The document discusses different types of phrases in English grammar: 1. Noun phrases consist of a noun and its modifiers. They can function as subjects, objects, or objects of prepositions. 2. Verb phrases contain verbs and any auxiliary or modal verbs. They form the predicate of a sentence. 3. Adjective phrases modify nouns and consist of adjectives and their modifiers. They can be attributive or predicative. 4. Adverb phrases modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and express manner, place, time, reason, or frequency. They are formed from adverbs or prepositional phrases. 5. Prepositional phrases begin with a pre

1. SYNTAX: PHRASES
Unit 5

2. WHAT IS A PHRASE ?

3. A phrase is a group of words that works together
in a sentence but does not contain a subject or a
verb.
Examples:
In the earth Of great beauty
On a wall
To my door

4. PHRASES
• Phrases are series of words that are put together
in order. They are necessary ingredients that add
flavor to the language. Each phrase carries a
meaning; strings of phrases that are arranged
systematically make up a meaningful sentence.
Phrases include: noun phrase, verb phrase,
adjective phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional
phrase, conjunctive phrase and interjectional
phrase.

5. NOUN PHRASE
• A noun is one of the lexical units that is always present in
every utterance.
Let us look at the sentences below as examples:
• The appealing actress is having another film.
• The white house is under construction.
The nouns in the two sentences are actress, film, house and
construction. These nouns come after modifiers such as
“appealing” for “actress”, “another” for “film”, “white” for “house”
and “under” for describing the “construction”. These words are
descriptors that when added to nouns make up a noun phrase.

6. A noun phrase is a syntactic unit, which consists of a single
modifier and noun or series of modifiers, the head of which is the noun.
The patterns for noun phrase construction are:
• Determiner + noun
Ex. The lady
My man
Singer actress
• Determiner + single modifier + noun
Ex: the gorgeous lady
my gentle man
the singer actress
• Determiner + series of modifiers + noun
Ex: the fashionable, gorgeous lady
my muscular, gentle man
the pretty, singer actress
• Modifier + noun
Ex: gentle man
pretty actress
fashionable singer

7. A noun phrase can be a subject.
Ex:
The girl keeps her room tidy. (S- doer of the action)
det + noun
The man, in black suit, is my brother. (S – being talked about)
det + noun
A noun phrase can be a direct project.
Ex:
I am buying myself a new laptop.
det + adj + noun

8. These noun phrase used as a direct object answer the question what.
Ex.
What are you buying yourself? (a new laptop)
What does Alice make? (a coffee)
A noun phrase can be the object of a preposition.
Ex.
I left my things in the room.
prep + article + noun
A noun phrase can be an indirect object.
Ex:
The manager gave my sister a new job.
IO + DO

9. Noun phrase also includes other phrases that function as a noun.
These include: appositives, gerunds, infinitives and participles.
Appositive phrase is a noun phrase that restates, define and renames
a noun.
Ex.
• Hugh Jackman, a good actor, portrays the character of wolverine in X-
Men.
• Laila, the female twin in Star Wars, was killed during the final
episode.
Infinitive phrase is a noun phrase that contains infinitive at the
beginning of the phrase, which functions as a noun. An infinitives is a
combination of to and a base-form of the verb.

10. Ex.
• To lie is a mistake.
• I love to hang out with my friends.
Gerunds phrase is a noun phrase that starts with a gerund, which is
made from a verb + ing. Similar to the infinitives, gerund phrase also
function as a noun either as a subject or as an object.
Ex.
Baking cake is my hobby. (NP as subject)
I love getting together with friend. (NP as subject)

11. Participial phrase is a noun phrase that starts with a
present or past participle. Participial phrases appear as
verbs but function as noun modifier. Participial phrases
could be placed before mentioning the subject, or in
front of the sentence, which is offset with a comma. It
is also placed immediately after the noun.
Ex:
Knowing what I learned, you should have not
asked.
Smiling from ear to ear, she accepted the prize.

12. B. VERB PHRASE
A verb phrase is a syntactic unit, which starts with verb and all
cluster of words that follow. A complete verb phrase functions as a predicate
of the subject. The pattern in constructing verb phrases include:
Main verb + modifier
Ex: He sits alone.
I am worried.
She bears no ill.
Auxiliary verb + main verb
Ex: He was appointed.
I am amazed.
She has done great works.
Modal + main verb
Ex: I can do that.
They might be angry
She can write poems.

