English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

LESSON 6.1
Phrases
Table of Contents
Introduction 1

Objective 2

DepEd Competency 2

Warm-Up 2

Learn about It 3
Phrases 6
Types of Phrases 7

Key Points 9

Check Your Understanding 9

Let’s Step Up! 11

Bibliography 11

0
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

Lesson 6.1
Phrases

Fig. 1. An incomplete jigsaw puzzle

Introduction
Phrases are considered one of the basic components of language. Knowing these basic
components is essential in order to become an effective writer and speaker. This lesson will
teach you more about phrases.

1
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

Objective
In this lesson, you should be able to use phrases appropriately and
meaningfully.

DepEd Competency
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to use phrases, clauses, and
sentences appropriately and meaningfully (EN7G-II-a-1, EN7G-II-b-1,
EN7G-II-c-1, EN7G-II-d-1, EN7G-II-e-1, EN7G-II-f-1, EN7G-II-g-1, EN7G-II-h-1,
EN7G-II-i-1).

Warm-Up

Dyad Activity
Procedure
1. Get a partner and rearrange the jumbled words in the box.

aiaiicptplr

neioaoslpprti

sbtoauel

Oaiivpspet

2
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

reugdn

fnneiiiivt

uonn

Guide Questions
1. Are you familiar with the words you formed? What are these words?
2. Do you use these types of phrases in your conversations? Give an example.

Learn about It

Vocabulary
oilcloth (noun) fabric treated on one side with oil to make it waterproof

haze (adjective) state of confusion

intermittent
not continuous or steady
(adjective)

woody shoot growing from a branch or stem of a tree or

twig (noun)
shrub

burden (noun) an event that causes hardships and misfortune

Essential Question
How important are phrases when it comes to communication?

3
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

Read the excerpt of the short story “Night in the Hills” by Paz Marquez Benitez:

Fig. 3. A man lying by a bonfire

A Night in the Hills (an excerpt)

By Paz Marquez Benitez

On his bed of twigs and small branches, under a roughly contrived roof Gerardo
lay down that evening after automatically crossing himself. He shifted around until
at last he settled into a comfortable hollow. The fire was burning brightly, fed
occasionally with dead branches that the men had collected into a pile. Ambo and
the porters were sitting on the black oilcloth that had served them for a dining

4
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

table. They sat with their arms hugging their knees and talked together in
peaceable tones punctuated with brief laughter. From where he lay Gerardo Luna
could feel the warmth of the fire on his face.

He was drifting into deeply contented slumber, lulled by the even tones of his
companions. Voices out-doors had a strange quality. They blended with the wind,
and on its waves, flowed gently around and past one who listened. In the haze of
new sleep, he thought he was listening not to human voices but to something more
elemental. A warm sea on level stretches of beach. Or, if he had ever known such a
thing, raindrops on the bamboo.

He awoke uneasily after an hour or two. The men were still talking, but
intermittently. The fire was not so bright nor so warm.

Ambo was saying: “Gather more firewood. We must keep the fire burning all
night. You may sleep. I shall wake up once in a while to put on more wood.”

Gerardo was reassured. The thought that he would have to sleep in the dark
not knowing whether snakes were crawling towards him was intolerable. He settled
once more into light slumber.

The men talked. They did not sing as boatmen would have done while paddling
their bancas in the dark. Perhaps only sea-folk sang and hill-folk kept silent. For
sea-folk bear no burdens to weigh them down to the earth. Into whatever
wilderness of remote sea their wanderer’s hearts may urge them, they may load
their treasures in sturdy craft, pull at the oar or invoke the wind, and raise their

5
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

voices in song. The depths of the ocean beneath, the height of sky above, and
between, a song floating out in the darkness. A song in the hills would only add to
the lonesomeness a hundredfold.

He woke up again feeling that the little twigs underneath him had suddenly
acquired uncomfortable proportions. Surely when he lay down they were almost
unnoticeable. He raised himself on his elbow and carefully scrutinized his mat for
snakes. He shook his blanket out and once more eased himself into a new and
smoother corner. The men were now absolutely quiet, except for their snoring. The
fire was burning low. Ambo evidently had failed to wake up in time to feed it.

He thought of getting up to attend to the fire, but hesitated. He lay listening to

the forest and sensing the darkness. How vast that darkness! Mile upon mile of it all
around. Lost somewhere in it, a little flicker, a little warmth.
***
When he woke again the fire was smoldering. But there was a light in the forest,
an eerie light. It was diffused and cold. He wondered what it was. There were
noises now where before had seemed only the silence itself. There was a
continuous trilling, strange night-calls and a peculiar, soft clinking which recurred at
regular intervals. Forest noises. There was the noise, too, of nearby waters.

