Phrases and Clauses

Phrases 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 Phrases Verb Phrase: does not contain a subject could have been hiding (no subject) Prepositional Phrase: does not contain a subject or a verb in the kitchen (no subject or verb) Infinitive Phrase: does not contain a subject or a verb to go with them (no subject or verb)

Prepositional Phrase Includes a preposition, the object of the preposition, and any modifiers of that object under the umbrella for ourselves next to them among good friends May contain an article or another modifier Noun or pronoun that completes the prepositional phrase is the object of the preposition

Prepositional Phrase Examples Any modifier that comes between the prepositional phrase and its object is part of the prepositional phrase Examples: Leah has the lead in the school play. The carriage vanished into the thick mist. Come with Rick and me to the concert.

Careful! Prepositional phrases always contain an object that is a NOUN or a PRONOUN Example: Send the present to them.

Practice One of these students was Paul Fisher. Paul decided he would raise funds for Tangerine Middle School soccer. Organizing the fund raiser took months of great effort. Many different team members contributed their talents to the project. Now the the names of those who contributed are being publically thanked by the Tangerine citizens.

Adjective Phrase Prepositional phrase used as an adjective Adjective: Mrs. Fisher chose the blue one. Adj. Phrase: Mrs. Fisher chose the one with blue stripes.

Adjective Phrase Continued An adjective phrase modifies a noun or a pronoun and generally come after the words they modify They answer the same questions single-word adjectives answer What kind? Which one? How many/much? The store with the neon sign is open.

Adjective Phrase Examples Maya is a soccer player from Florida. Their enthusiasm for soccer brought them together. Their strategies about winning games were proved to work well.

Adverb Phrase A prepositional phrase used as an adverb is called an adverb phrase. Adverb: The team will reach the field soon. Adverb phrase: The team will reach the field by noon. 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 We got our new puppy at the animal shelter. A puppy is always ready for a game. He barks loudly for a puppy.

Adjective Phrase vs Adverb Phrase Adjective phrases usually follow the word or words they modify. Adverb phrases may appear at various places in sentences. Examples: At dusk, we went inside to eat dinner. We went inside at dusk to eat dinner. We went inside to eat dinner at dusk.

Adjective Phrase & Adverb Phrase An adverb phrase may be followed by an adjective phrase that modifies the object in the adverb phrase. Example: The boat landed on an island near the coast.

Clauses A word group that contains a verb and its subject and that is used as a sentence or as part of a sentence.

Independent Clause An independent (or main) clause expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself as a sentence Ex. I woke up late this morning. Do you know Joseph?

Independent Clauses When an independent clause stands alone, it is called a sentence. The term independent clause is usually only used when a clause is joined with another clause. Example: My mother drove me to school. My mother drove me to school, but my brother rode his bicycle.

Subordinate Clause A subordinate (or dependent clause) does not express a complete thought and cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence. Subordinate clauses are joined with independent clauses to express a complete thought.

Subordinate Clause May appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence. Subordinate clause: if they do not win 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.

Fragment A subordinate clause that is capitalized and punctuated as though it is a sentence is a sentence fragment. Example. If you know anybody that can help. Who are shown in the photographs below.

Practice