Phrase

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What is a Phrase?

A phrase, in a sentence, is a group of related words that complement the structure of sentence.

A phrase is always an important part of a sentence. A phrase cannot stand alone as it does not contain a subject and a verb. Hence, a phrase (as alone) does not give a complete idea. It is used to complement the overall structure of a sentence.

It usually consists of articles, preposition or noun. e.g. on a table, at the door, in a box, on the roof.

Examples:

She is standing on the roof.
The cat is sleeping under the table.
She is drawing a map on the wall.
Someone is waiting at the door.
The kid sat beside her mother.
Students are looking at the black-board.
The dog is barking at a stranger.
The girl, in the brown shirt, won the debate.
The students, at the hall, were making a noise.

A phrase is an important part of a sentence. A phrase acts as a noun, an adjective or an adverb in a sentence. Hence, a phrase can also be defined as a group of related words (lacking a subject and a verb) that acts a single part of speech in a sentence.

Read the following examples:

She wrote an interesting story. (as a noun: object)
One of my friends has gone America. (as a noun: subject)
The girl in the white shirt won the competition. (as adjective modifying the noun: girl)
He gave me a cup full of tea. (as adjective modifying the noun: cup)
She came back in a short while. (as adverb modifying the verb: come)
He welcomed the guests in a cordial way. (as adverb modifying the verb: welcome)

Depending upon its function in a sentence, the phrases are divided into many types such as: Noun phrase, Verb Phrase, Adjective Phrase, Adverb Phrase, Appositive Phrase, Infinite Phrase and Gerund Phrase.

Types of Phrases

A phrase is a group of related words within a sentence that complements the overall structure of sentence. A phrase lacks both the subject and the object. Hence, a phrase cannot stand alone to give complete meaning. The underline group of words in the following sentence is a phrase.

Example:

I saw a joker in the street.

A phrase can act as a noun, an adjective, a preposition or an adverb. The function of a phrase depends upon its construction and place in a sentence. Depending upon its function in a sentence, phrases are divided into various types: Noun Phrase, Verb Phrase, Adjective Phrase, Adverb Phrase, Gerund Phrase, Infinitive Phrase and Absolute Phrase.

   1. 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 a noun in a sentence.

Noun Phrase = noun + modifiers (or determiners)

Examples:

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

A phrase comprising a preposition and object of preposition (noun or pronoun) is called a prepositional phrase. It may also contain other modifiers.

e.g. near a wall, on a table, in the room, under a tree, at the door etc

Prepositional phrase has a noun or pronoun which called the object of preposition.

Examples:

The kids were laughing at the joker.
He is sleeping on the carpet.
The teacher looked at the black-board.
He drives the car in a high speed.
He always speaks in a loud voice.

   3. ADJECTIVE PHRASE

A phrase that acts likes an adjective in a sentence is called adjective phrase. Like an adjective it modifies (adds to meaning of) a noun or a pronoun. It consists of adjectives, modifiers and other words modifying the noun or pronoun.

A kid on the roof is looking at the sky. (modifies noun: kid)
The boy in the shop is my friend. (modifies noun: boy)
She bought a beautiful brown chair. (modifies noun: chair)
A lady with long hair is walking in the garden. (modifies noun: lady)
She gave me a cup full of tea. (modifies noun: cup)
A student from my college won the competition. (modifies noun: student)

   4. ADVERB PHRASE

A phrase that acts like an adverb in a sentence is called adverb phrase. Like an adverb, it modifies (add to meaning of) a verb or other adverb in the sentence. It contains an adverb and other words (i.e. noun, preposition, modifiers) which, as a whole, act as an adverb phrase.

Examples:

He drives a car in a very high speed. (modifies verb: drive)
The racer was running very fast. (modifies verb: run)
She always speaks in a respectful way. (modifies verb: speak)
They walked along the wall. (modifies verb: walk)
She welcomed the guests in a nice way. (modifies verb: welcome)
He stayed at college for a few hours. (modifies verb: stay)
The kid sat beside her mother. (modifies verb: sit)

   5. VERB PHRASE

A verb phrase is the group of main verbs and helping-verbs (auxiliaries) within a sentence.

Examples:

She is writing a letter
He has taken his annual exam.
Students must reach in time for the class.
They have been playing game since morning.
She is waiting for someone.

   6. INFINITIVE PHRASE

An infinitive phrase contains an infinitive (to + base form of verb) and modifiers or other related words linked to the infinitive. An infinitive phrase will always acts as a noun, an adjective or adverb in the sentence.

Examples:

I enjoy to drive a car. (As noun)
To get success in exam is an ambition of every student. (As noun)
Government made a plan to help the poor. (As adjective modifying noun: plan)
She sang a song to please the audience. (As adverb modifying verb: sing)
The joker danced to entertain the people. (As adjective modifying noun: dance)

   7. GERUND PHRASE

A gerund phrase is a group of a gerund (verb + ing), modifiers and other related words linked to the gerund. A gerund phrase functions as a noun in the sentence.

Examples:

I enjoy listening to the music. (As noun/as object)
He started writing the letter. (As noun/as object)
Walking in the sun affects the complexion of a person. (As noun/as subject)
Crying of a baby disturbed me a lot. (As noun/as subject)

   8. PARTICIPLE PHRASE

A participle phrase is a group of a present-participle (verb + ing) or a past-participle verb, modifiers and other linked words. A participle phrase is punctuated with a comma or commas. It always acts as an adjective (modifying a noun) in a sentence.

Examples:

The students, raising their hands, need extra page. (modifies noun: students)
She got a mail, mentioning about her exam. (modifies noun: mail)
The chair, made of plastic, looks very beautiful. (modifies noun: chair)

   9. ABSOULUTE PHRASE

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.

Examples:

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.

Difference between Phrase and Clause

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Clause and phrase are two important terms in English grammar. Clause and phrase are parts of a sentence.

A clause is a group of words that consists of a subject and a verb.

Examples:

He laughed.
The guests arrived.

A phrase is a group of words that does not consist of a subject and a verb.

Examples: on a table, under the tree, near the wall, on the roof, at the door.

Both the clause and the phrase may exist within a sentence. For instance, read the following sentence:

Example:

He is sleeping on the bed.

The first part of the sentence He is sleeping is a clause because it has a subject and a verb. On the other hand, the remaining part of sentence, on the bed is a phrase because it lacks both the subject and the verb.

Read the following examples. The underlined part of each sentence is a phrase. Non-underlined part of each sentence is a clause:

She is standing on the roof.
The cat is sleeping under the table.
She is drawing a map on the wall.
She is waiting at the door.

   Understanding the conceptual difference in clause and phrase

A clause has both subject and object. It can stand alone as a complete sentence because it gives a complete meaning. For instance in the above example the clause ‘He is sleeping’ can alone stand as a sentence as it gives a complete meaning to the reader.

On the other hand, a phrase cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not give a complete meaning. For instance, in the above sentence ‘on the bed’ cannot stand as alone sentence as it does not give a complete meaning. The each word of phrase has a meaning but the phrase collectively does not make a complete sense like a sentence. The purpose of phrase is to complement the overall structure of a sentence.

A simple sentence can also be called one clause. For instance, ‘He laughed’ is a sentence, but it is also one clause. Some sentence may have more than one clause, read the following example:

I waited for him but he didn’t come. (two clause)
I like Biology but my brother likes Physics because he wants to become an engineer. (three clauses)

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