PAPER

“THE TYPES OF PHRASE”

Syntax

Arranged by:

MAGFIRAH NURDIN (1952044003)

SL 2019

ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
UNIVERSITAS NEGERI MAKASSAR
2019
A. DEFINITION OF PHRASE
A phrase is a related group of words. The word works together as a “unit”, but they do
not have subject and a verb. Hence, a phrase cannot stand alone to give complete meaning.
In linguistic analysis, “a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that
functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence, a single unit within agrammatical
hierarchy.”

B. TYPES OF PHRASE
A phrase is a group of words without both a subject and predivcate. Phrases combine
words into a larger unit that can function as a sentence element. For example, a participial
phrase can include adjectives, nouns, prepositions and adverbs; as a single unit, however, it
functions as one big adjective modifying a noun (or noun phrase). These are the types of
phrase:

1. Noun Phrase
Noun phrase a phrase that acts like a noun in the sentence is called a noun phrase.
It contains a noun & other associated words (usually determiners & modifiers) which
modify the noun. A noun phrase consists of a noun as a head-word and other related
words (determiners & modifiers) may come before or after the noun. The entire phrase
serves as sentence.
 Noun Phrase = noun + modifiers (or determiners)

Examples:
 They hired a huge beautiful home.
 She bought a decent black shirt.
 One of our close relatives never drinks coffee. (as noun: subject)
 A woman in the window shouted for help. (as noun: object) (as noun: object) (as
noun: subject).

 A sentence can also consist of more than one noun phrase.

 Example:
One of our close relatives bought a beautiful red car. (as nouns both as subject &
object).

2. Verb Phrase
Every sentence must have a verb. To depict double activities, writers use action
verb. To describe conditions, writer choose linking verbs. Read these two short
sentences:

Example:
 Offering her license and registration, selena sobbed in the driver’s seat.
 Officer carson was unmoved.

Other times, the activity or condition continues over long stretch of time, happens
predictably, or occurs in relationship to other events. In these instances, a singgle-word
verb sobbed or was cannot accurately describe what happened, so writers use multipart
verb phrase to communicate what they mean.
A main or base verb indicates the type of action or candition, and auxiliary - or -
helping – verbs convey the other nuances that writers want to express.

Read these three example:

1) He carefully moved the document.
2) Tom is talking secretly to the man.
3) Adverbial Phrase
Adverbial phrase ( or adverb phrase ) is the term for two or more words which
play the role of an adverb. Look at these example:
1) I will sit quietly. (normal adverb)
2) I will sit in silence. (adverbial phrase)
3) I will sit like a monk meditates. (adverbial clauses) (when the multi-words adverb
contains a subject and a verb (like in this example), it is an adverbial clause as
opposed to an adverbial phrase).
3. Adjective Phrase
An adjective phrases always has an adjective acting as the head. The adjective
phrases may also contain the head (modifiers and complements). An adjective phrase is
a group of words that describe a noun or pronoun in a sentence. The adjective phrase
can appear at the start, end, or in the middle of the phrase. The adjective phrase can be
placed before, or after, the noun or pronoun in the sentence.

Example:
That’s a lovely cake.
These flowers are wonderful.

a) Adjective preceded by a modifier (underlined):

 That soup is pretty
 Many of the exercises are fairly difficult.
b) Adjective + a modifier after it:
 The food was tasty enough.
 The car is economical for ist size.

c) Adjective + a word or phrase which is required to complete its meaning (a

complement):
 She was aware of the danger of travelling alone.
 Some people weren’t willing to pay extra to book a seat on the plane.

d) Adjective preceded by a modifier + a word or phrase which is required to

complete its meaning (a complement):
 We’re not very keen on having an activity holiday.
 Are you really interested in rock and rool?.
4. Adverb Phrase
An adverb may be a single word, such as quickly, here or yesterday. However,
adverbs can also be phrases, some made with prepositions, others made with infinitives.
This page will explain the basic types of adverb phrases (sometimes called "adverbial
phrases") and how to recognize them.

 Basic types of adverbs

In the section on adverbs, you learned about three basic types of adverb:
manner, place and time adverbs. There are at least two more that are important.
Frequency adverbs answer the question "How often?" about an action. Purpose
adverbs answer the question "Why?". Here are some examples:

Type Adverb Example

Frequency usually Mika usually gets up early.
Purpose for fun I write computer programs for fun.

While the first example, usually, is a single word, the second example (for fun)
is a phrase consisting of a preposition and a noun — in other words, it is
a prepositional phrase which functions as an adverb phrase.

 Adverb phrases made with prepositions.

All kinds of adverb phrases can be made with prepositions. Here are some examples:

Type Adverb phrase Example

Manner with a hammer The carpenter hit the nail with a hammer.
Place next door The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
Time before the holidays We must finish our project before the holidays.
Frequency every month Jodie buys two CDs every month.
Purpose for his mother Jack bought the flowers for his mother.
  Adverb phrases made with infinitives
Another kind of adverb phrase can be made with the infinitive form of a verb.
Most of these phrases express purpose, as in these examples:

Type Adverb phrase Example

Purpose to buy a car I'm saving my money to buy a car.
Purpose to support the team The students all showed up to support the team.
Purpose to show to her Sally brought a painting home from school to show to her
mother mother.

