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Name ___________
Prof. McKelvy
English 0346
1/26/2013
Module 2: The Phrase
Exercise 1
Test your knowledge of phrase structure in English. Use the adjectives, nouns, verbs, and
prepositional phrases from the lists below and write a paragraph about Marta’s superstitions. Try to
write at least 10 sentences. Use at least one word (or phrase) from each column in every sentence to
create logical, grammatical sentences. Hint: You will use the verbs more than once. You may also add
articles (the, a, an) as needed. Cross out words after you use them.
Marta’s Superstitions
Superstitions affect several important aspects of Marta’s life. ______________________
Adjectives
afraid
lucky
green
important
pearl
favorite
several
superstitious
white
Nouns
superstitions
eggs and a muffin
necklace
clothes
tennis
trip
shoelaces
sport
color
school
aspects
T-shirt
seat
it
Verbs
wears
affect
finds
feels
starts
uses
has
eats
is
Prepositional Phrases
in the middle of the room
of Marta’s life
with her initials on it
before a tennis match
before a test
from her grandmother
about traveling
at school
of bad luck
in her sneakers
on Friday
What is a Phrase?
You are now familiar with the basic idea about the names for the parts of speech in English. Of course,
you also know that you cannot put words together randomly and create sentences. Words go together into
groups called phrases. A phrase is a group of words that acts as a unit in a sentence. In other words, a phrase
can do the same thing that a single verb, or noun, or adjective, or adverb does in a sentence. In this chapter, we
will look at three important kinds of phrases: the Noun Phrase (NP), the Verb Phrase (VP) and the
Prepositional Phrase (PP).
The Noun Phrase (NP)
When you express an idea, you usually tell about a person, place or thing that does something. You use a
noun to do this. For example:
Mary laughed.
Houston is growing.
The clock works well.
These nouns are called subject nouns. The subject of a sentence is the noun that the sentence is talking
about. It is usually the noun that does the action of the verb. In English, subjects usually come at the
beginning, or near the beginning of the sentence.
A subject can be more than one noun. Look at the subjects (in boldface) in the following sentences.
The dog and cat are jumping.
The lazy dog and the hungry cat and the frightened bird are playing.
The subjects of these sentences are called compound subjects because they are made up of more than one
noun. The different nouns in a compound subject are joined by a word like and or or. You have probably
noticed that there are other words that seem to be part of the subject in the two sentences above. Look at the
underlined parts in the examples below.
The dog and cat are jumping.
The lazy dog and the hungry cat and the frightened bird are playing.
The underlined parts of the above sentences are the complete subjects. As you can see, in these sentences,
the complete subjects include more than just a noun. Articles and adjectives that directly relate to the subject
nouns are part of the complete subject. These articles and adjectives are called modifiers. To modify means to
change the meaning. For example, there is a difference between a dog and a lazy dog, right?
These complete subjects are noun phrases (NP). They are groups of words acting as nouns. The noun in
a NP is also called the nucleus. A simple NP will have one noun, or nucleus, and it will also include any
articles, adjectives, adverbs or other phrases that directly modify that noun. A compound NP will have two or
more nouns as its nuclei, and it will also include any articles, adjectives, adverbs or other phrases that directly
modify those nouns.
There is another kind of NP, however. We have seen that a subject NP comes at the beginning of the
sentence. We can also put nouns after verbs. When a noun comes after a verb, and it receives the action of that
verb, it is called the object (or sometimes the direct object.) Since objects are usually nouns, we can also have
object NPs. Just as with subject NPs, object NPs can contain a single noun as its nucleus, or it can be a
compound object with more than one nucleus. Like subject NPs, object NPs can contain a single noun object,
or they can include many other words that modify and relate to the noun.
ü This kind of sentence pattern is sometimes referred to as: S + V + O
What is the complete subject noun phrase and the complete object noun phrase of the following sentence?
What is the simple subject and the simple object?
The big, hairy monster with the red eyeballs frequently eats a hearty, spicy meal of
ESL teachers at HCC.
Can you see how this long sentence is basically very simple? On the line below, write the simple subject
(without modifiers), the main verb (without modifiers) and the simple object (without modifiers) that you
found in the sentence above.
Hint #1: Who is the sentence about (the subject)? __________________________
Hint # 2: What’s the action of the subject? _______________________________
Hint # 3: Who receives the action of the verb (the object)? __________________
(Rewrite the simple sentence on the blank line above. Include only modifiers: the, a )
Exercise 2
In the following sentences, underline the subject noun phrases and circle the object noun phrases.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Clarissa drinks milk.