13. Modal + auxiliary + main verb
Ex: He should be locked.
They might be leaving soon.
She will be writing a novel
Auxiliary verb + main verb + modifier/complement
Ex: He was sitting silently.
It has represented ingenuity.
I am bored by looking at this picture.
A verb phrase has two types, finite verb phrase and nonfinite verb
phrase. Finite verb phrase is a verb phrase that contains a single verb.
The head verb is finite, which could be in a present or past form.

14. Examples:
Many students conduct research nowadays.
I am about to finish my work.
I have an interview this weekend.
Infinitive verb phrase there are two or three verbs.
Examples:
I am writing a novel about vampires.
They might need your help.
We will be better after this experience.

15. C. ADJECTIVE PHRASE
An adjective phrase is a syntactic unit consisting of an adjective
as the head of the phrase and all the cluster of words around it that
modifies a noun or pronoun.
Examples:
• The highly suspicious man is convicted for the crime.
(AP at the beginning of the sentence)
• Your eyes are absolutely enticing to me.
(AP at the middle of the sentence)
• You are nothing but amazing.
(AP at the end of the sentence.)

16. • An attributive adjective phrase precedes the noun of a noun phrase such as in “ a
highly suspicious man”. On the other hand, the predicative adjective phrase
follows linking verb and defines the preceding subject such as “ your eyes are absolutely
enticing”.
Examples: ( ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES)
• A highly paid actor gave his best performance.
(Adj. Phrase + Noun)
• It was the most incredible pie I have ever tasted.
(Adj. Phrase + Noun)
Examples: (PREDICATIVE ADJECTIVES)
• The midterm test were unbelievably difficult.
N + Verb + Adj. Phrase
• You eyes are incredibly tantalizing.
N + verb + Adj. Phrase

17. D. ADVERB PHRASE
• An adverb phrase is a syntactic structure that is composed of adverbs
and all the cluster of words around functioning as one unit
indescribing a verb, adjective and adverb.
Examples:
• Next year, Jane will visit here.
• In what way will you make it happen?

18. • Adverb phrases, like adverbs, show the how, when, where and why.
Adverb phrase of manner describes how something happened or
done. Here are adverb phrases of manner describing how:
• Quite surprisingly well
Ex. I danced quite surprisingly well.
• In total silence
Ex. I waited for you in total silence.
• Often under pressure
Ex. You were often under pressure.
• Very carefully
Ex. I am showing you very carefully.
• Quite easily
Ex. You left quite easily.

19. Adverb phrase of place describes where something happened or done.
Most of the adverb phrases of place are prepositional phrases, where
the head is a preposition. Here are adverb phrases of place describing
where:
• Just right there
Ex. I waited just right there.
• Under the shade
Ex. I met you under the shade.
• Through the looking glass.
Ex. I saw you through the looking glass.
• Near the edge
Ex. You are almost near the edge
• Over the moon
Ex. I could fly over the moon when you are here.

20. Adverb phrase of reason describes why something happened or done.
Usually, the adverb phrase of reason is an infinitive phrase, where the
head is an infinitive. Here are adverb phrases of reason describing why:
• To be able to talk to you
Ex. I waited patiently to be able to talk you.
• For the sake
Ex. I did it for his sake.
• To understand better
Ex. I came to understand better
• To make the most of it
Ex. I sold the jewelry to make the most of it.
• To get a better look
Ex. You need to come closer to get a better look

21. • Adverb phrase of time describes when something happened or
done. Here are the adverb of time describing when:
yesterday morning
Ex: I waited yesterday morning
any time
Ex: I could wait any time.
a few minutes from now
Ex: She will come a few minutes from now.
near midnight
Ex: She came here midnight.
tomorrow at lunch
Ex: I will confront you tomorrow at lunch.

22. • Adverb phrase of frequency describes how often something
happened or is done. Adverb phrases of frequency describing
when:
twice a week
Ex: I watched Korean drama twice a week.
as many times as possible
Ex: I want to read my favorite book as many times as
possible.
almost never
Ex: Nowadays, I read my book almost never.
every other day
Ex: I have decided to read every other day.

23. E. ADVERBIALS
- are words or adverbs presented in a for of a phrase
or a clause. They basically function to explain the
meaning of a verb in a sentence. An adverbial, which is
an individual word, is called an adverb, if it is a phrase, it
is called an adverbial phrase, an if it is a clause , it is
called an adverbial clause which describes a verb, an
adjective or even a complete sentence.