Notice the underlined portions in the short story. Do they make sense on their own? These
groups of words are known as phrases.

Phrases
A phrase is the basic unit of English grammar and is a group of words that do not have a

6
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

subject nor a predicate. Thus, it cannot stand alone and does not have a complete
meaning.

Types of Phrases
Phrases come in various types. These are:

1. Absolute Phrase. It is a phrase that combines a noun and a participle with any
accompanying modifiers or objects.

Their arms hugging their knees, they sat and talked together in peaceable tones
punctuated with brief laughter.

2. Appositive Phrase. It is a phrase that restates, expounds, or explains further the

term it precedes.

But there was a light in the forest, an eerie light.

3. Gerund Phrase. It is a phrase that includes a verbal that is formed ending in -ing,
and other modifiers or complements. It serves as a noun or an adjective in a
sentence.

The depths of the ocean beneath, the height of sky above, and between, a song
floating out in the darkness.

4. Infinitive Phrase. It consists of an infinitive — the root of the verb preceded by to

7
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

— and any modifiers or complements attached to it. It can act as a noun, specifically
a subject, an object or a noun in a predicate of a sentence that follows a linking verb
(e.g., is, are, etc.).

The thought that he would have to sleep in the dark not knowing whether snakes
were crawling towards him was intolerable.

5. Noun phrase. It comprises a noun and other modifiers attached to it. The modifier
can be a possessive pronoun, an article, an adjective, or a preposition. It can act as a
subject, an object, or a complement in a sentence.

Ambo and the porters were sitting on the black oilcloth that had served them for
a dining table.

6. Participial Phrase. It consists of verbs ending in -ing or -ed, or another irregular

form of a verb, and other modifiers and complements attached to it. It serves as an
adjective.

They blended with the wind, and on its waves, flowed gently around and past one
who listened.

7. Prepositional Phrase. It consists of a preposition, an article, a noun or pronoun,

and often, one or more adjectives.

8
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

On his bed of twigs and small branches, under a roughly contrived roof Gerardo
lay down that evening after automatically crossing himself.

Let’s Check In
What type of phrases are the following?
1. in the closet
2. the well-decorated house
3. to finish what was started

Key Points

● A phrase is a group of words that do not have a subject nor a predicate.

● The following are the types of phrases: absolute phrase, appositive phrase, gerund
phrase, infinitive phrase, noun phrase, participial phrase, prepositional phrase.

Check Your Understanding

Underline the phrase in the following sentences:

1. We went out to see Linda.
2. Roda was a person of good character.
3. We found a dog with matted fur.

9
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

4. Walking in the rain, she thought about the things he said.

5. Grace found the watch near the bushes.

Matching the items in column A in column B.

Column A Column B

_____________ 1. Gerund phrase a. Excited about the trip, Yara

packed three sets of
swimsuits.

_____________ 2. Appositive phrase b. Alvin likes running without

shoes.

_____________ 3. Participial phrase c. Walter went home to study

for the test.

_____________ 4. Infinitive phrase d. The store is across the

street.

_____________ 5. Prepositional phrase e. The spider, a tarantula,

made Tori scream.

Provide two examples for each of the following.

1. Noun Phrase
__________________________________________
__________________________________________

10
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

2. Absolute Phrase
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
3. Gerund Phrase
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
4. Infinitive
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
5. Participial Phrase
__________________________________________
__________________________________________

Let’s Step Up!

Write a composition about your most embarrassing moment. Make sure to highlight
all the phrases and do not forget to put a title on your work.

Bibliography

Benitez, Paz Marquez. n.d. A Night in the Hills. The Best Philippine Short Stories. Accessed
May 15, 2018. http://www.sushidog.com/bpss/stories/hills.htm.

Cambridge Dictionary. Accessed May 15, 2018.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/types-of-english-formal-i

11
English

Grade 7 • Unit 6: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

nformal-etc/british-and-american-english

Clause, phrase and sentence. n.d. British Council. Accessed May 15, 2018.
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/clause-phrase-and-sente
nce

Mark, Nichol . 2017. 7 Classes of Phrases. 7 Daily Writing Tips. Accessed May 15, 2018.
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-classes-of-phrases/.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Accessed May 15, 2018. https://www.merriam-webster.com/

TedEd. n.d. Independent & Subordinate Clauses & Conjunctions. Accessed May 19, 2018.
https://ed.ted.com/on/FG3DwUjU.

12