Students enjoy vacations.
The plumber fixed the leaky pipes.
The new baby wants his mother.
Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed the Williams Tower in the Galleria.
Grammar textbooks sometimes confuse hard-working, studious, intelligent students.
The Verb Phrase (VP)
In a sentence, you also need to tell what is happening. You use a verb to do this. Every subject must have
a verb, or the sentence is not complete. Look at the following sentences. Here, the word that shows what is
happening is in boldface.
Mary laughed.
Houston is growing.
The clock works well.
These action words are called verbs.
A verb phrase (VP) comes after the subject NP in a sentence. The VP can include one or more words, but
it must contain a verb that tells time (past or present) and tense ( simple present, present continuous, simple
past, present perfect, for example) or mood (modals).
Most verbs show an action. Although it may not be the type of action that you can actually see, most verbs
are words that tell us that something is happening. Therefore, most verbs are called action verbs. There are
two kinds of action verbs that determine the structure of a VP: transitive and intransitive.
Transitive Verbs
A transitive verb (Vt) must have an object after it. Therefore, it must be followed by an object NP. Look
at the following sentence:
The lazy dog wants.
This sentence is clearly not correct. It doesn’t make sense; there is something missing. How can we
complete it? Here are two possibilities:
The lazy dog wants a bone. (simple noun)
The lazy dog wants to sleep. (infinitive noun)
Both of the NPs used above to complete the sentence are object NPs because they come after a transitive
verb (Vt) and receive the action of the verb. The action of the sentence “moves” from the subject to the object in
a sentence with a transitive verb (Vt). A good way to test a verb and find out if it needs an object NP is by
asking the question “what?” after the subject and verb. For example, We buy what every semester? The noun
books answers the question in that sentence. Books is an object NP; therefore the verb buy is transitive. Here
are a few examples of transitive verbs.
buy
want
give
have
find
love
watch
bring
kick
carry
cook
type
write
open
Intransitive Verbs
An intransitive verb (Vi) does not have an object after it. Therefore, with an intransitive verb (Vi), there is
no "movement" from a subject to an object. Other words might follow an intransitive verb or modify it,
however. Let's look at another example sentence:
The lazy dog barks.
The subject NP is easy to find. It is The lazy dog. The VP is also easy to find. It is made up of only one
word: barks. Notice that there is no object NP after the verb. Bark is an intransitive verb (Vi). It cannot take
an object. Look at these two sentences again:
*The lazy dog wants.
The lazy dog barks.
The first sentence is incomplete. It has a transitive (Vt) verb, but it does not have an object NP. The
second sentence is complete. It has an intransitive verb (Vi), so it does not need an object NP. When a sentence
has a transitive verb and an object NP, the object NP is considered part of the verb phrase (VP).
Exercise 3
Underline the verb phrase in the following sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The lazy dog barks loudly.
The lazy dog barks at 10:00 p.m.
The lazy dog barks in the house.
The lazy dog barks at the mailman.
The lazy dog barks from loneliness.
What did you notice about the VPs in the sentences on the previous page? In all of the sentences, the main
word, or nucleus, of the VP is the intransitive verb barks. As we have already seen, barks is a verb that does
not need an object NP. However, there are other words that come after the verb in each sentence. These are
loudly, all night long, in the house, at the mailman and from loneliness. They tell how, or where, or when, or
why the dog barks.
These words and prepositional phrases are adverbs or phrases that tell location, direction, and time. These
words are not object NPs because they do not name something that receives the action of the verb. They do not
answer the question, "The dog barks what ?" In fact, there is no answer to that question, so we can see that
bark is an intransitive verb. Here are some examples of intransitive verbs.
lie
laugh
go
sneeze
sit
happen
sleep
travel
come
rise
Exercise 4
Choose 5 of the intransitive verbs in the box above and use them in original sentences on the lines below. Add
an adverb or prepositional phrase after the verb in each sentence.
1. _____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________________________
Many verbs can be transitive or intransitive, depending on how they are used. Sometimes the verb may
change meaning a little bit depending on whether it is transitive (Vt) or intransitive (Vi). Look at these
examples:
My car is running well.
Vi
They ran a few errands.
Vt
Exercise 5
Find the verb in the following sentences and mark it Vi if it is intransitive or Vt if it is transitive.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The butter melted in the sun.
The sun melted the butter.
The opera star sang a lovely song.
We all sang joyfully.
The students wrote lengthy compositions.
They wrote for three hours without stopping.
