Phrase To Sentence

Phrase to Sentence
What is the difference

between a phrase and
a clause?
Phrase
• A phrase is a group of words that is incomplete in

thought and lacks a subject and/or a predicate. It
gives further meaning by either naming, explaining, or
modifying a word or a group of words in a sentence.
Kinds of Phrases
Noun Phrases
• A noun phrase has at least one noun that is modified
by a determiner and/or another modifier or
modifiers. This may also be found before or after a
verb.
My treasured possession is in the vault.
She bought a gold wrist watch.
Prepositional Phrases
• A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and

always has an object (noun or pronoun) after it. It
has two classifications.
Prepositional adjective phrase – describes the noun or
pronoun in a sentence by telling its location or its
association with the modified word.
The bag with green beads is mine.
I see the rays of the sun beyond the horizon.
I bought the one near the orange blouse.
Prepositional adverb phrase – describes a verb,
adjective, or another adverb.
The ballerina danced with all grace.
She is the most beautiful among them.
I left early in the morning.
Appositive Phrases
An appositive phrase is a noun phrase that renames,
identifies, or explains the noun or the pronoun placed
before it. It adds more information/details to the said noun
or pronoun.
Melba, the tall and thin girl, is surprisingly an intelligent
student.
I already got hold of my schedule, a better one.
Verbal Phrases
A verbal is a verb form which functions as either as a

noun, adjective, or an adverb. It may be a phrase if
words are added to it. There are three categories.
Verbal Phrases
Participial Phrases – this phrase starts with a present

participle or a past participle and functions as an
adjective.
The girl crying near the bench is her daughter.
Edith’s talent, hidden all these years, was finally
known.
Verbal Phrases
Gerund Phrases – gerunds, or verbs with –ing, become

gerund phrases when words are added to them. They
function as nouns.
Swimming at night will prevent sunburn.
The thing I taught Fely this year was driving automatic
cars.
Verbal Phrases
Infinitive Phrases – infinitives, or verbs which are formed
by adding “to” before them, become infinitive phrases
when words are added to them. They function as nouns,
adjectives, or adverbs.
To swim at night will prevent sunburn.
The person to consult about the book is my teacher.
It is practical to leave early in the morning for an
important appointment.
Clause
• A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a

verb.
Elements of a
Clause
Verb Phrase
• The verb phrase is the central element of the clause,
because it expresses the action or state to which
other elements relate, and it controls the other kinds
of elements and meanings that can be in the clause.
• It dictates what other clausal elements or
complements are required. It also therefore dictates
the structure of a clause.
Verb Phrase
• Intransitive verbs – these are verbs that have NO object.
Their action is not transferred from the subject to something
else.
• Transitive verbs - have an object. Their action is transferred
from the subject to something else (the object).
• Ditransitive verbs - have TWO objects: a direct object and an
indirect object.
• Linking verbs - link two parts of a sentence. They link the
subject to a noun or adjective.
Subject
• The subject of a clause identifies an important participant in
the event or state described by the predicate verb.
Depending on the verb, the subject identifies who does
something; who or what has a certain property; who or what
is in a particular state, etc.
Boys gathered in the street.

All the boys gathered in the street.
Water has a higher density than oil.
Objects
• A clause may contain one or two objects. In general terms,

an object denotes someone or something which is affected
by the action described by the verb.
Objects
• Direct Object – a noun, pronoun, or a group of words which

receives the action of a transitive verb. It answers the
question What? Or Whom? After an action verb.
Jane made cake for her mother.

The young man called his mother at home.
Objects
• Indirect Object – a noun/pronoun or group of words that

