Clause, phrase and sentence http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/clause-phrase-and-sentence

The basic unit of English grammar is the clause:

[An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000] 

[when he left it in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother]

[and had just had it valued by a London dealer at £180,000.]

Clauses are made up of phrases:

[An unlucky student] + [almost lost] + [a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000] 

[when] + [he] + [left] + [it] + [in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown] + [inherited] + [the 1698 Stradivarius violin] + [from his mother]

[and] [had just had it valued] + [by a London dealer] + [at £180,000.]

We can join two or more clauses together to make sentences.

An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000 when he left it in the waiting room of a London station.

William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother and had just had it valued by a London dealer at £180,000.

 

clause structure verb patterns noun phrase verb phrase adverbial phrases prepositional phrases sentence structure

adjective phrases

clause structure 

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All clauses in English have at least two parts: a noun phrase and a verb phrase: 

Noun phrase (subject) Verb phrase

The childrenAll the people in the bus

laughedwere watching

But most clauses have more than two parts:

Noun phrase (subject)

Verb phrase

The childrenJohnAll of the girlsThis soupMary and the familyShe

laughedwantedare learning tasteswere drivingput

a new bicycleEnglishawfulto Madridthe flowers

  in a vase

The first noun phrase is the subject of the sentence:

The children laughed.John wanted a new bicycle.All the girls are learning English.She put the flowers in the vase.

English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. He was a teacher.I’m waiting for my wife. Is late. She is late.

… except for the imperative which is used to give orders:

Stop!Go away.

… and for "soft imperatives" like invitations and requests:

Please come to dinner tomorrow.Play it again please.

If we have no other subject we use "there" or "it" as subject. We call this a ‘dummy subject’:

There were twenty people at the meeting..There will be an eclipse of the moon tonight.

It’s a lovely day. It’s nearly one o’clock.I have toothache. It hurts a lot.

verb patterns 

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The structure of the clause depends on the verb. For example:

An intransitive verb has the structure: N(=noun) + V(=verb): (John) + (smiled). A transitive v erb  has the structure: N + V + N: (We) + (had been playing) + (football) A link verb has the structure: N + V + Adj : (She) + (looked) + (happy) A phrasal verb has the structure: N + V + p + N (She) + (gave) +(back) + (the money)

orN + V + N + p (She) + (gave) + (the money) + (back)

 

intransitive verbs transitive verbs link verbs double object verbs verbs with -ing forms verbs with to + infinitive reporting verbs with that, wh- and if clauses two- and three-part verbs verb patterns - adverbials clauses: short forms relative clauses reporting: reports and summaries verbs - questions and negatives

wh- clauses

Intransitive verbs have the pattern N + V (noun + verb). The clause is complete without anything else:

Noun Phrase (Subject) Verb Phrase

JohnNothingThe baby

smiledhappenedwas sleeping

(John) (smiled).(Nothing) (has happened).(The baby) (was sleeping).

transitive verbs 

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Transitive verbs have a noun phrase as object:

Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Noun phrase

(Object)

JohnWeSome of the children

wantedhad been playingare learning

a new bicycle.football.English.

This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).

link verbs 

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Some verbs are followed by an adjective phrase. The adjective phrase is called the complement:

Noun phrase (Subject)

Verb phrase

Adjective phrase (complement)

IEveryoneThis soupThe milk

am feelinglookedtasteshas gone

hungryvery happyawfulsour

This pattern is N + V + Adj (noun + verb + adjective phrase).

These verbs are called link verbs.

Some link verbs (for example be; become; seem) can have a noun phrase as a complement:

Noun phrase (Subject)

Verb phrase

Noun phrase (complement)

Our neighbourHe She

wasbecame seems

a strange mana geologista nice girl

This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).

double object verbs 

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Some verbs, like give and bring can have two different patterns after them:

Noun Phrase (Subject)

Verb Phrase

Noun Phrase (Direct object)

Prepositional 

phrase

SheThey

gavebrought

some moneya lot of food

to the old manfor the animals

 >>>>  <<<<

Noun Phrase (Subject)

Verb Phrase

Noun Phrase (Indirect object)

Noun Phrase (Direct object)

SheThey

gavebrought

the old manthe animals

some moneya lot of food

These verbs are called double object verbs. When we have two noun phrases after the verb the first noun phrase is the indirect object and the second noun phrase is the direct object.

verbs with -ing forms 

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Some transitive verbs can have a noun phrase as an object:

Everybody likes good food.George considered the problem.

or the –ing form of the verb:

Everybody likes eating.George considered starting again.

Note: we suggest that you read about Verbs with to + infinitive before doing this activity.

verbs with to + infinitive 

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Some verbs have the pattern N + V + to+infinitive:

They agreed to help.We decided to go.

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + N + to+infinitive:

She told him to go home.They advised us to wait.

