Phrases and Clauses

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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.

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. Judy Garland is killed by an overdose at the age of 47. 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.

He was glad that legislation outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Adjective Clause: Used to modify a noun in an independent clause. Some adjective clauses begin with an introductory word:

Watts race riots were 6 days of rage and riots in Los Angeles where 34 were left dead and $200 million in damages. Some adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns: John F Kennedy was the candidate who got the most votes.

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:

They unfortunately put the protest bus sign where a few could see it. Modifying adjectives:

The five month student strike at San Francisco University felt longer than it was. (how much) Modifying adverbs:

Mary was more excited to go shopping than her sisters. (condition)

Relative Clauses: Dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun.

The student who finishes their exam first will earn a mystery prize.

Elliptical Clauses: Adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted.

When driving, Mariana attempts to stay focused seeing as how it's her first time driving without her father.

Essential Clauses: Clauses necessary to the meaning of the sentence.

John’s favorite part of Woodstock was the last morning because Jimi

Hendrix performed a solo version of the national anthem on the guitar. Nonessential Clauses: Clauses that are NOT necessary to the meaning of the sentence.

The first issue of Rolling Stones magazine, a new magazine devoted to music and popular culture, featured John Lennon on the cover.