Phrases/Clauses

Classic Rock BOOK OF WRITING SECTION 3 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 bands gathered on the stage to perform in front of the audience. Verb Phrase: A group of words consisting of verbs working together and that function as a verb.

Pete Townshend has written most of the high-charting songs performed by The Who. Prepositional Phrase: A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, and functions as an adjective or an adverb. Led Zeppelin is one of the best classic rock bands by far. 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.

The Eagles, an American rock band, were the most successful bands in the 1970s. 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.

Writing a song is very difficult when you don’t have a lot of experience. • Participial Phrase word ending in -ing (present participle) or -ed (past participle) that functions as an adjective.

People planning on forming a band must be ready to put in the effort. • Infinitive Phrase verbs preceded by the word “to” (to read, to study, to write) that function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Musicians must know when to play their instrument.

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.

The Beach Boys had five members. 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. Fleetwood Mac was a classic rock band that formed in 1967.

Adjective Clause: Used to modify a noun in an independent clause. Some adjective clauses begin with an introductory word: Santana will always remember the day when they received their first award.

Some adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns: The people in the audience who came to see the band are big fans. 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: When the band got their first hit, they celebrated. Modifying adjectives: Journey’s song “Don’t Stop Believin” is more popular than any song I

know.

Modifying adverbs: Freddie Mercury sang better than most musicians.

Relative Clauses: Dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun. • Ray Davies is the musician who formed the Kinks. Elliptical Clauses: Adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted. • While singing, John Fogery hits every single note. Essential Clauses: Clauses necessary to the meaning of the sentence. • The song that Blondie fans liked best is ‘Heart of Glass.” Nonessential Clauses: Clauses that are NOT necessary to the meaning of the sentence. • “Every Breath You Take”, released in 1983, is still listened to today.