Note: we suggest that you read about Verbs with -ing forms before doing this activity.

reporting verbs with that, wh- and if clauses 

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Reporting verbs with that clauses:

Some verbs introduce a report, an idea or a summary. These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + (that) + clause

When we want to say what someone says or thinks we can use a clause with that;

He said that I had to see a doctor.I thought that he was being silly.

We can leave out the word that:

He said I had to see a doctor.I thought he was being silly.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She reminded him that it was time to go.He told me he was a friend of yours.

These verbs have the pattern;

N + V + N + (that) + clause.

Reporting verbs with wh- and if clauses

Some verbs introduce summaries, reports, questions or problems:

She explained what we had to do.He asked if I was readyI didn’t know what to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + wh- + clause:She wondered where she was.

or

N + V + if + clause:Ken asked if we wanted to go.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She asked me if I was ready.He told me what I had to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + N + wh- + clause:I told them what he was doing.

or

N + V + N + if + clause:Ken asked us if we wanted to go.

two- and three-part verbs 

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Two part verbs

Some verbs consist of two words – a verb and a particle (p). These verbs have a number of patterns:

Peter came in. (N + V + p)He took out his diary. (N + V + p + N)He gave the money back. (N + V + N + p)

Phrasal verbs

Some transitive two part verbs are phrasal verbs. They have two different patterns.

N + V + N + p

She gave the money backHe knocked the vase overWe will be leaving our friends behind

or

N + V + p + N

She gave back the moneyHe knocked over the vaseWe will be leaving behind our friends.

When the object is a pronoun these verbs always have the first pattern N + V +N + p:

She gave it backHe knocked it overWe will be leaving them behind

Three part verbs

Some verbs are made up of three parts – a verb and two particles. They have the pattern:

N + V + p + p + N:

His girl friend walked out on him.She soon caught up with the other runnersChildren should look up to their parents.

verb patterns - adverbials 

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A clause often has one or more adverbial phrases:

The children laughed happily. (N + V + Adv)

All the girls are learning English at school in the second year. (N + V + Adv + Adv)

Last year  Mary and the family were driving to Madrid in an old bus. (Adv + N + V + Adv + Adv)

She put the flowers carefully in a vase. (N + V + N + Adv + Adv)

 

clauses: short forms 

backnextA: Short forms as answers

1. We often use short forms to answer questions. Usually we repeat the first word of the verb phrase:

A: Can you come round tomorrow?B: Yes, I can/ No I can’t.

A: Have you seen Jack lately?B: Yes, I have/No I haven’t.

A: Do you like living here?B: Yes, I do/ No I don’t.

Sometimes we change the modal verb: (see Verb Phrase)

A: Will you come?B: Yes, we might.

A: Do you think they might come?B: Yes, I think they will.

2. We often use verbs like think, suppose, expect and hope, to answer questions.

when the answer is yes we add so (I expect so, I hope so, etc.). if the answer is no we say I don’t think so, I don’t suppose so, etc.. but with hope we say I hope not.

A: Can you come tomorrow?B: I hope so.

A: Will they be at home?B: I expect so.

A: Is Amsterdam the capital of The Netherlands?B: I don’t think so.

A: Do you think it’s going to rain?B: I hope not.

3. We often use adverbials of probability like perhaps, probably, possibly, maybe, definitely and certainly as short answers:

A: Do you think it’s going to rain?B: Yes, possibly.

A: Can you come round tomorrow?B: Definitely!

When the answer is negative we put not after the adverbial:

A: Do you think it’s going to rain?B: Probably not.

A: Can you come round tomorrow?B: Maybe not.

4. We can use short forms to agree or disagree with what someone says. Usually we use the first word in the verb phrase:

A: It’s a lovely day.B: Yes, it is.

A: I think they might have missed their train.B: Yes, I think they might.

A: The children will be coming to see us next week.B: No they won’t. They are going to their grandparents.

Sometimes we change the modal:

A: The children will be coming to see us next week.B: Yes, they might.

A: The children might be coming to see us next week.B: No they won’t. They are going to their grandparents.

We use do/does//don’t/doesn’t to agree or disagree with a statement in the present simple form:

A: Your grandmother looks very well.B: Yes, she does.

A: I think Jack lives here.B: No he doesn’t

…and we use did/didn’t for past simple:

A: Everybody really enjoyed the trip.B: Yes, they did.

A: The children went to Malaysia last year.B: No they didn’t. They went to Singapore.

5. We sometimes put a short tag at the end of a comment. We use a Yes/No question form for the tag. If the comment is affirmative we normally use a negative tag:

A: It’s a lovely day.B: Yes , it is , isn’t it.

A: Your grandmother looks very well.B: Yes , she does , doesn’t she.

A: Everybody really enjoyed the trip.B: Yes , they did , didn’t they.