Linking Verbs
We mentioned before that not all verbs show an action. Sometimes, the main word of a VP is a special
kind of intransitive verb called a linking verb (Vl). Linking verbs connect the subject and the word or words
that follow the verb. The linking verb shows that the subject of the sentence and the word or words that come
after the verb are equal. In fact, the linking verb acts like an equal sign (=) in mathematics. Look at the
following examples:
Mr. Brown is a teacher.
Vl
Mr. Brown = teacher
We can see that Mr. Brown and teacher are the same person. The linking verb is joins the subject of the
sentence and the word teacher. The word or NP that comes after a linking verb is called a complement. A
complement may look like an object because it is a NP that comes after a verb, but it does not act like an
object. In the example sentence above, there is no action. The complement (teacher) is not receiving the action
of the verb. Therefore, it is not an object. Remember that a linking verb is a type of intransitive verb. It never
has an object; it has a complement instead.
There are not very many linking verbs in English, and you already know most of them. In fact, there are
only two linking verbs that can be followed by a NP complement. These are be and become.
Exercise 6
In the following sentences, underline the linking verb and circle the complement.
1. Mary is a nurse.
2. The students became doctors and lawyers.
3. The teachers were circus clowns.
4. English is an international language.
5. I will become a grandparent soon.
In Exercise 5, all of the complements are NPs. They are called noun complements (NC). There is another
type of complement that can come after a linking verb. That is an adjective complement (AdjC). Look at
these sentences:
The dog is a German shepherd.
NC
The dog is lazy.
AdjC
The first sentence has a linking verb and a noun complement. The dog and the German shepherd are the
same thing. But in the second sentence, the linking verb is followed by the adjective lazy. Lazy is describing
the subject of the sentence (dog) and is connected to it by the linking verb.
The linking verbs be and become can be followed by either a noun complement (NC) or an adjective
complement (AdjC).
There are a few other linking verbs that can only have an adjective complement (AdjC). These are the
linking verbs of sense and perception: smell, taste, feel, sound, look, appear, and seem.
Exercise 7
Underline the linking verbs in the following sentences. Circle the complements and label the noun
complements NC and the adjective complements AdjC.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The music sounds too loud.
This exercise looks difficult.
The old clothes became dirty and smelly.
This book is very helpful.
The students seem tired today.
The Prepositional Phrase (PP)
Every sentence must have a subject NP and a VP, or else it will not be a grammatical English sentence.
There is another type of phrase that is frequently used that we will also discuss in this chapter. That is the
prepositional phrase (PP). A PP is never a subject or object of a sentence. In fact, a PP is usually part of a NP
or VP. When a PP is part of a NP, it modifies the main noun, or nucleus of the NP. When it is part of a VP, the
PP modifies the verb. Additionally, a PP can modify an entire sentence, in which case it is usually at the
beginning of a sentence because it introduces the sentence.
Prepositional phrases are easy to recognize. They always begin with a preposition which is followed by a
NP. (The nucleus of this NP is called the object of the preposition. Don’t get confused between the object of a
preposition and the object of a VP.) You are probably familiar with many prepositions. Here is a list of some
common ones.
about
above
across
after
along
among
around
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
by
despite
down
during
for
from
in
into
like
near
of
off
on
out
over
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
until
up
upon
with
within
without
Exercise 8
Underline the prepositional phrases in the following sentences and notice whether they are part of a NP, a VP,
or if they introduce the whole sentence. There may be more than one PP in each sentence.
1. The cat in the tree won’t come down.
2. The capital of Argentina has one of the longest streets in the world.
3. He walked with a limp.
4. On rainy weekends, I enjoy playing computer games at home.
5. The winner of the marathon collapsed in the arms of the race official.
6. She looks exactly like her father.
7. In Texas, many kinds of wildflowers grow along the highways.
8. Many families enjoy picnics in Hermann Park.
9. About six months ago, I moved into that apartment.
10. The guests thanked the host for a delicious meal.
Sample Paragraph about Marta’s Superstitions (adapted from the ex. from Ready to Write, p. 26)
Superstitions affect several important aspects of Marta’s life. She is afraid of bad luck. She always
wears the pearl necklace from her grandmother. At school, she finds a seat in the middle of the room before a
test. She also feels superstitious about traveling. Marta never starts a trip on Friday. She always wears green
clothes. It is her lucky color. Marta’s favorite sport is tennis. She always wears a white T-shirt with her initials
on it. She uses lucky shoelaces in her sneakers. Before a tennis match, she eats eggs and a muffin.