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 Americans sat staring eagerly at their televisions, for the first televised presidential debate was about to air. Verb Phrase: A group of words consisting of verbs working together and that function as a verb. Marilyn Monroe, 36, is found dead in her bedroom. Prepositional Phrase: A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, and functions as an adjective or an adverb. 400,000 people gather for 3 days of music at Woodstock, swarming across the pastures of Max Yasgur’s dairy farm. 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. Michael Fallen, an author, introduces the word “hippie” in his series of stories for the San Francisco Examiner. 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. Desiring to purchase the new on trend white boots made Cindy eager to go to the store after school. Participial Phrase word ending in -ing (present participle) or -ed (past participle) that functions as an adjective. The first email message was sent on October 29th from a host computer at UCLA to another expecting host computer at Stanford. Infinitive Phrase verb preceded by the word “to” (to read, to study, to write) that function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Many Americans knew going to the moon was a huge step for mankind.
