TYPES OF PHRASES

Lesson no. 24 PHRASES

Subject English

Grade 9^th

• A phrase is a group of words which does n`t have its own subject and predicate. Such a group of words makes some sense but not complete sense. It is a part of the sentence and helps in making the sentence, as;

1. A man of parts
2. A man of worth
3. In the corner
4. On the hill
5. About his failure
6. On my success
7. At the bus stops
8. At the railway station
9. At her remarks
10. Aware of

• A phrase can be turned into a meaningful sentence as;

1. A man of parts,                       He is a man of parts.
2. A man of worth,                     Ali is a man of worth.
3. In the corner,                           He sat in the corner.
4. On the hill,                              The Eagle was on the hill.
5. About his failure,                    I was worried about his failure.
6. On my success,                       He congratulated me on my success.
7. At the bus stops,                     He met me at the bus stops.
8. At the railway station,            I received him at the railway station.
9. At her remarks,                       He was sad at her remarks.
10. Aware of ,                               I am aware of changes here.

• Further read the following sentences: as;

1. This is a gold chain.
2. This is a golden chain.
3. This is a chain made of gold.
4. This is a chain which is made of gold.

• All these sentences make the same meaning, but there is a difference of formation of the underlined words:

1. ‘Gold chain’ is a group of words (Noun + Noun) without any finite verb. It acts as a unit; so it is a phrase. Here it acts as a noun; so it is a noun phrase (NP)
2. ‘Golden chain’ is also a group of words (Adjective ‘golden’ takes a noun ‘chain’ without any finite verb. But it is a natural construction of adjective and noun, not a unit of group, so it is not a Phrase.
3. ‘Made of gold’ is a group of word without a finite verb and it acts as a unit. Furthermore, it qualifies the previous word ‘chain’. Hence, ‘chain’ made of gold is an Adjective Phrase.
4. ‘Which is made of gold’ is also a group of words but it has a finite verb ‘is’. Hence it is a clause, not a phrase.
5. So we can say:

• A phrase is a group of words which acts as a unit and which has no finite verb. A clause is a group of words that has a finite verb, so phrases are of eight kinds in number which are as follows: