2.  Presented to:
Madam Amna Shahid
 Presented by:
Ammara Ahsan
Ayesha Amjad
Najia Majid
Rashda Meraj &
Zeshan Shaukat

3. DEFINITION
A phrase is a group of words that does
not have a subject or a verb.
For example:
Eating a peach
Under the teacher‟s desk
After seeing the Taj Mahal
To buy a new phone

4. General Approach
Universal Grammar (UG) / Language Instinct
Data
Native speakers‟ intuitions (acceptability
judgments)
Resulting Theory of Grammar
Words, phrases, categories for words and phrases
(e.g. nouns, verbs, noun phrases, verb phrases)
(basic concepts any theory of grammar must have
in order to capture the data)

5. 1) Every word belongs to a lexical category
2) Lexical categories forms heads of phrases
3) How phrases are formed is governed by rules
(= „phrase structure rules‟)

6. Rules that determine…
what goes into a phrase („constituents‟)
how the constituents are ordered
Constituent: a word or group of words that
function as a unit and can make up larger
grammatical units
The component that determines the properties
of the constituent is the head, and the
constituent can be referred to as a phrase: e.g.
noun phrase
“noun phrases have a Det and a N”
NP Det N

7. 1. S NP VP
2. NP {Det N, Pro, PN}
3. VP V (NP) (PP) (Adv)
4. PP P NP
5. AP A (PP)

8. • NP (Det) N
• PP P NP
The boy (NP)
The
NDet
boy
the boy in the yard
NP
The
NDet
boy
PP
in
NPP
the
Det N
yard

9.  In P
 from a boy in a bubble P NP
Phrase structure rule for PPs:
PP  P (NP)

10. PP
P
in
PP
P NP
from Det PPN
NPPa boy
in Det N
a bubble

11.  “Verb phrases have a V, (sometimes) an NP, and
(sometimes) a PP”
 VP -> V (NP) (PP)
 sang
 ate the cake
 ate the cake hungrily
 sang a song in the shower
 fell into the pond slowly
Phrase structure rule for VPs:
VP  V (NP) (PP) (Adv)

12. VP
V
sang
VP
V
ate
NP
Det
the
N
cake
VP
V
sang
NP PP Adv
Det
a song
in
badlyNPPN
Det N
showerthe

13. Thank You