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BY
HELEN LORENA SOLANO
ALEXANDER ARANDA
is a group of words without both a subject and
predicate. Phrases combine words into a larger unit
that can function as a sentence element. For example,
a participial phrase can include adjectives, nouns,
prepositions and adverbs; as a single unit, however, it
functions as one big adjective modifying a noun (or
noun phrase).
Noun phrases may serve as subjects,
direct objects, indirect objects, or
objects of prepositions. Most noun
phrases are constructed using
determiners, adjectives and a head
noun.
Examples: My coach is happy. (noun
phrase as subject)
From a functional point of view, the noun phrase has
four major components, occurring in a fixed order:
the determinative, that constituent which determines
the reference of the noun phrase in its linguistic or
situational context;
premodification, which comprises all the modifying or
describing constituents before the head, other than
the determiners;
the head, around which the other constituents
cluster; and
postmodification, those which comprise all the
modifying constituents placed after the head.
What if a single noun isn't specific enough for our purposes? How then do we modify a noun to
construct a more specific reference?
English places modifiers before a noun. Here we indicate the noun that is at the center of a noun
phrase by an asterisk (*) and modifiers by arrows pointed toward the noun they modify.
white house
*
large man
*
Modification is a somewhat technical term in linguistics. It does not mean to change something, as
when we "modify" a car or dress. To modify means to limit, restrict, characterize, or otherwise focus
meaning. We use this meaning throughout the discussion here.
Modifiers before the noun are called pre-modifiers. All of the pre-modifiers that are present and the
noun together form a noun phrase .
NOUN PHRASE
pre-modifiers noun
*
By contrast, languages such as Spanish and French place modifiers after the noun
casa blanca
white house
*
homme grand
big man
*
•
*
•
The most common pre-modifiers are adjectives, such as red , long , hot . Other types of words
often play this same role. Not only articles
the
water
*
but also verbs
running
water
*
and possessive pronouns
her
thoughts
*
Premodifiers limit the reference in a wide variety of ways.
Order:
second, last
Location:
kitchen, westerly
Source or Origin:
Canadian
Color:
red, dark
Smell:
acrid, scented
Material:
metal, oak
Size:
large, 5-inch
Weight:
heavy
Luster:
shiny, dull
A number of pre-modifiers must appear first if they appear at all.
Specification:
a, the, every
Designation:
this, that, those, these
Ownership/Possessive:
my, your, its, their, Mary’s
Number:
one, many
These words typically signal the beginning of a noun phrase.
Some noun phrases are short:
the table
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• To appreciate the rich possibilities of premodifiers, you have only to see how much you
can expand a premodifier in a noun phrase:
• the book
the history book
the American history book
the illustrated American history book
the recent illustrated American history book
the recent controversial illustrated American
history book
the recent controversial illustrated leather bound
American history book
We were all taught about pre -modifiers: adjectives appearing
before a noun in school. Teachers rarely speak as much about
adding words after the initial reference. Just as we find pre modifiers, we also find post -modifiers—modifiers coming after a
noun.
The most common post-modifier is prepositional phrases:
the book on the table
*
civil conflict in Africa
*
the Senate of the United States
*
Post-modifiers commonly answer the traditional news reporting questions of who
, what , where , when , how , or why . Noun post-modifiers commonly take the
following forms:
prepositional phrase
the dog in the store
*
_ing phrase
the girl running to the store
*
_ed past tense
the man wanted by the police
*
wh - clauses
the house where I was born
*
that/which clauses
the thought that I had yesterday
* If you see a preposition, wh - word ( which, who, when where ), -ing
verb form, or that or which after a noun, you can suspect a post-modifier and the
completion of a noun phrase.
The noun together with all pre- and post-modifiers constitutes a single unit, a
noun phrase that indicates the complete reference. Any agreement in terms of
singular/plural is with the noun at the center.
The boys on top of the house are .............
* Here the noun at the center of the noun phrase is plural, so a plural form of
the verb is called for (not a singular form to agree with the singular house) .
Verb phrases are composed of the
verbs of the sentence and any
modifiers of the verbs, including
adverbs, prepositional phrases or
objects. Most verb phrases function as
predicates of sentences.
Example: Henry made my coach very
proud. (verb phrase as predicate)
The verb phrase (VP) in English has a noticeably different structure,
since the information it carries about mood, tense, modality, aspect,
and voice is quite different from the information carried by a noun
phrase. The verb phrase has two functional parts,
the auxiliary, a grammatical morpheme carrying information
about mood, tense, modality, and voice; and
The main verb, a lexical morpheme carrying its lexical
information and, usually, an inflection.
Adjective phrases are composed of
the adjectives that modify a noun
and any adverbs or other elements
that modify those adjectives.
Adjectival phrases always occur
inside noun phrases or as predicate
adjectives.
Example: Dad bought [(a blue and
green) sweater]
The adjective phrase in English has four functional constituents,
premodification, those modifying, describing, or qualifying
constituents which precede the head;
the head, which is an adjective or participle serving as the focus of
the phrase;
postmodification, that modifying constituent which follows the
head; and
complementation, (the major subcategory of postmodification
here) that constituent which follows any postmodification and
completes the specification of a meaning implied by the head.
Adverbial phrases are composed of the
adverbs that modify verbs, adjectives, or
clauses. Adverbial phrases may occur
with more than one word. The extra
adverb is called an intensifier Example:
He scored the goal very quickly.
Prepositional phrases are composed of the preposition
and a following noun phrase. Prepositional phrases
are used either adjectivally to modify nouns or
adverbially to modify verbs, adjectives, or clauses.
Examples:
The man in the house rented it. (prepositional phrase
modifies a noun adjectivally)
He went in the arena. (prepositional phrase modifies a
verb adverbially)
Dad was happy about the goal. (prepositional phrase
modifies an adjective adverbially)
On reflection, I believe that she was correct.
(prepositional phrase modifies a clause adverbially)
Gerundive phrases may function in any way
in which nouns may function: as subjects,
objects, objects of a preposition, or even
nouns functioning as adjectives Gerundive
phrases may contain gerunds, adjectives,
objects, adverbs or other main verb
elements.
Example: Dad talked about winning the
game.
Participles are root verbs with an "ed,
en or ing" suffix. In the case of the
past participial, the form may be
irregular. Participial phrases may
contain objects and other elements
that might occur with main verbs.
Participial phrases always function as
adjectives.
Example: Racing around the corner,
he slipped and fell
Infinitive phrases are composed of an infinitive verb (the base
form of the verb preceded by to) and any modifying adverbs
or prepositional phrases. The infinitive phrase has three
functions: noun, adjective, adverb.
Examples:
My duty as a coach is to teach skills. (infinitive phrase
functions as a noun)
My sister wanted a cat to love. (infinitive phrase functions as
an adjective)
Bill is eager to work on his skating. (infinitive phrase functions
adverbially, modifying an adjective)