PHRASE, CLAUSE, AND SENTENCE

PHRASE

• A phrase is a collection of words that may have nouns, but it does not have a subject doing a verb. Phrases are considered as the second level of classification as they tend to be larger than individual words, but are smaller than sentences. We refer to the central element in a phrase as the head of the phrase. If the head is a noun then the phrase is called a noun phrase.

No Kinds of Phrase Example

1 Noun My coach is happy. (noun phrase as subject)

2 Verb Henry made my coach very proud. (verb phrase as predicate)

3 Adjectival Dad bought [(a blue and green) sweater]

4 Adverbial He scored the goal very quickly.

5 Prepositional The man in the house rented it. (prepositional phrase

modifies a noun adjectivally)

He went in the arena. (prepositional phrase modifies a verb

adverbially)

6 Gerundive Dad talked about winning the game.

7 Participial Racing around the corner, he slipped and fell.

8 Absolute [(My chores) (completed for the week)], I went on a walk.

9 Infinitive 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)

Noun Phrase in Order

CLAUSE

• A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb.

• When you want to use commas and semicolons in sentences and when you are concerned about whether a sentence is or is not a fragment, a good way to start is to be able to recognize dependent and independent clauses.

Independent Clause

• An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a sentence.Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz.

Dependent Clause

• A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word.When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz . . . (What happened when he studied? The thought is incomplete.)

Dependent Marker Word

• A dependent marker word is a word added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause.When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, it was very noisy.

• Some common dependent markers are: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

Connecting dependent and independent clauses

• 1. Coordinating Conjunction• The seven coordinating conjunctions used as

connecting words at the beginning of an independent clause are and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet. When the second independent clause in a sentence begins with a coordinating conjunction, a comma is needed before the coordinating conjunction:Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, but it was hard to concentrate because of the noise.

• 2. Independent Marker Word• An independent marker word is a connecting

word used at the beginning of an independent clause. These words can always begin a sentence that can stand alone. When the second independent clause in a sentence has an independent marker word, a semicolon is needed before the independent marker word.Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz; however, it was hard to concentrate because of the noise.

• Some common independent markers are: also, consequently, furthermore, however, moreover, nevertheless, and therefore.

Some Common Errors to Avoid

• Comma Splices• A comma splice is the use of a comma

between two independent clauses. You can usually fix the error by changing the comma to a period and therefore making the two clauses into two separate sentences, by changing the comma to a semicolon, or by making one clause dependent by inserting a dependent marker word in front of it.

• Incorrect: I like this class, it is very interesting.• Correct: I like this class. It is very interesting.• (or) I like this class; it is very interesting.• (or) I like this class, and it is very interesting.• (or) I like this class because it is very

interesting.• (or) Because it is very interesting, I like this

class.

• Fused Sentences• Fused sentences happen when there are two

independent clauses not separated by any form of punctuation. This error is also known as a run-on sentence. The error can sometimes be corrected by adding a period, semicolon, or colon to separate the two sentences.

• Incorrect: My professor is intelligent I've learned a lot from her.

• Correct: My professor is intelligent. I've learned a lot from her.

• (or) My professor is intelligent; I've learned a lot from her.

• (or) My professor is intelligent, and I've learned a lot from her.

• (or) My professor is intelligent; moreover, I've learned a lot from her.

• Sentence Fragments• Sentence fragments happen by treating a

dependent clause or other incomplete thought as a complete sentence. You can usually fix this error by combining it with another sentence to make a complete thought or by removing the dependent marker.

• Incorrect: Because I forgot the exam was today.

• Correct: Because I forgot the exam was today, I didn't study.

• (or) I forgot the exam was today.

SENTENCE

• Anatomy of Sentence (Part of Speech)Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection. Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. In fact, the same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next.

• 1. Books are made of ink, paper, and glue. In this sentence, "books" is a noun, the subject of the sentence.

• 2. Deborah waits patiently while Bridget books the tickets. Here "books" is a verb, and its subject is "Bridget."

• 3. We walk down the street. In this sentence, "walk" is a verb, and its subject is the pronoun "we."

• 4. The mail carrier stood on the walk. In this example, "walk" is a noun, which is part of a prepositional phrase describing where the mail carrier stood.

What is a Verb?

• A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence.

• 1. Dracula bites his victims on the neck. The verb "bites" describes the action Dracula takes.

• 2. In early October, Giselle will plant twenty tulip bulbs. Here the compound verb "will plant" describes an action that will take place in the future.

• 3. My first teacher was Miss Crawford, but I remember the janitor Mr. Weatherbee more vividly. In this sentence, the verb "was" (the simple past tense of "is") identifies a particular person and the verb "remembered" describes a mental action.

• 4. Karl Creelman bicycled around the world in 1899, but his diaries and his bicycle were destroyed. In this sentence, the compound verb "were destroyed" describes an action which took place in the past.

What is a Noun?

