English Grammar

Phrases
• “A phrase is a small group of words that form
a meaningful unit within a clause.”

• Phrases are smaller parts of the sentence.

• Clauses are larger units that always contain at

least a subject and a verb.
• Sometimes phrases are essential to the
structure of a clause (e.g., a noun phrase that
functions as the subject), and sometimes they
just provide some extra information (most
prepositional phrases).
• One phrase can include another. For example,
we can categorize swimming in the ocean as a
participial phrase (swimming is a present
participle), even though it includes a
prepositional phrase (in the ocean).
 Noun Phrase
• A noun phrase is any noun or pronoun along
with its modifiers:

The school children

Yesterday’s newspaper
An old and rusted watch
 Verb Phrase
• A verb phrase can be the predicate of a sentence or a
clause. There will usually be a helping verb in addition
to the verb.
Had been sleeping
Will contact
May have written
Verb phrases often contain adverbs that change the
meaning of the phrase:
Has never lost
May not trespass
Am always looking
• The author is writing a new book.
• I must make an “A” in this class.
• The dog might eat the cake.
• He was walking to work today.
• We grew apart after high school.
 Prepositional Phrase
• A prepositional phrase always starts with a
preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun
(and its modifiers) that is called the object of
the preposition:
through the wheat field
Preposition: through
Object of the preposition: the wheat field
 during the year
despite complaints
in the summer
during recess
between you and me
from Russia
with love
I work at the post-office.
 Verbal Phrases
• There are three types of verbal phrases:
participial phrases,
• gerund phrases, and
• infinitive phrases.
 1. Participial Phrase
• Participial phrases start with either a present
or past participle. Here are some examples of
each.
Phrases with present participles:
Lounging by the pool
Chasing a butterfly
Watching silently
Phrases with past participles:

Struck by lightning
Driven to succeed
Loaned out
• Participial verbals--words or phrases--are
adjectives.
• They look like present participle (-ing) or past
participle (-ed or -en) verb forms.
• A past participle verb used in the predicate of
a sentence must be accompanied by a helper
verb such as has, had, or have;
• participles or participial phrases functioning
as adjectives lack this helper.
The following participial phrase describes the
noun bear:
• Grunting and snuffling noisily, the bear
reached on tiptoe for our suspended food
bags.
Above, suspended is a past participle form
functioning as an adjective.
Below, frozen and making introduce participial
phrases:
• Frozen in anticipation,
our muffled breath making scarcely a sound,
we watched the bear ascend the tree toward
the ropes.
Frozen in anticipation modifies the
pronoun we.
Making scarcely a sound modifies breath.
Muffled describes breath.
 2. Gerund Phrase
A gerund is an -ing verb form that actually functions
as a noun.
Any –ing verb used in the predicate (part of the verb)
of a sentence must be accompanied by a helper
verb such as is, was, or has been;
A gerund lacks this helper.
A gerund can never function as a verb, but it can do
anything a noun can do. For example, the following
gerund phrase is the subject of a sentence:
• Practicing helped a lot. (subject)
• Backpacking in Kashmir Valley was
unforgettable. (subject)
• Blowing bubbles on a windy day is a fun
activity for children.
• Piling too much laundry into a washing
machine will cause it to malfunction.
• Eating ice cream on a hot day can be a
good way to cool off.
• I love reading. (direct object)
• Thomas explained rappelling as we
clambered up the Mount Everest. (direct
object)
• Robin narrowly avoided driving off the
cliff.
• James really enjoys bothering the
neighbors with loud music.
• Gerunds can be predicate nominatives after
linking verbs (careful! The verb of the
sentence below is was, not was stumbling.
The adventure was not, itself, stumbling! The
favorite adventure was our act of stumbling.):
• Our favorite adventure was stumbling upon
Frog Pond deep in the forest.
The following gerund phrase is the object of a
preposition:
• We worried about being swept away over the
waterfall as we swam.
 3. Infinitive Phrase
An infinitive phrase is the infinitive and its
modifiers:
To sing
To walk all that way
To mix peanut butter and jam
• The infinitive phrase can also function in various
ways:
To give to charity is a noble thing. (subject)
The neighbours have promised to stop playing
the drums at night. (direct object)
In the following examples, infinitive phrases are
used as nouns--in this case subject and direct
object, respectively:
• To watch the bear toss our things around was
distressing.
We tried to signal our friends on Half Dome
with a text message, but failed.
On the other hand, the following infinitive
phrase is used as an adjective to modify plans:
• Our plans to continue on to Market changed
suddenly once we lost our food supplies.
Note: Some verbs require an infinitive
• claim to know
• Fail, learn, tend, prepare, manage, hope, long
some require a gerund
• avoid stating
• Admit, like, love, practise, miss, stop,
remember
And some verbs differ dramatically in meaning if
you switch from gerund to infinitive
• stop smoking, stop to smoke
 Appositive Phrase
• An appositive phrase is a phrase that renames an
earlier noun or pronoun:

My best friend, Nick Palacio, loves scuba diving.

We watched Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

In these examples, the appositive is a noun phrase.

 Other phrases as appositives
My dream, to make it to the NBA, is what keeps
me going. (infinitive phrase)

Matthew’s special talent, bouncing on his head

on the trampoline, gives him a unique
perspective on life. (gerund phrase)

Appositives are great for inserting some extra

information in a sentence.
 Absolute phrase
When a participle and the noun that comes
before it together forms an independent
phrase, the structure is often called
an absolute phrase.
Example:
• Weather permitting, we shall meet in the
evening.
• The weather being fine, we went out for a picnic.
• The sun having risen, we set out on our journey.
Absolute phrases are used to combine two clauses
that have different subjects.
Examples:
• The visitors left. We went to bed.
• The visitors having left, we went to bed.

• It was a stormy day. We stayed inside the house.

• It being a stormy day, we stayed inside the house.
We can change an absolute phrase into a
subordinate adverb clause of time, condition,
cause, or concession.
• Weather permitting can be changed into ‘If
weather permits…’
• If weather permits, we shall meet in the meeting.
• If God wills, we shall meet again.
• As the weather was fine, we went out for a picnic.
• After the sun had risen, we set out on our journey.
• After the visitors had left, we went to bed.