4.

1 Phrase types

There are five types of phrases: 1. noun phrase a peaceful result (main word: noun result) 2. verb phrase must have been dreaming (main word: verb dreaming) 3. adjective phrase very pleasant (main word: adjective pleasant) 4. adverb phrase very carefully (main word: adverb carefully) 5. prepositional phrase in the shade (main word: preposition in) THE NOUN PHRASE 4.2 The structure of the noun phrase The main word in a noun phrase is a noun or a pronoun. There are a number of subclasses of nouns and pronouns. The structure of the typical noun phrase may be represented schematically in the following way, where the parentheses indicate elements of the structure that may be absent: (determiners) (pre-modifiers) noun (post-modifiers) Determiners (words like the, a, those, some) introduce noun phrases. Modifiers are units that are dependent on the main word and can be omitted. Modifiers that come before the noun are pre-modifiers, and those that come after the noun are post-modifiers. Here are examples of possible structures of noun phrases: noun books determiner + noun those books pre-modifier + noun new books determiner + pre-modifier + noun some long books noun + post-modifier books on astronomy determiner + noun + post-modifier some books on astronomy pre-modifier + noun + post-modifier popular books on astronomy determiner + pre-modifier + noun + post-modifier some popular books on astronomy 4.3 Determiners There are three classes of determiners:

1. pre-determiners, e.g. all, both, half 2. central determiners, e.g. a(n), the, those 3. post-determiners, e.g. other, two, first Here are two examples with determiners from each class: all these other works both our two daughters 4.4 Modifiers The noun phrase may have more than one pre-modifier or post-modifier: a long hot summer acute, life-threatening diseases a nasty gash on his chin which needed medical attention The modifier may itself be modified: a comfortably cool room the investigation of crimes against children 4.5 Relative clauses One very common type of post-modifier is the relative clause: He had a nasty gash which needed medical attention. The relative clause is embedded in the noun phrase. As an independent sentence it might be: [1] The gash needed medical attention. We might think of the embedding as a process that takes place in stages. The first stage puts the sentence close to the noun it will be modifying: [1a] He had a nasty gash. The gash needed medical attention. You will notice that the two sentences share nouns (gash) that refer to the same thing. The next stage changes the noun phrase into a relative pronoun here which: [1b] He had a nasty gash which needed medical attention. The relative pronoun which functions as subject in the relative clause just as The gash functions as subject in [1a]. Here is another example: [2] The woman is an engineering student. The woman was sitting next to you. [2a] The woman (The woman was sitting next to you) is an engineering student. [2b] The woman who was sitting next to you is an engineering student.

In both [1b] and [2b] the relative pronoun can be replaced by relative that: [1c] He had a nasty gash that needed medical attention. [2c] The woman that was sitting next to you is an engineering student. For the choice of relative pronouns, see 5.24. 4.6 Appositive clauses Another type of clause that is often embedded in a noun phrase is the appositive clause. It is introduced by the conjunction that: the assumption that people act out of self-interest the fact that she rejected his offer of marriage the realization that miracles dont happen the news that agreement has been reached The conjunction that in appositive clauses differs from the relative that (cf. 4.5) because the conjunction does not have a function within its clause. The appositive clause can be a sentence without that: [1] You must have heard the news that agreement has been reached. [1a] Agreement has been reached. In contrast, the relative clause cannot be a sentence without the relative that: [2] He had a nasty gash that needed medical attention. [2a] *Needed medical attention. We can convert the noun phrase containing the appositive clause into a sentence by inserting a form of the verb be before the clause: [3] the assumption that people act out of self-interest. [3a] The assumption is that people act out of self-interest. 4.7 Apposition Apposition is a relationship between two noun phrases which have identical reference: Bono, the lead singer with U2, also took part. As with the appositive clause, we can show that the lead singer with U2 is in apposition to Bono by converting the two phrases into a sentence: Bono is the lead singer with U2. Here are some more examples of noun phrases in apposition: our Political Correspondent, Eleanor Goodman