• A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn.

• A noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a subject complement, an object complement, an appositive, an adjective or an adverb.

•

• 1. Late last year our neighbours bought a goat.

• 2. Portia White was an opera singer. • 3. The bus inspector looked at all the

passengers' passes. • 4. According to Plutarch, the library at

Alexandria was destroyed in 48 B.C. • 5. Philosophy is of little comfort to the

starving.

Your task…

• Proper Nouns• Common Nouns• Concrete Nouns• Abstract Nouns• Countable Nouns• Non-Countable Nouns• Collective Nouns

What is a Pronoun?

• A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive. Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun.

What Is An Adjective?

• An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.

• The truck-shaped balloon floated over the treetops.

• Mrs. Morrison papered her kitchen walls with hideous wall paper.

• The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea.

What is an Adverb?

• An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much". While some adverbs can be identified by their characteristic "ly" suffix, most of them must be identified by untangling the grammatical relationships within the sentence or clause as a whole. Unlike an adjective, an adverb can be found in various places within the sentence.

What is a Preposition?

• A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

• The book is on the table. • The book is beneath the table. • The book is leaning against the table. • The book is beside the table. • She held the book over the table.

What is a Conjunction?

• You can use a conjunction to link words, phrases, and clauses, as in the following example:

• I ate the pizza and the pasta. • Call the movers when you are ready.

What is an Interjection?

• An interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey emotion. It is not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence. You usually follow an interjection with an exclamation mark. Interjections are uncommon in formal academic prose, except in direct quotations.

• Ouch, that hurt! • Oh no, I forgot that the exam was today. • Hey! Put that down! • I heard one guy say to another guy, "He has a

new car, eh?" • I don't know about you but, good lord, I think

taxes are too high!

SENTENCE PATTERN

• A sentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicate and a subject. Sentences contain clauses. Simple sentences have one clause. Remember that every clause is, in a sense, a miniature sentence. A simple sentence contains only a single clause, while a compound sentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentence contains at least two clauses.

The Simple Sentence Pattern

• The most basic type of sentence is the simple sentence, which contains only one clause. A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. A simple sentence can be as short as one word:

Run!

• Usually, however, the sentence has a subject as well as a predicate and both the subject and the predicate may have modifiers. All of the following are simple sentences, because each contains only one clause:

• Melt! • Ice melts. • The ice melts quickly. • The ice on the river melts quickly under the

warm March sun. • Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the

ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

Six Sentence Patterns

• Sentence Patterns #1 - Noun / Verb• The most basic sentence pattern is a noun followed by a verb.

It's important to remember that only verbs that do not require objects are used in this sentence pattern.

• Examples: • People work.

Frank eats.• This basic sentence pattern can be modified by adding a noun

phrase, possessive adjective, as well as other elements. This is true for all the sentence patterns that follow.

• Sentence Patterns #2 - Noun / Verb / Noun• The next sentence pattern builds on the first

pattern and is used with nouns that can take objects.

• Examples: • John plays softball.

The boys are watching TV.

• Sentence Patterns #3 - Noun / Verb / Adverb• The next sentence pattern builds on the first

pattern by using an adverb to describe how an action is done.

• Examples: • Thomas drives quickly.

Anna doesn't sleep deeply.

• Sentence Patterns #4 - Noun / Linking Verb / Noun• This sentence pattern uses linking verbs to link one

noun to another. Linking verbs are also known as equating verbs - verbs which equate one thing with another such as 'be', 'become', 'seem', etc.

• Examples: • Jack is a student.

This seed will become an apple.

• Sentence Patterns #5 - Noun / Linking Verb / Adjective

• This sentence pattern is similar to sentence pattern #4, but uses linking verbs to link one noun to its description using an adjective.

• Examples: • My computer is slow!

Her parents seem unhappy.

• Sentence Patterns #6 - Noun / Verb / Noun / Noun

• Sentence pattern #6 is used with verbs that take both direct and indirect objects.

• Examples: • I bought Katherine a gift.

Jennifer showed Peter her car.

COMPLEX VS SIMPLE SENTENCE• Complex sentences refer to sentences that have more than

one subject and one verb. Complex sentences are connected by conjunctions and other types of linking words. Other complex sentences are written with relative pronouns, as well as other sentences using more than one clause. This exercise starts off easy by using two simple sentences and using a conjunction to connect the two sentences to make one complex sentence.

• Combing simple sentences to make complex sentences is an important exercise to help you advance in your writing abilities. This writing exercise focuses on taking simple sentences and transforming them into complex sentences which are then combined into a paragraph.

• Example: Tom is a boy. He is eight years old. He goes to school in Philadelphia.

• Complex Sentence: -> Tom is an eight-year old boy who goes to school in Philadelphia.

• Here are some simple rules to remember when combining simple sentences into complex sentences:

• Don't repeat words • Change words if necessary • Add words to connect ideas