What is common in the following sentences:

big dog

that lovely old pub by the bridge over the river

Phrases
 A phrase?
A group of words
Acts as a single unit in meaning and in
grammar.
Not built round a verb.
Without a subject.
Cannot stand alone as an independent unit.
They add richness and detail.
Used within clauses, which are used within
sentences.
 How long is a phrase?
‘I’

Sometimes you will even see a single word

referred to as a phrase.

A phrase can be two words long:

big dog

Or a phrase can be much longer:

that lovely old pub by the bridge over the

river
 Phrases can have many different functions
(uses) in a sentence.
 As ……

subjects
objects
complements
modifiers, or
adverbials.
 Noun phrases

 A noun phrase has a noun as its head.

He carried the bags

 She brought Mary's bags
 The heavy bags are downstairs

Noun head/Chief head

 The noun phrase is a string of
words that all depend or focus in
some way on a single noun (Noun
Head)

 The words may be added before

or after the noun.
Anoun phrase can be a subject of
a sentence.

 The red balloon soared upwards.

Anoun phrase can be an object of a
sentence.

I read that book about dinosaurs

Anoun phrase can be the
complement:

She wants to be………

She wants to be a doctor.

Anoun phrase can be in the
possessive position

my best friend’s father

Anoun phrase can be the object of a
preposition

looked over the fence

 we
 children
 the cute baby
 our new neighbour
 a lovely pearl necklace
 NOUN PHRASE
 Consists of a pronoun or a noun with an
optional determiner or adjective

 NP  Pron
 NP  (det) + (AdjP) + N
 Prepositional phrases
 A prepositional phrase is a group of words
that begins with a preposition and ends with
a noun or a pronoun.
 at lunchtime
 behind the fridge
 for an interview
 in the drawer
 The bridge over the river
 in a house of bricks
 with great care
 in the morning
 beside the mosque
 for dinner
 at the maintain
 by the government
 during the holiday
 in the village
 By the ocean
 Near the window
 Over the cabinet
 With us
 In your ear
 Under your hat
 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
 Begins with a preposition.
 PP  Prep + NP
 Adjectival phrases
 Adjectival phrases have an adjective as their
head.
A red ball.
He is tall

 Adjectival phrases either

- expand noun phrases or
- complete the verb (act as the complement)
For example:

They are really enthusiastic.

Adjectival phrase.

 It is the complement of the verb are.

 They are keen on football.

 The adjective keen combines with the

prepositional phrase, on football. The head of

the phrase is keen, and the phrase describes
the keen-ness, so it’s an adjectival phrase.
For example:

They are keen on football.

Adjectival phrase.
the unusually tall boy

adverb + adjective
= adjectival phrase
 easily accessible
 extremely enchanting
 beautiful
 too difficult
 ADJECTIVE PHRASE
 Consists of an optional adverb and an
adjective.
 AdjP  (adv) + Adj
Adverbial Phrases

adverb as head.

He moved quickly.

He moved very quickly.

For example:
He opened it extremely easily.
extremely easily modifies opened
=Adverbial Phrases

I'll do it quite soon.

quite soon modifies do
=Adverbial Phrases

I ran so fast.
so fast modifies ran
=Adverbial Phrases
 He was quite unexpectedly kind.
quite unexpectedly modifies kind (‘kind’ is an
adjective).
=Adverbial Phrases

He came very surprisingly quickly.

very surprisingly modifies quickly (‘quickly’ is
an adverb).
=Adverbial Phrases
 Some phrases will act as other prepositional
phrases depending on their positions.

 This is illustrated by the following examples.

 She lost her head at the retro love-in.

The prepositional phrase “at the retro love-in”

describes the verb “lost.” (Answering where?).
However it functions as an adverbial phrase.
The salesperson skimmed over the product's
real cost.

The prepositional phrase “over the product's

real cost” modifies the verb “skimmed.”
However it functions as an adverbial phrase.
 The boss was thrilled at their attitude.

The phrase ‘at their attitude’ is a prepositional

phrase. However it modifies the adjective
“thrilled.” Therefore it functions as an a
dverbial phrase
 The rock climbers arrived late at night.

The phrase ‘at night’ is a prepositional phrase.

However it modifies the adverb “late.”
Therefore,it functions as an adverbial phrase.
 early
 fairly well
 gracefully
 ADVERB PHRASE
 Consists of an optional degree adverb and an
adverb.
 AdvP  (deg) + Adv