vitamin B12, a complex cobalt-containing molecule the witness, a burly man with heavy stubble the rattlesnake, a venomous animal capable of causing death in human beings Apposition is sometimes signalled by expressions such as namely and that is to say: You can read the story in the first book of the Bible, namely Genesis. A determiner may serve two or more nouns or modified nouns: his wife and two sons [his wife and his two sons] some friends and close acquaintances [some friends and some close acquaintances] the reactions of the students and teachers [the reactions of the students and the reactions of the teachers] It is sometimes possible to interpret coordination of parts of phrases in more than one way: frustrated and desperate men (1) frustrated men and desperate men old men and women (1) old men and old women their cats and other pets (1) their cats and their other pets 4.9 Noun phrase complexity Noun phrases can display considerable structural complexity. It is easy to embed in them appositional structures, clauses, and linked noun phrases. Both the subject and the direct object in [1] are complex noun phrases: [1] Wordsworths several reactions to tourisms threat to treasured precincts exhibit tendencies we can also observe in many nineteenth- and twentieth-century records. [ James Buzard, The Beaten Track, p. 30. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993] Here are two other examples of complex noun phrases functioning as subject of the sentences: [2] A full-blown financial collapse of the kind last seen in the 1930s is not out of the question.

[3] Iron resolve in the fight against internationalism terrorism and determined leadership on the budget and the economy could make Mr Bush the president no one ever really thought he could be. In [4] the complex noun phrase is subject complement and in [5] it is a direct object: [4] Taxonomy is a practical science used to distinguish, name, and arrange plants and other organisms in a logical way. 4.10 Functions of noun phrases The following is a brief list, with illustrations, of the possible functions of noun phrases: 1. subject The people in the bus escaped through the emergency exit. 2. direct object They are testing some new equipment. 3. indirect object The bank gave David a loan. 4. subject complement The performance was a test of their physical endurance. 5. object complement Many of us consider her the best candidate. 6. complement of a preposition The box of chocolates is intended for your children. 7. pre-modifier of a noun or noun phrase Milk production is down this year. He suffers from back problems. The matter has been referred to the Academic Council Executive Committee. 8. adverbial The term finishes next week. You will not succeed that way. For noun phrases as dependent or independent genitives, see 5.8. THE VERB PHRASE 4.11 The structure of the verb phrase The typical structure of the verb phrase consists of a main verb preceded optionally by a maximum of four auxiliary verbs. The four belong to different subclasses

of auxiliaries. auxiliary 1 auxiliary 2 auxiliary 3 auxiliary 4 main verb It is very unusual for all four auxiliaries to appear in one verb phrase, but if two or more auxiliaries co-occur they must appear in the sequence indicated in the diagram, e.g. 1+3, 1+2+4, 2+3. For the four subclasses, see 4.17 below.

4.18 Finite and non-finite verb phrases

Verb phrases are either finite or non-finite. A finite verb is a verb that carries a contrast in tense between present and past, and may also be marked for person and number. In a finite verb phrase the first or only verb is finite, and the other verbs (if any) are nonfinite. In a non-finite verb phrase all the verbs are non-finite. Play and played are finite verbs in these sentences: [1] We play football every day. [2] We played in a football match last week. The following are the non-finite verb forms: 1. the infinitive, often introduced by to: (to) phone 2. the -ing participle: phoning 3. the -ed participle: phoned THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE 4.21 The structure of the adjective phrase The main word in an adjective phrase is an adjective. The structure of the typical adjective phrase may be represented in the following way, where the parentheses indicate elements of the structure that may be absent: (pre-modifiers) adjective (post-modifiers) Modifiers qualify in some respect what is denoted by the adjective, and they are optional. The pre-modifer comes before the adjective and the post-modifier comes after it. THE ADVERB PHRASE 4.23 The structure of the adverb phrase The main word in an adverb phrase is an adverb. The structure of the typical

adverb phrase is similar to that of the typical adjective phrase, except for the class of the main word: (pre-modifiers) adverb (post-modifiers) Here are some examples of possible structures of adverb phrases: adverb surprisingly pre-modifier + adverb very surprisingly adverb + post-modifier surprisingly for her pre-modifier + adverb + post-modifier very surprisingly indeed THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE 4.25 The structure of the prepositional phrase The prepositional phrase is a structure with two parts: preposition complement The prepositional complement is typically a noun phrase, but it may also be a nominal relative clause (cf. 6.9) or an -ing clause (cf. 6.8). Both the nominal relative clause and the -ing clause have a range of functions similar to that of a noun phrase.

