will first study Noun phrase,
Adjective phrase, and Adverb phrase since they all have the same basic structure. 

1. Noun Phrase (NP)

Premodifiers + HEAD + Post modifiers

1.1. Premodifiers of a Noun phrase can be:

Determiners:

• All, both, half, such (a/an), etc.

• Articles: a, an, the
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
• Possessive: my your John’s
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• Possessive: my, your, John s, …
• Indefinites: some, any, another, each, every, etc.
• Cardinal numbers
• Ordinal numbers
• General ordinals: next, last
E.g. that student ; the other teacher; their computers

Adj Phrase

E.g. a handsome tall young American soldier ; big blue eyes

Noun modifier: the noun(s) that precedes the main/head noun of a Noun phrase

E.g. evening class ; soccer field ; the ring finger

1.2. HEAD (the main noun) of a NP can be:

A noun
A pronoun: them, itself, everyone, etc.
An adjective: the rich, the poor, etc.
A possessive phrase: the teacher’ , Chris’
A number: her twenties, the 60s, etc.

E.g. The rich often spend a lot of money on conveniences.

I don’t have my own computer. I’m using the teacher’s.

1.3. Postmodifiers of a NP can be:

Prepositional phrase (PP)

E.g. the best day of my life, the way to school, the woman next to him.

Adjective phrase
E.g. something weird, the person responsible, etc.

Adverb phrase

E.g. the room opposite ; something downstairs ; those indoors

Finite clause: the clause whose verbs show tenses/aspects (e.g. the baby is crying) and numbers (e.g. he tries … ; they work …).

E.g. a quality that I admire

the story title which sounds interesting
the woman who witnessed the whole incident

Non-finite clause: the clause whose verbs do NOT show tenses/aspects and numbers. In other words, the verb of a non-finite
clause has infinitive / gerund/ past participle form.

E.g. [infinitive] I don’t have the energy to work today.

[gerund] The man wearing the pink tie is my boss.
[past participle] The books put on the top shelf are covered in dust.

1.4. Functions of a NP:

In a clause, NPs can serve as subject (S), object (O), complement (C), or adverbial (A).
We will discuss what a complement is later, but let’s understand it (for now) as a part that provides further information for the
subject or object.

E.g.

The house was huge. NP = S

We have rented the house for the last three
 NP = O
years
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years.
These days entry jobs often ask for experience
 NP = A
too.
Those must be smartest students of this school.  NP = Cs (complement for subject “those”)
People made him the hero of the country. NP = Co (complement for object “him”)

2. Prepositional phrase (PP)

PP = Preposition + NP / non-finite clause / Finite clause

• Examples:
- in this accommodation
- about withdrawing her membership
- of what to do now
- about what he would do

• Functions:
In a clause, PPs act as Adverbials (A). The adverbial PPs have various meanings. They can mean time, means (of doing
something), and place, answering the questions when?, how?, and where?

E.g. We have been living here for 10 years.

I travel by bus to my hometown.
She works in a factory in the capital.

In a phrase, PPs act as Postmodifiers of the Head of the phrase:

E.g. the man in suit

- sure about what is going to happen
- to quickly for a clear observation
 

III. Practice:

Task 1. Analyze the following Noun phrases. An example has been done for you.

For example: only / concerned / about profits

                      adv        H               P.P

1. that attractive young woman in the blue dress

2. Jim’s fatal mistakes

3. all our first-year students

4. an ugly large yellow submarine

5. an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop

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Answer Key

Task 2. State the function (A – an adverbial, or PM - a postmodifiers to nouns) of the bolded PPs in each sentence. An
example has been done for you.

For example: The people in / the gallery could nor hear us.         Func: PM

1. We are going to meet the new comers in the gallery.

2. He punched the man in the face.

3. He punched the man in black.

4. The men fled from the police.

5. Everybody stared at the man from the police station.|

6. The ripe apples from the biggest tree might hit the people on the head.

Answer Key

Review

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