Catching phrases

I have already mentioned phrases in previous Grammar Talk posts, such as a brief differentiation from clauses. But now I think it is time for them to have a post of their own.

As you may or may not already be aware, a phrase is a collection of one or more words that work towards the same purpose. In a grammatical sense, we often use "phrase" to refer to using multiple words in situations when, structurally, one word may also be used, so we get things like noun phrases and verb phrases used in place of single nouns and verbs. If this still isn't quite making sense, never fear! Details and examples are, as always, below. It's time to get syntactical!

Prepositional phrases

I've already discussed prepositional phrases as part of my previous post about prepositions, so I won't go into all the detail again; the key thing to note is that a prepositional phrase places the subject of the sentence in time and space. Some examples of this are as follows:

Before the war, the kingdoms shared a bustling trade.

The penguin is in the box.

Call me in the morning, and we’ll go out to a movie.

It wasn’t until after the party that I noticed the spinach in my teeth.

The cat under the table glowered at the one on the chair.

Adjective and abverb phrases

Adjectives and adverbs (and therefore adjective and adverb phrases) are both methods of adding description to sentences, which they do by modifying nouns and various-things-that-aren't-nouns respectively. An adjective phrase might contain an adverb within it, as in "delightfully sour", because adverbs are used to modify adjectives. However, the overall phrase is still describing whatever noun it is that is so sour and delightful, making the phrase adjectival. Some other examples of adjective phrases are as follows:

The hot afternoon sun beat down on the boardwalk.

I've been very frustrated with my computer all day.

Timmy may be smaller than his sister, but he's faster than her, too!

Adverb phrases, in contrast, can be applied to a much wider range of situations. They're used to modify verbs ("she eats very messily"), adjectives ("kererū are extremely noble creatures"), and quantifying words ("almost all the candy was gone"). They can describe something's duration, frequency, or degree; they provide a level of specificity or certainty; they can provide a personal evaluation or perspective. (Note, however, that an adverb phrase is different to an adverbial clause.) Adverbs are like the commas of syntax—they do so much that I'll have to write up a whole separate post for them. Watch this space!

Noun phrases

We all know that a noun is a person, place, or thing; quite often, we talk about this in the context of specific words (cat, mom, baseball, Albequerque, Cher). You certainly can have a noun phrase that's only one word, especially if you're using plurals, a proper noun, or a pronoun.

Elephants can't jump.

We are going to Chicago next week.

Jarvis loves to explore cupboards.

However, we don't write nouns in a vacuum, and when we use them there are very frequently other words involved. Most often, a noun phrase will also include a determiner (e.g. an, this, my, the), which can give some context for the noun, such as whether it's singular, distinct, one of many, or belonging to or associated with someone or something else. You may also find descriptions in a noun phrase by way of adjectives and adverbs, such as:

She wore a yellow, polka-dot bikini.

A suddenly quiet Jo left the room.

A noun phrase might even go so far as to contain other phrases within itself, such as adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrases. This means that a noun phrase could end up being quite extensive, as in the case of "that pile of pictures of Uncle John we found in the bottom drawer of Grandma's sewing cupboard when we visited last Christmas". The key is that you know what belongs in the noun phrase because you could replace the phrase with an appropriate pronoun—in the case of this latest example, a following sentence could say "I really liked looking through them".

Verb phrases

Like noun phrases, verb phrases have the potential to contain multitudes. As well as the action itself, a verb phrase might include any other type of phrase, including other verb phrases, but most commonly adverb and noun phrases. They're even strong enough to contain separate clauses! Confusing, yes?

If you had some grammar drilled into you in school, you may also know verb phrases by the term "predicate". For those of my readers who missed out on this aspect of education, a brief explanation: sentences (and clauses) can be divided into a subject (who's doing the thing) and predicate (the thing being done). This is the most simplistic way of picking a clause apart, but it makes for a good starting point.

For example, in the sentence "Tony was very angry because Sarah broke the big vase", we have the following:

• An adjective (phrase): "big"
• A noun phrase: "the big vase"
• A verb phrase: "broke the big vase"
• A subject noun: "Sarah"
• An adverbial clause: "because Sarah broke the big vase"
• An adjective phrase: "very angry"
• A verb phrase: "was very angry because Sarah broke the big vase"
• A subject noun: "Tony"

This is not the first time I'm saying this, nor will it be the last: being able to hone your writing craft, whatever you create with it, becomes much, much easier when you develop an understanding of the building blocks of language that you're working with. What I'm giving you here is just a glimpse of the fundamentals, but even that will be greatly valuable.

Until next time, happy writing!