Genitive Case The genitive case is one of the 4 main cases in modern English. Whilst it has other uses (explained below), it is predominantly the form used to indicate possession. For nouns, it is usually created by adding 's to the word or by preceding it with "of". Examples: Carl's haircut the edge of the table There are several other ways of forming the genitive case: Type singular noun plural nouns singular noun ending s plural nouns not ending s Example dog dogs Chris Men Genitive Case dog's dinner dogs' dinner Chris' hat or Chris's hat Men's room

Take out the hamster's wheel and open the back of the cage. [show me the genitive case] When the genitive case is used to show possession, it may also be classified as the "possessive case". Example: Dan's bike (genitive case and possessive case) However, the genitive case does not always indicate possession. Examples: children's songs (genitive case) (In this example, the children do not own the songs. They are songs for children.) Constable's paintings (genitive case) (Constable may not own the paintings. This denotes only that they are paintings by Constable.) Possessive adjectives and possessive personal pronouns are also considered as being genitive forms.

Adjectives referring to classes of people

Examples: our carpet (our - a genitive form of us) Can I use yours? (yours - a genitive form of you)

the

Relative Pronouns
relative pronoun
who

The combination of the preposition of and apossessive form--either a noun ending in -'s or apossessive pronoun--is called a double genitive (ordouble possessive). And while it may appear overly possessive, the construction has been around for centuries and it's perfectly correct.

use

example

subject or object pronoun for I told you about the people woman wholives next door.

The absence of a determiner and the use of A, An and The before countable nouns Use A weakened form of One Naming a profession Making a general statement Something not mentioned before Something referred to as a class Something mentioned before When it is obvious what is meant Nationalities ending in ch, se, sh Singular Countable Nouns a/an a/an a/an a/an the the the the no determiner no determiner no determiner Plural Countable Nouns

which

subject or object pronoun for Do you see the cat which is animals and things lying on the roof?

which

referring to a whole sentence He couldnt read which surprised me.

whose

possession for people animals Do you know the and things boy whosemother is a nurse?

whom

object pronoun for people, I was invited by the especially in non-defining professorwhom I met at the relative clauses (in defining conference. relative clauses we colloquially prefer who)

that

the the

subject or object pronoun for I dont like the people, animals and things in table that stands in the defining relative clauses kitchen. (who orwhich are also possible)

Nouns as appositives
An appositive is very like a predicate nominative, except that it doesn't have a verb linking it with the subject. The sentence: James is a child has a subject and predicate nominative form, whereas in the sentence: 'James, a child of ten years old, was bullied in school' the phrase 'a child of ten years old' is still part of the subject. Not everyone makes the distinction between subjects and appositives, so it's not a particularly important word to remember.

Attributive and Predicative Adjectives Most adjectives can occur both before and after a noun:

the blue sea the old man happy childre n

~ the sea is blue ~ the man is old ~ the children are happy

Adjectives in the first position - before the noun - are called ATTRIBUTIVE adjectives. Those in the second position - after the noun - are called PREDICATIVE adjectives. Notice that predicative adjectives do not occur immediately after the noun. Instead, they follow a verb. Most adjectives can freely occur in both the attributive and the predicative positions. However, a small number of adjectives are restricted to one position only. For example, the adjective main (themain reason) can only occur in the attributive position (predicative: *the reason is main). Conversely, the adjective afraid (the child wasafraid) can only occur predicatively (attributive: *an afraid child).