If the comment is negative we normally use an affirmative tag:

A: They didn’t seem to enjoy the trip very much.B: They did n’t , did they.

A: It’s not a very nice day.B: No , it isn’t , is it.

A: They haven’t done much.B: No , they haven’t , have they.

6. Sometimes we put a tag on the end of a statement:

It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?Your grandmother looks very well, doesn’t she?They haven’t done much, have they?They all seemed to enjoy the trip, didn’t they?

7 We use affirmative tags with so and neither or nor to add to what someone has said.

We use so to add to an affirmative:

A: John is working in Barcelona.B: And so is Maria [= Maria is working in Barcelona, too.]

A: I love Indian food.B: So do I = [I love Indian food, too.]

A: They’ve just bought a new computer.B: Really? So have we. [= We have also bought a new computer.]

We use neither or nor to add to a negative:

A: I don’t smoke any more.B: Neither do I. [= I also don’t smoke]

A: They haven’t written to us for ages.B: Nor has Peter. [= Peter hasn’t written to us for ages, too.]

A: We won’t be taking a holiday this year.B: Neither will we. [= We also won’t be taking a holiday this year.]

A: I never have time for breakfast.B: Nor have I. [= I am as busy as you]

relative clauses 

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1. The relative pronouns:

The relative pronouns are: 

Subject  Object  Possessive

who whom, who whose

which which whose

that that

We use who and whom for people, and which for things.We use that for people or things.

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which tell us more about people and things.

2. Relative clauses to postmodify a noun 

We use relative clauses to postmodify a noun - to make clear which person or thing we are talking about. In these clauses we can have the relative pronoun who, which, whose or that

as subject (see Clauses Sentences and Phrases)

Isn’t that the woman who lives across the road from you?The police said the accident that happened last night was unavoidableThe newspaper reported that the tiger which killed its keeper has been put down.

WARNING:The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.We do not repeat the subject:

*The woman who [she] lives across the road…*The tiger which [it] killed its keeper …

as object of a clause (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

Have you seen those people who we met on holiday?You shouldn’t believe everything that you read in the newspaper.

The house that we rented in London was fully furnished.The food was definitely the thing which I enjoyed most about our holiday.

- Sometimes we use whom instead of who when the relative pronoun is the object:

Have you seen those people whom we met on holiday?

- When the relative pronoun is object of its clause we sometimes leave it out:

Have you seen those people we met on holiday?You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspaper.The house we rented in London was fully furnished.The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed most about our holiday.

WARNING:The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.We do not repeat the object:

Have you seen those people who we met [them] on holiday?The house that we rented [it] in London was fully furnished.The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed [it] most about our holiday.

as object of a preposition. When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition we usually put the preposition after the verb.:

You were talking to a woman >>> Who was the woman who you were talking to?My parents live in that house >>> That’s the house that my parents live in.You were talking about a book. I haven’t read it. >>> I haven’t read the book which you were talking about.

- When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition we usually leave it out:

Who was the woman you were talking to?That’s the house my parents live in.

- Sometimes we use whom instead of who:

Who was that woman whom you were talking about.

- When we use whom or which the preposition sometimes comes at the beginning of the clause:

I haven’t read the book about which you were talking.

- We can use the possessive form, whose, in a relative clause:

I always forget that woman’s name >>> That’s the woman whose name I always forget.I met a man whose brother works in Moscow.

3. Times and places

We also use when with times and where with places to make it clear which time or place we are talking about:

England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year when we got married.I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day when the tsunami happened.Do you remember the place where we caught the train?Stratford-upon-Avon is the town where Shakespeare was born.

... but we can leave out the word when:

England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year we got married.I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day the tsunami happened.

4. Giving additional information

 We use who, whom, whose, and which (but not that) in relative clauses to tell us more about a person or thing.

as subject (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

My uncle, who was born in Hong Kong, lived most of his life overseas.I have just read Orwell’s 1984, which is one of the most frightening books ever written.

WARNING:The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.We do not repeat the subject:

My uncle, who [he] was born in Hong Kong, lived most of his life overseas.I have just read Orwell’s 1984, which [it] is one of the most frightening books ever written.

as object (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really enjoyed.My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw in “On the Waterfront”.

- we can use whom instead of who as object:

My favourite actor was Marlon Brando, whom I saw in “On the Waterfront”.

WARNING:The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.We do not repeat the object:

We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really enjoyed [it].My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw [him] in “On the Waterfront”.

as object of a clause :

He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired.We are going back to Venice, which we first visited thirty years ago.

We can also use who as the object.

He finally met Paul McCartney, who he had always admired.

WARNING:The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.We do not repeat the object:

He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired [him].We are going back to Venice, which we first visited [it] thirty years ago.

as object of a preposition:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, who he had read about in the newspaper.That’s the programme which we listened to last night.

- We sometimes use whom instead of who:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, whom he had read about in the newspaper.

