Phrases and Kinds of Phrases
Phrases
A fast reader of English does not pick words, he picks
phrases and a fluent speaker of English does not speak words, he speaks
phrases. The advice given by some guru of English language takes English
language skill to another level. But, wait! First tell me what a phrase is.
In very simple way more than one word forms a phrase. Does
this make sense? It should. Words seldom come in isolation, they tend to come
in groups, and these groups of words are called phrases. Sometimes these groups
are called clauses, but clauses are different from phrase as clauses have
complete subject and complete predicate and make complete sense. Phrases, on
the other hand, do not have subjects; they make sense but not complete sense.
Nevertheless, two or more than two words grouped together to
make some sense are named as a phrase. Underlined parts in the following
sentences are phrases.
1.
He left with his dog.
2.
Waking and sleeping
without routine is not good for you.
3.
Irritated dog
can bite you.
Clear. Now let us advance.
Grammar gurus divide phrases in different kinds. If you are
learning English language, and you are intending to become an English guru
yourself, you should know all about these kinds of phrases.
Kinds of Phrases
Most of the grammarian put phrases in the following boxes:
- 1. Noun Phrase
- 2. Verb Phrase
- 3. Gerund Phrase
- 4. Infinitive Phrase
- 5. Appositive Phrase
- 6. Participial Phrase
- 7. Prepositional
- 8. Absolute Phrase
Now, let us discuss kinds of phrases one by one so that things become
clearer and usable.
Noun Phrase
A noun phrase has a noun and all its modifiers. Noun Phrase
comes as subject, direct object, indirect object and object of preposition in a
sentence. Underlined parts of the following sentences are noun phrases.
1.
Government of
Pakistan is keeping an eye on the situation.
2.
Our brave people
will always stand against aggression.
3.
No one can defeat the
brave sons of our land.
Verb Phrase
A phrase consisting of a verb and all its modifiers is
called a verb phrase. Most important and integral verb modifiers are helping
verbs. Adverbs are also verb modifiers. Consider the following examples.
1.
Hindus and many other
religions of the world have been worshipping idols since times
immemorial.
2.
Farmers are being
introduced to modern technology.
3.
They didn’t accept
him as their leader immediately.
4.
He was waiting
for good things to happen.
Infinitive Phrase
A group of words having infinitive at its beginning is
called an infinitive phrase. Infinitives, you know, function like nouns,
adjectives and adverbs. Here are some examples to make the concept clear.
1.
To help the poor of
his society became the sole interest of his life.
2.
The patient was finding it
hard to remember anything.
3.
To work with his
father on his farm was the last thing he wanted to do.
4.
Her mother wanted her to
go with her husband.
Gerund Phrase
Gerunds are words formed from verbs to function like nouns.
So gerund phrase is phrase having noun as the main word in it. Here are a few
examples to make the concept understandable.
1.
Taking the risk of
being caught was necessary, and so she did.
2.
Going out at night
can be dangerous.
3.
It was hard avoiding
the temptation.
4.
The little singer went on singing
ceaselessly and the audience was mesmerised.
Appositive Phrase
An appositive phrase repeats a noun or a noun phrase. Of
course, it will have more than one word. Only then it will be called a phrase. Look
at the examples given below.
1.
Muhammad (Peace be upon
him), the savoir of mankind, is the greatest leader this world ever has.
2.
Pakistan, our
motherland, came into being after many sacrifices.
3.
Mughals, the famous
rulers of India, got killed ruthlessly by British conquerors.
Participial Phrase
A phrase starting with participle is called participial
phrase. Generally, a participial phrase is set apart from the rest of the sentence
by using commas. Here go the examples:
1.
Drowned in the true
love of his creator, he often left his home and went into a lonely cave
when he reached forty.
2.
Having understood
what he wanted to understand, he got busy with his work.
3.
I have serious doubts, considering
your past record.
4.
We will consider
everything, taking feedback bit by bit.
Prepositional Phrase
Perhaps the most frequent type of phrase we come across both
in written and spoken English is the prepositional phrase. A preposition phrase
begins with a preposition and it acts like a noun, an adjective and an adverb. Look
at the examples given below.
1.
He was born in
Makkah.
2.
They camped by the
river.
3.
In no time they disappeared.
4.
He could not see her in
the dark of night.
Absolute Phrase
If a group of words has a subject but not a verb, this kind
of group is an absolute phrase. It modifies the whole sentence. It can be left
out of the sentence without disturbing the meaning of the sentence seriously. Given
below are some examples to make the concept clear.
1.
With a few die-hards,
he entered the enemy camp and took everyone by surprise.
2.
He was attacking like
lighting, a sword in each hand.
3.
Their heads hanging
down, they looked demoralized and lost.
4.
The entire building, blood
stains everywhere, was littered with slain bodies.
Sometimes two or more adjectives come together like hard and
fast, far and foremost. My grammarian put them under separate head which they
name as adjective phrase. So are adverb phrases which are groups of adverbs
without having any other words because otherwise they either noun phrases or
verb phrases.
Why should learners of language know different kind of
phrase?
Of course, expert use of phrases takes your language to next
level. Your reading becomes a lot faster and efficient, and your speaking
becomes a lot fluent and impressive. Instead of using isolated words, you start
picking up bigger chunks of language.
Here four tests to clear the concept further.
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