24. • Adverbs is a word that describes a verb, an adjective and other
adverb.
Ex: The contestant danced well.
The thunderstorm lasted over night.
The players arrived here.
Adverb phrase is also a prepositional phrase that describes verb,
adjective , or adverb by indicating out where, when, in what manner,
or to what extent an action is perform.
Examples:
The child leaped over the railings.
The players arrived at the oval.
Gloria is happy with her marriage.

25. •Adverb clause usually begins with a
subordinating conjunctions. These are
after, although, as, as if, as long as, even
though, if, unless, until, where, whenever,
etc.
Ex: Whenever he travel, he takes photos.
When it rains, I stay at home.
He smiled as if he won the contest.

26. F. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
A prepositional phrase is a syntactic structure, a
modifying phrase, which comprises a preposition and its
object. Basically, a prepositional phrase begins with a
preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun, gerund or
an object. The pattern of construction of preposition
includes:
Preposition + noun
EX: We will know what happens in time.
I left the package at home.
I know what happened about now.

27. Preposition + pronoun
EX: Come with me.
He is commended by you.
It is good for him but not for you.
Preposition + Gerund
EX: We progress by acting.
Thank you for moving toward progress.
So much in believing in him, he did not make it.
Preposition + clause
Ex: You are always interested in what I do.
We have already talked about what we need.

28. • Preposition + modifier + noun/ gerund
Ex: We crossed paths along the narrow road.
He made his room into an attractive adobe.
We finished the project without excessively worrying.
Prepositional phrases serve two functions: adjective modifier, a
noun modifier, or adverb modifier. Prepositions as adverb usually
function as adverb of place and time.
• Preposition as adverb modifier
Ex: I waited for a while.
( “for a while” modifying “ waited”)
We were able to connect to the internet after many tries.
( “to the internet” modifying “ able to connect”)

29. I asked for you the whole time.
( “ for you” modifying “asked”)
Preposition as adjective modifier
Ex: Please go easy on the eyes.
( “ on the eyes” modifying “easy”)
It is a good for nothing piece of advice.
( “ for nothing” modifying “ good”)

30. •Preposition as noun modifier
Ex: The man with the mustache is a bit scary.
( “with the mustache” modifying “ man”)
The girl at the doorway is my close friend.
( “ at the doorway” modifying “girl”)
His fear of falling haunts him.
( “ of falling” modifying “ fear”)

31. G. CONJUNCTIONAL PHRASE
A CONJUNCTIONAL PHRASE is a syntactic structure that
conducts the function of a conjunction.
Conjunctional phrases include:
• Either – or
Ex: Either you stay or you go; it doesn’t matter.
Either James or Sam runs the place; it is fine.
•Both – and
Ex: Both the teacher and the student prepare for the lesson.
Both the husband and the wife exert effort for marriage
to work.

32. •Whether – or/ or not
Ex: I’m going to help you whether you like or not.
I don’t know whether he took a cab, or he walked to home.
•Neither – nor
Ex: Neither the man nor the woman is to blame for the misfortune.
Neither you nor I accept the advice.
•Not only – but also
Ex: Not only but also you made the decision.
I am not only proud of you but also happy of your
achievements.

33. • Not – but
Ex: I see that you in the mood not for coffee but for tea.
You look not on the words but on the deeds.
• As – as
Ex: Reading is not as fun as watching a movie.
Doing nothing is as tiring as working.
• Such – that
Ex: Such was a man that he could not refuse.
Such was a relationship that did not stand odds.
• As many as
Ex: Make a mistake as many as you can.
There are as many men as the fish in the sea.

34. •Scarcely/barely – when
Ex: I scarcely looked at you when you arrived.
I barely noticed when it comes.
•No sooner than
Ex: I would know sooner feel for you than bite a dust.
She would know sooner tell the truth than die.
•Rather than
Ex: I would rather live in poverty than steal from the
bank.
She would rather live single than love someone like
you.

35. •As well as
Ex: I as well as he will talk to you when we get there.
Gab as well as Brian will attend the party.
•As soon as
Ex: The manager is trying to do damage control as
soon as possible.
Do it as soon as possible or you cram.

36. • H. INTERJECTIONAL PHRASE
An interjectional phrase is a syntactic structure that
functions as interjections. Interjections are words or phrases
that express feelings, reactions, exclamations, greetings, and
etc.
Examples:
Oh my! I made a mistake.
Goodness gracious! That was awful.
Oh really! Isn’t that true.
Oh yeah! You sound unbelievable.
What a miracle! I won the first prize.