Phrases & ClausesEnglish 8 Honors

Mrs. Pullins

Webs

Phrase

Not a full

sent.

Not a complete thought

Prepositional phraseAdjective phraseAdverb phraseVerb phrase

Can have a subject

or a verb or

neither

Clause

Has a subject

Has a verb

Independent and Subordinate

Can express a complete thought

Prepositional Phrases

•Prepositional phrases modify adjectives or adverbs and are called either adjective phrases or adverb phrases.

Adjective Phrase

An ADJECTIVE PHRASE is prepositional phrase that is used to modify a noun.Examples: •Adj: Icy chunks fell from the sky.

•Adj. phrase: Chunks of ice fell from the sky. •Adj: I ordered a spaghetti dinner.

•Adj. phrase: I ordered a dinner of spaghetti.

Identify the adjective phrase & the word it modifies:

1. Students in my class are intelligent, lovely people.

2. My cat with the blue eyes is named Baby.

3. There was only enough room for you.4. The pants with big pockets look weird.

Adjective Phrases (continued)

• Sometimes there will be two adjective phrases in a row• The two phrases COULD modify the subject (noun)

Ex. I love the painting of flowers by Van Gough

- OR –

• The second adjective phrase could modify an object in the first adjective phrase

Ex. A number of the paintings by Van Gogh are in US museums.

Identify the adjective phrase & the word it modifies:

1. The importance of studying before tests cannot be denied.

2. The topics of importance in a unit are usually covered on the study guide.

3. Study guides with review questions on them help you focus your studying.

Appositives & Appositive Phrases

•An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed next to another noun or pronoun to identify, rename, or explain it.

•An appositive phrase is a noun or pronoun with modifiers placed next to a noun or pronoun to add information and details.

• To set up contrasts, appositives and appositive phrase may begin with the word not.

• Appositives and appositive phrases can be compound.• Two sentences can be combined by turning the information in

one sentence into an appositive.

Verbal & Verbal Phrases

• A verbal is a word derived from a verb but used as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

• A verbal with modifiers or a complement is called a verbal phrase.

• There are three kinds of verbals – participles, gerunds, and infinitives – and the phrases that can be formed around them.

• A participial phrase is a participle modified by an adverb or adverb phrase or accompanied by complement.

• A gerund phrase is a gerund with modifiers or a complement, all acting together as a noun.

• An infinitive phrase is an infinitive with modifiers, a complement, or a subject, all acting together as a single part of speech.

Clause

•A word group that contains a subject and verb

•Two types of clauses:•Independent: expresses a complete thought & can stand by itself as a sentence

•Subordinate (dependent): does not express a complete thought & cannot stand by itself as a sentence

Subordinate Clause

•Start with SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

AfterAlthough

AsAs if

As thoughBecause Before

HowIf

SinceSo thatThanThat

Though

UnlessUntilWhen

WheneverWhere

WhereverWhether

WhichWhileWho

WhomWhose

Kinds of Subordinate Clauses

•ADJECTIVE CLAUSES (a.k.a. relative clause): An adjective clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun or pronoun by telling what kind or which one.

• Essential Adjective Clause – begins with a relative pronoun like that or who. An essential clause is not set off by commas.

• Nonessential Adjective Clause – begins with a relative pronoun like which or who and set off by commas.

Kinds of Subordinate Clauses

•ADVERB CLAUSE: a subordinate clause that modifies a verb, adjective, adverb, or verbal by pointing out where, when, in what manner, to what extent, under what condition, or why.

•NOUN CLAUSE: a subordinate clause that acts as a noun in a sentence.