names the person/thing to whom/which something is given
or done for. It answers the questions To/For what? Or To/For
whom?
Jane made her mother a cake.
(Jane made a cake for whom? her mother)
Predicatives
• A predicative can be an adjective phrase, a noun phrase, or
occasionally a prepositional phrase.
• It follows the verb phrase and (if one is present) the direct
object.
• It has the semantic role of characterizing a preceding noun
phrase.
• There are two major types of predicative, the subject
predicative and the object predicative.
Predicatives
Subject predicatives - characterize or specify the subject noun
phrase. Special distinguishing features of the subject predicative
are:
• It immediately follows the verb phrase.
• The main verb has to be a copular verb, such as be, seem, and
become. Subject predicatives are also sometimes called ‘subject
complements’.
His skin was very pink.
That tall fellow over there is Dr Fraker.
But his wife Shelley seemed in great shape.
Predicatives
Object predicatives - characterize or specify the direct object
noun phrase. The distinguishing features of the object
predicative are:
• It generally immediately follows the direct object.
• The main verb has to be a complex transitive verb, such as make,
find, consider, and name. The object predicative is sometimes called
the ‘object complement’.
Oh, I can’t get this milk open.
Many consider these new gates something of a menace.
He was surprised to find himself out of breath.
Coordination and
Subordination
Coordination
• involves joining two or more independent clauses or
phrases.
Example:
a. Sara enjoyed the book.
b. Alison was bored.
c. Sara enjoyed the book but Alison was bored.
Coordination
• Sentences (a) and (b) are both simple sentences
consisting of one clause.
• In sentence (c), however, they are coordinated using
the conjunction ‘but’. Conjunctions are typical
markers of coordination.
• In (c) ‘but’ joins the transitive clause ‘Sara enjoyed the
book’ with the copulative clause ‘Alison was bored’.
Types of Coordination
• Syndetic Coordination – when coordination occurs
through the use of overt lexical markers such as
conjunctions (and, for, or, so, yet)
Susie and Pippa called for you this morning.

• Asyndetic Coordination - occurs without lexical
markers but through other means such as
punctuation.
This wine has a rich, fruity, full-bodied quality.

• Polysyndetic Coordination - involves the significant
repetition of a conjunction (usually ‘and’) to
coordinate elements.
You wouldn't believe how many exams I've got. I've got
semantics and pragmatics and sociolinguistics and
psycholinguistics and syntax.
Subordination
• involves the combination of an independent clause with one
or more dependent clauses. These are called complex
sentences.
Examples:
Although Sara enjoyed the book, Alison was bored.
The students like big words, because big things are cool.
Subordination
• Subordinate clauses often typically act as a constituent
element of the main clause. Thus, they can act as sentence
elements (subjects, objects, subject complements, and
adjuncts).
Example:
• Leaving the party made him sad. The subordinate clause ‘Leaving
the party’ occupies the subject position in the main clause, ‘made’
is the verb element, ‘him’ is the object, and ‘sad’ is an object
complement because it gives us more information about ‘him’.
Quiz Bee
How many clauses is
each sentence
composed of? Identify
the clauses.
I still miss my man
but my aim is getting
better.
Elizabeth is missing.
Do androids dream of
electric sheep?
When you look like
your passport photo,
it’s time to go home.
I have no mouth and I
must scream.
All I really need to know I learned in
Kindergarten
Never let me go.
This isn’t the sort of thing that
happens to someone like you.
You shall know our velocity.
I was told there’d be cake.
Application to
Stylistics
Try to analyze the excerpt below in terms of how phrases
and clause are used, combined, and structured to convey
meaning.
The author repeats the coordinating conjunction
‘and’ six times. On the first four occasions this works to
coordinate clauses. Unusually, the subject is missing in
all but the first clause. However, this is because the
subject is identical to the first (‘he’) and is therefore
deleted through the process of ellipsis to avoided
repetition. There are therefore five clauses as shown
below, with the lexical verbs underlined.
1. He pulled the blue plastic tarp off of him
2. [he] folded it
3. [he] carried it out to the grocery cart
4. [he] packed it
5. [he] came back with their plates and some
cornmeal cakes in a plastic bag and a plastic bottle
of syrup.
There are also two instances of ‘and’ in the final clause.
These coordinate noun phrases (‘their plates’, ‘some cornmeal
cakes in a plastic bag’, ‘a plastic bottle of syrup’). The noun
phrases themselves are embedded in the prepositional phrase
that begins ‘with their plates and . . .’.
In this extract, polysyndetic coordination is not necessary
but a stylistic choice McCarthy has made. The effect in this
instance is to emphasize the mundane life the characters lead
in this post-apocalyptic world.
Activity
Instructions. Make a syntactic analysis (focusing on
phrases/clauses and sentences) of the excerpt below.
Excerpt from Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

Phrase To Sentence

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Phrase to Sentence

What is the difference

• A phrase is a group of words that is incomplete in

• A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and

A verbal is a verb form which functions as either as a

Participial Phrases – this phrase starts with a present

Gerund Phrases – gerunds, or verbs with –ing, become

• A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a

Boys gathered in the street.

• A clause may contain one or two objects. In general terms,

• Direct Object – a noun, pronoun, or a group of words which

Jane made cake for her mother.

• Indirect Object – a noun/pronoun or group of words that

Susie and Pippa called for you this morning.

This wine has a rich, fruity, full-bodied quality.

Excerpt from Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

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