Phrases and Clauses

Phrases – groups of words that function as a part of speech.

Noun Phrase: A group of words consisting of nouns or pronouns and their modifiers that function as a noun. All the parents had noticed how art had advanced their child’s learning ability. Verb Phrase: A group of words consisting of verbs working together and that function as a verb. Some doctors think that art should be used as a form of therapy for younger children. Prepositional Phrase: A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, and functions as an adjective or an adverb. Veronica likes to paint when she arrives home from school because it calms her down. Appositive Phrase: A group of words that include all the words that modify an appositive and function as an adjective - IT MUST BE SURROUNDED BY COMMAS. Dr.Veronica, a child’s therapist, likes to use art to communicate with kids that have a hard time expressing themselves in words. Verbal Phrases: A group of words that begin with a verbal and ends with a noun. ● Gerund Phrase verb ending in -ing that functions as a noun. Painting on a canvas, may not be a beginner artist's first approach since a canvas is expensive. ● Participial Phrase word ending in -ing (present participle) or -ed (past participle) that functions as an adjective. Veronica wanted new paints because her brother used all her paints for a school project. ● Infinitive Phrase verb preceded by the word “to” (to read, to study, to write) that function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. A lot of people like to draw rather than painting or coloring.

CLAUSES

Clauses – groups of words with BOTH a subject and a verb that function as parts of speech. There are TWO kinds: Independent and Dependent (called “Subordinate”)

INDEPENDENT – CAN stand alone as a complete sentence, known as a simple sentence pattern. Art therapy is used to communicate your emotions.

DEPENDENT (SUBORDINATE) – CANNOT stand alone as a complete sentence and MUST begin with a SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTION. There are seven (7) kinds:

Noun Clause: Used as the noun in a sentence and may function as a subject, a predicate noun, a direct object, an object of a preposition, an indirect object, or an appositive. ○ Timothee called his art teacher who gave him a bad grade. Adjective Clause: Used to modify a noun in an independent clause. Some adjective clauses begin with an introductory word: ○ The painting that he painted won first place in the art competition. Some adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns: ■ Jennifer’s brother was the one who had spilled all the paint. Adverb Clause: Used to modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in an independent clause, introduced by a subordinate conjunction and used to indicate time, place, cause, purpose, result, condition, and/or concession. Modifying verbs: ■ She found her brother's crayons where he was hiding them. (place) Modifying adjectives: ■ Using art as a form of therapy is extremely effective on young children. Modifying adverbs: ■ Veronica took longer to finish her art piece than she typically does. Relative Clauses: Dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun. ○ The doctor who specializes in therapy suggests painting as a stress reliever. Elliptical Clauses: Adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted. ○ When painting, the art teacher likes to play classical music. Essential Clauses: Clauses necessary to the meaning of the sentence. ○ The activity that Mary loves the most is finger painting with her grandma. Nonessential Clauses: Clauses that are NOT necessary to the meaning of the sentence. ○ Leonardo da Vinci, who was a procrastinator, was famous for painting the Last Supper.