PHRASES, CLAUSES AND SENTENCES

A Presentation for English III

PHRASE
A phrase is any group of related words that, unlike a sentence, has no subject-predicate combination. It functions as one part of speech

TYPES OF PHRASES

Types of Phrases
phrases with prepositions

as Adjective as Adverb gerund

Phrases

phrases with verbals

infinitive participial

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
a group of words made up of a preposition, and a noun or pronoun. These function either as adjectives or adverbs
by the lake beside the door with red eyes along the corridor inside the room between the posts

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES AS ADJECTIVES

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns and answer the questions What kind? Which one?

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES AS ADVERBS

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs, and answer the questions when,where,why,how,how often,in what manner

EXERCISES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The price of the car was too high. Place the box of books down there. The cry of the wounded animal haunted us. My dad is the man in the yellow sweatshirt. When did your cousin from Vigan visit you? The beams for the front porch roof are weak.

EXERCISES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. He made all the plans for the birthday party. This is another book by the same author Something in the corner of the room moved. Did you close the window behind the shed? The house on the corner needs fresh paint

EXERCISES 2
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Cook the stew over low steady heat. The students are always nicer to newcomers. He delivered the package to the wrong house. She slipped out during the intermission number. They came late for the celebration.

EXERCISES 2
1. The floodwaters rose over the dam and onto the surrounding villages. 2. With great skill, the pilot maneuvered the plane to the right. 3. Does he still hang-out at the bar every Saturday? 4. My mom bakes cookies with great love in her antique oven. 5. With no one looking, the dog moved closer to the barbecue stand.

Application
Compose sentences using the following phrases as adjectives and adverbs.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. under the bridge behind the statue within the city limits outside the fences between class hours

Prepositional Phrases
Underline the prepositional phrases. Above the prepositional phrase write whether it is an adverb or an adjective. Below the prepositional phrase write what it modifies.
adj. .......................................adv. THE AIR OF MAGIC FILLED THE NIGHT WITH BEAUTY. air........................................filled

1.The sorceress's bag of winds had been stolen by the sailor. 2. In the dark of the night the sailor sneaked away from the island. 3. The sailor opened the bag of winds. 4. One of the winds filled the sails. 5. Another of the winds blew open the sorceress's window. 6. A lamp of crystal fell and shattered, waking the sorceress. .

7. The eyes of the sorceress's cat glowed red with anger. 8. The sorceress of unsurpassed kindness and power awoke. 9. The winds of the bag howled for the sorceress. 10. Most of the winds returned to sorceress. 11.The one remaining wind blew the sailor far from the island

Phrases with Verbals

a gerund with modifiers or complement, all acting together as a noun
waiting for the bus leaving her notes shouting along the hallway removing her muddy shoes

Phrases with Verbals

an infinitive with modifiers or complement, or a subject, all acting together as a single part of speech
to stroll along the boulevard to show me the way to magnify blood cells to practice daily

Phrases with Verbals

a participial phrase is a participle modified by an adverb or adverb phrase or accompanied by a complement. The entire phrase acts as an adjective
picking up an injured bird shaking hands with people in a crowd wearing a blue dress cooked to perfection

CLAUSES

TYPES OF CLAUSES
noun
dependent adjective adverbial Clause independent

Clauses
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb
Subject Verb

You Sally

stink. is talking.

Most clauses have further information after the verb

Subject Verb

I
Sally

hate
is talking

Two Types of Clauses

Independent clause (Main clause)
Can stand alone as a sentence Can be joined to another clause Fred filled a cardboard tube with gunpowder.

Dependent clause (Subordinate clause)

Cannot stand alone as a sentence Must be joined to an independent clause Because he wanted to make his own firecrackers.

A word that joins clauses is a conjunction

Joining Clauses

A dependent clause can be joined to an independent clause to make a sentence

Fred filled a cardboard tube with gunpowder because he wanted to make his own firecrackers. Or Because he wanted to make his own firecrackers, Fred filled a cardboard tube with gunpowder.
When the sentence starts with the dependent clause, it must have a comma before the independent clause

Dependent Clause
A dependent clause is a S + / O bject or Complement or A dverbial unit that does not express a complete thought and can not stand on its own as a simple sentence. A dependent clause must always be connected to an independent clause. You will be able to identify it because it: is a S+V/ unit that does not express a complete thought on its own

Noun Clause (NC)

[S+V/] that acts like a noun
Example: I think [you are sick].

I think [you are sick].

S
V O Objects are nouns; this entire clause acts like a singular noun, so it is a noun clause.

NCs usually follow verbs as objects or complements Answers the question What? Example:

Q: What do you think?

A: I think Spiderman is the best superhero.

Noun Clause (NC) -- continued

NCs can begin with that

that is a subordinating conjunction that joins it to an IC

makes the clause it begins depend on the IC to complete its meaning.

speakers:

that is often omitted by native

Example:
I think Spiderman is the best superhero.

Adjective Clause (AdjC)

[S+V/] that acts like an adjective
Example: The story [that I am reading] is sad.

[that I am reading]

S
relative pronoun

This entire clause acts like an adjective, so it is an adjective clause.

AdjCs follow nouns

Often start with relative pronouns but the relative pronoun can be omitted if the clause has another noun to serve as the subject

EX: The story [I am reading]is sad.

Adverb Clause (AdvC)

[S+V/] that acts like an adverb Example: [After we drove to the mall] , we looked for a
bookstore.
This clause gives information about how or why the action happened, so it acts like an adverb.

AdvCs always begin with a subordinating conjunction

after although as because before

even though
when

if

since

unless

until

FUNCTIONS OF CLAUSES

 What they did with the treasure remains a mystery. Whatever you want for dessert is fine with me. That you should feel this way about her came as a great surprise to us.

NOUN CLAUSE AS
SUBJECT

Juan finally revealed what he had done with the money. Her husband spent whatever she had saved over the years. I don't know what I should do next.
In fact, he wrote a book about what he had done over the years. We are interested in what he does for a living.

NOUN CLAUSE AS OBJECT

NOUN CLAUSE AS OBJECT OF THE PREPOSITION

 The trouble was that they had never been there before. The biggest disappointment of last season was that the women's team didn't make it to the final four. My brother, who now teaches math in a small college, never liked math in high school. The Banco de Oro, which was founded nearly two centuries ago, folded during the nations economic crisis. The team had fallen behind by ten points before they were able to figure out the opponent's defense. Since he started working nights, he doesn't see much of his kids. While Josie sat inside watching television, Gladys shovelled the driveway.

NOUN CLAUSE AS PREDICATE NOMINATIVE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

ADVERB CLAUSE

The Functions of Clauses

1. Although Americans love to travel to foreign countries, they seldom learn to speak other languages. 2. My sister, who teaches Spanish and Italian in New York, says that she had more students twenty years ago. 3. She wrote a book about what she has learned over the years. 4. What she worries about is the general decline in American language-learning skills. 5. She believes that American families used to take more pride in learning second languages.

6. The internet, which has become such a global phenomenon, has contributed to the predominance of English. 7. My sister's conviction is that American students could use the internet to help them learn other languages. 8. English is the dominant language on the internet because the American computer industry dominates the rest of the world. 9. When non-Americans get on the internet, they frequently are trying to improve their English. 10. What computers have meant to language learning has surprised just about everyone in the academic world.

SENTENCES

Sentence
The standard definition of a sentence is that it is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate and expressing a complete thought.

Types of Sentences
Simple
Compound
Structure

Complex
CompoundComplex Sentences Declarative Imperative Function Interrogative

Exclamatory