5. Prepositional Phrase
At the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with a prepostion and end
with a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause, the "object" of the preposition. The object of
the prepostion will often have one or more modifiers to describe it.

Here are some examples:

 On time
On = preposition, time = noun.

 Underneath the sagging yellow couch

Underneath = preposition, the, sagging,
yellow = modifiers, and couch = noun.

 From eating too much

From = preposition, eating = gerund, too, much = modifiers.

A prepositional phrase will function as an adjective or adverb.

Examples:
1) The spider above the kitchen sink has just caught a fat fly.
2) Which spider? The one above the kitchen sink!
6. Appositive Phrase
 Appositive phrase is a group of words consisting of an appositive and its
modifiers. Like a single word appositive, appositive phrases appear beside the noun or
pronoun they are renaming.

Example:
 His hobby, sailing across the ocean, takes a lot of time.
 Fira, Ani's black cat, slowly crept up behind the kittens.
 The bookshelf, a large piece of furniture, was moved into the house first.

7. Gerund Phrase
A gerund phrase is a phrase consisting of a gerund and any modifiers or objects
associated with it. A gerund is a noun made from a verb root plus ing (a present
participle). A whole gerund phrase functions in a sentence just like a noun, and can act
as a subject, an object, or a predicate nominative.
Phrases that consist of phrases consisting of a gerund, object, or modifier.
Modifier itself is a word, phrase, or clause which functions as an adjective (adjective) or
adverb (adverb) that explains another word or group of words, in this case, a gerund.

Example:

 his singing
 getting the best score
 being a mother
 giving bribes to win the election
 walking on the beach

Example of sentences:
 I love walking on the beach.
 He should feel ashamed for giving bribes to win the election.

8. Infinitive Phrase
 Infinitives are formed from verbs and still have properties like verbs, which can
be followed by direct objects or modifiers. An infinitive phrase is a combination of an
infinitive with an object or modifier. This phrase functions as a noun, adjective, and
adverb.

Example:
 to be a better man
 to fix your sleep schedule
 to call him
 to eat sloppily
 to sleep soundly

Example of Infinitive Phrase:

 The best time to call him is at night.
 You need to fix your sleep schedule.
 I want to buy the book tomorrow.

9. Present Participle Phrase

A present participial phrase begins with a present participle (the ing form of a
verb) and any objects or modifiers. Present participial phrase function adjectivally to
describe a noun or a pronoun. A present participial phrase can come after the noun or
pronoun it describes.

Example:
 My mother cooking is her hobby.
 The water dripping from the table will damage the floor if it is not cleaned up.
 The girl playing shortstop is also a star basketball player.
 The teacher offered extra help to everyone struggling to understand the material.

The above examples have present participial phrases that are essential. This
means that the present participial phrases provide information that is necessary to
 understand the subjects they modify. Essential present participial phrases are not set off
by commas
10. Past Participle Phrase
A past participial phrase includes a past participle and any modifiers. Past
participial phrases function adjectivally to give more information about a noun or a
pronoun in a sentence.
 There are some types of past partiple
1) Past participles formed from irregular verbs may have endings like -en, -t, -d,
and -n. Examples include swollen, burnt, hoped, and broken. Some past
participles remain the same as the base forms of irregular verbs, like set and cut.
2) Past participles can also function as adjectives that modify nouns.
For example:
In the sentence “She placed the cut flowers in the vase,” the past participle cut
modifies the noun flowers.
3) Past participles can also combine with the verb to be to create the passive forms
of verbs.
For example:
In the sentence “He was taken to the store by his daughter,” the verb form was
taken includes the past participle taken and was, which is the past tense of the
verb to be.

Other Example:
 The broken door was expensive to repair.
 Surprised by the gift, my mother was speechless.
 Not allowed by her parents, she didn’t go for a picnic.

11. Predicate Phrase

 The predicate of a sentence is the part that modifies the subject in some way.
Because the subject is the person, place, or thing that a sentence is about, the predicate
must contain a verb explaining what the subject does and can also include a modifier.

Example:
 He was cooking dinner.
 We saw the cat outside.
 I walked the dog.
 Anthony wrote to his friend.
 They ate all the candy.
 My aunt moved.

Example of sentences:
 He did homework and played video games.
 I have been studying for hours.
 The mail was late but arrived later that evening.

12. Absolute Phrase

Absolute phrase is a combination of nouns or pronouns and participles with or
without modifiers. Its function is to describe independent clauses separated by commas.
Absolute phrase is also called a nominative phrase. It consists of a noun or a pronoun, a
participle and linked modifiers. It modifies (tells more about) the sentence. It looks like
a clause but lacks true finite verb. It is separated by a comma in a sentence.

Example:
 His hands tugging on his mother’s shirttail, the little boy asked his mother to
buy a toy.
 She is looking very much happy, her face expressing a shine of happiness.
 He, having books in his hand, was going to college.
 He, having anger in his eyes, met his enemy.

C. CONCLUSION
A phrase is a group of words without both a subject and predicate. Phrases combine
words into a larger unit that can function as a sentence element. For example, a participial
phrase can include adjectives, nouns, prepositions and adverbs; as a single unit, however, it
functions as one big adjective modifying a noun (or noun phrase).

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