- The preposition sometimes comes in front of the relative pronoun whom or which:

He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, about whom he had read in the newspaper.That’s the programme to which we listened last night.

5.  Quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns

 We often use quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns:

many of whom - most of whom - one of which - none of whomsome of which - lots of whom - two of which - etc.

We can use them as subject, object or object of a preposition.

She has three brothers two of whom are in the army.I read three books last week, one of which I really enjoyed.There were some good programmes on the radio, none of which I listened to.

6. Using  "which" to give more information

We often use the relative pronoun which to say something about a clause:

He was usually late, which always annoyed his father.We’ve missed our train, which means we may be late.

 

reporting: reports and summaries 

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Many teachers and learners think that tense forms in reported speech are complex.

In fact, "reported speech" follows exactly the same rules as the rest of the language.

1. When we report what people say or think we use:

clauses with that:

Everybody knew that it was Henry’s birthday tomorrow.She explained that she would do as much as she could to help.

but we can leave out the word that:

Everybody knew it was Henry’s birthday tomorrow.She explained she would do as much as she could to help.

wh-clauses (see Wh-clauses) and clauses with if (see note in Wh-Clauses)

He was asked what he had been doing the previous night.She explained why she went by train rather than by car.

to-infinitives:

We all agreed to do as much as we could.Who told you to come?

2. We very rarely try to report exactly what someone has said. We usually give a summary:

Mary: Oh dear, we’ve been walking for hours. I am exhausted. I don’t think I can go any further. I really need to stop for a rest.Peter: Don’t worry. I’m not surprised that you’re tired. I’m tired too. I’ll tell you what. I’ll see if I can find a place to sit down, and then we can stop and have our picnic.

>>>When Mary complained that she was tired out after walking so far, Peter said they could stop for a picnic.

3. Tense forms in reports and summaries.

When we are reporting what people say or think in English we need to remember:

that the tense forms in reports and summaries are the same as in the rest of the language:

This is a letter that Andrew Brown wrote ten years ago:

I am twenty-two years old and I am at University studying engineering. I take my final exams next month and I will finish university in July.

I want to take a year off and travel round the world. I will need to make some money while I am travelling so Iwould like to learn to teach English as a second language so that I can make some money while I am abroad. A friend of mine has recommended your course very highly. She also gave me some details, but I would like to ask a few more questions.

What courses do you have in the summer and when do they start? How much do the courses cost? Is there an examination at the end?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Andrew Brown.

 If you were telling a story about Andrew might write something like this.:

When Andrew was 22 he was an engineering student in his last month at the university. He wanted to travel abroad after he had finished his course at the university, but he would need to earn some money while he wasabroad so he wanted to learn to teach English as a foreign language. A friend had recommended a course but Andrew needed more information. So he wrote to the school and asked them when their courses started and how much they were. He also wanted to know if there was an examination at the end of the course.

You would use past tense forms to talk about something that happened ten years ago.

If you were reporting or summarising what Andrew wrote you might start off by saying:

Andrew told me that when he was 22 he was an engineering student in his last month…

... and you could go on in the same way. You would use past tense forms to talk about something which happened ten years ago. So tense forms in reports and summaries in English are the same as in the rest of the language.

Sometimes you have to choose between a past tense form and a present tense form. 

If you are talking about the past but you mention something that is still true you could use a present tense form to show you agree that it is true:

John said he had stayed at the Shangri-la because it is the most comfortable hotel in town.Mary said she enjoyed the film because Robert de Niro is her favourite actor.Helen said she loves visiting New York.

... or a past tense form:

John said he had stayed at the Shangri-la because it was the most comfortable hotel in town.Mary said she enjoyed the film because Robert de Niro was her favourite actor.Helen said she loved visiting New York,

If we are talking about something that everybody knows is true we normally use a present tense:

Michael said he had always wanted to climb Everest because it is the highest mountain in the world.Mary said she loved visiting New York because it is such an exciting city.

4.  to-infinitives in reports and summaries:

We often use the to-infinitive after verbs of thinking and feeling to report or summarise actions:

decide - hope - intend

“I think I will start all over again” >>> He decided to start all over again.

“I am going to write to the newspaper about it” >>>She intended to write to the newspaper about it.

… and verbs of saying:

agree - promise - refuse

“I can do the shopping for you if you like” >>> He agreed to do the shopping for me.

I’m sorry. I would love to help you but I’m afraid I can’t >>>She refused to help me.

After some verbs we use a direct object and the infinitive (see verbs followed by infinitive):

advise - ask - encourage - invite - order - remind - tell - warn - expect - intend - want - would like - would prefer

“I think you should turn the lights out now” >>>She reminded me to turn the lights out.

“Be very careful, children. The sea can be very dangerous so please don’t go in the water.” >>>She warned the children not to go in the water.