Phrases and Clauses

Phrases and Clauses

PhrasesO Phrase: A group of related words

that is used as a single part of speech and that does not contain both a verb and its subject

Types of PhrasesO Verb Phrase: does not contain a subject

O could have been hiding (no subject)

O Prepositional Phrase: does not contain a subject or a verbO in the kitchen (no subject or verb)

O Infinitive Phrase: does not contain a subject or a verbO to go with them (no subject or verb)

Prepositional PhraseO Includes a preposition, the object of the

preposition, and any modifiers of that object

O under the umbrella for ourselvesnext to them among good friends

O May contain an article or another modifier

O Noun or pronoun that completes the prepositional phrase is the object of the preposition

Prepositional Phrase Examples

O Any modifier that comes between the prepositional phrase and its object is part of the prepositional phrase

O Examples:O Leah has the lead in the school play.

O The carriage vanished into the thick mist.

O Come with Rick and me to the concert.

Careful!O Prepositional phrases always

contain an object that is a NOUN or a PRONOUN

O Example: Send the present to them.

PracticeO One of these students was Paul Fisher.

O Paul decided he would raise funds for Tangerine Middle School soccer.

O Organizing the fund raiser took months of great effort.

O Many different team members contributed their talents to the project.

O Now the the names of those who contributed are being publically thanked by the Tangerine citizens.

Adjective PhraseO Prepositional phrase used as an

adjective

O Adjective: Mrs. Fisher chose the blue one.

O Adj. Phrase: Mrs. Fisher chose the one with blue stripes.

Adjective Phrase Continued

O An adjective phrase modifies a noun or a pronoun and generally come after the words they modify

O They answer the same questions single-word adjectives answerO What kind? Which one? How

many/much?

O The store with the neon sign is open.

Adjective Phrase ExamplesO Maya is a soccer player from Florida.

O Their enthusiasm for soccer brought them together.

O Their strategies about winning games were proved to work well.

Adverb PhraseO A prepositional phrase used as an adverb

is called an adverb phrase.O Adverb: The team will reach the field soon.O Adverb phrase: The team will reach the

field by noon.

O An adverb phrase modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb and answers the same questions. When? Where? How? To what extent?

Adverb Phrase Examples

O We got our new puppy at the animal shelter.

O A puppy is always ready for a game.

O He barks loudly for a puppy.

Adjective Phrase vs Adverb Phrase

O Adjective phrases usually follow the word or words they modify.

O Adverb phrases may appear at various places in sentences.

O Examples:O At dusk, we went inside to eat dinner.O We went inside at dusk to eat dinner.O We went inside to eat dinner at dusk.

Adjective Phrase & Adverb Phrase

O An adverb phrase may be followed by an adjective phrase that modifies the object in the adverb phrase.

O Example:O The boat landed on an island near

the coast.

ClausesO A word group that contains a verb

and its subject and that is used as a sentence or as part of a sentence.

Independent ClauseO An independent (or main) clause

expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself as a sentence

O Ex. I woke up late this morning. Do you know Joseph?

Independent ClausesO When an independent clause stands

alone, it is called a sentence. O The term independent clause is usually

only used when a clause is joined with another clause.

O Example: My mother drove me to school.My mother drove me to school,

but my brother rode his bicycle.

Subordinate ClauseO A subordinate (or dependent clause)

does not express a complete thought and cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence.

O Subordinate clauses are joined with independent clauses to express a complete thought.

Subordinate ClauseO May appear at the beginning, in the

middle, or at the end of a sentence.

O Subordinate clause: if they do not win

O Sentence: If they do not win, they will have to practice harder next year.

They will have to practice harder next year if they do not win.

FragmentO A subordinate clause that is

capitalized and punctuated as though it is a sentence is a sentence fragment.

O Example. If you know anybody that can help.

Who are shown in the photographs below.

Practice