Understanding Phrases and Clauses: Meaning, Functions, and Types, Appunti di Lingua Inglese

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Phrases and syntax

Syntax studies the way in which words can be combined : the form , positioning and grouping of the elements that are used to make up.

What is a phrase

phrase (countable)

SYNTAX

‣ A group of words that together have a particular meaning , especially when they express the meaning well in a few words :

• She used the phrase 'survival of the fittest’ ;
• I Edward Heath's famous phrase, 'the unacceptable face of capitalism’. ‣ A group of words without a subject and a predicate which is characterized by a unity of meaning and is used to form a clause or a sentence. Phrase (Sintagma) ≠ sentence Catchphrase → modi di dire.

Phrase, clause, sentence

‣ Phrase → a group of words without a subject and a predicate which is characterized by a unity of meaning and is used to form a clause or a sentence ; ‣ Clause → a group of words that contains a subject and a verb , but which is usually of a sentence part ; ‣ Sentence (word group) noun [C] → a group of words , usually containing a verb , which expresses a thought in the form of a statement , question , instruction or exclamation and starts with a capital letter when written. The metaphor of Chinese boxes ( embedding ): ‣ Sentence → [The man was wet] [because he had fallen in the river]; ‣ Clause →[(the man) (had fallen) (in the river)]; ‣ Phrase → : (in the river) Phrases , clauses , sentences are groups of words , but:

• Phrases don't have a subject and a predicate and are found inside clauses ;
• Clauses have a subject and a predicate and are found inside sentences ;
• Sentences are made of one or more clauses and are found inside texts.

Phrase

It is not a sentence because it is not a complete idea with a subject and a predicate.

• as elegant as possible. Adjective phrases are used to add extra information to Subject and Object , independently or as part of a noun phrase : ✓ Roger seems quite amusina ( info on subject ); ✓ Mary finds your novel particularly boring ( info on object ); ✓ The poor old lady has been crying all day ( info on subject ); ✓ I saw many young German tourists ( info on object ).

4. Adverb phrase → ( headword = Adverb )

• Quickly;
• Too quickly;
• Quickly enough;
• way too quickly. Adverb phrases are used to add circumstantial information on time , place , manner , etc. independently or as part of another phrase :
• Yesterday Laura walked through the park very quickly ( time, manner );
• Leave the book there, will you? ( place );
• The government report is extremely important for the nation.

5. Prepositional phrase → ( Preposition followed by a Noun phrase , No headword )

• in the dark wood;
• across the country;
• up the road. Prepositional phrases are used to add circumstantial information on time , place , manner , etc. independently or as part of another phrase:
• In autumn people love to walk in Central Park to enjoy the foliage;
• I've always liked red cars with white strips on the side;
• Many little children are afraid of the dark. ➡ NUOUN PHRASE

The syntax of noun phrases

‣ The headword of a noun phrase may be pre-modified by determiners , adjectives or other nouns. → For example: a large dinner ( plate ). ‣ It may be post-modified by a prepositional phrase → For example: a ( painting ) by Rembrandt.

The most important part of the noun phrase is the headword (or head), which is generally a noun , but sometimes a pronoun. ✴ (^) The head of a noun phrase can be pre-modified by determiners , numerals , adjectives , or other nouns. ✴ (^) Pre-modifiers can be epithets or classifiers. ✴ (^) The head of a noun phrase can be post-modified by a prepositional phrase or by a clause.

• These three young boys with big black hats;
• The old one;
• My old aunt from Liverpool;
• Your extremely interesting art book on Caravaggio.

Clauses as post-modifiers

Clauses can be used to modify the headword of a noun phrase. ‣ Relative clauses

• The woman who lives next door to your mum;
• The village where I was born;
• The guy whose dog won the first prize at the beauty contest. ‣ Non-finite clauses → verbi che non si riferiscono ad una persona come i participi.
• The choir singing the national anthem;
• The vaccine discovered in the US by an Italian scientist;
• The cheapest to go on holiday.

Embedding phrases

The process of placing a phrase within another phrase is called embedding. Embedded phrases are linked by a relationship of dependency.

• [The grey house with the red roof]NP;
• [The (grey )ADJP house (with the red roof)PP]NP BUT…
• [with PREP (the red roof)NP]PP BUT…
• [the (red)AdjP roof]NP

Main phrases vs. embedded phrases

Main phrases are "' independent ". For example most of the times you can move them inside the sentence. Embedded phrases depend on other phrases , they modify the head.

• The grey house with the red roof was destroyed by the fire

1. [Hospitals] [are Sued] by Seven [Foot Doctors] (= doctors specialized in foot diseases, podiatrists);
2. Hospitals are Sued by [Seven Foot] (= 2 meters) Doctors. ‣ Visiting aunts can be very boring! → (ls ' visiting ' independent or embedded ?)
3. [Visiting] [aunts] [can be] [very boring] → independent ;
4. [Visiting aunts] [can be] [very boring] → embedded. ➡ VERB PHRASE

The syntax of verb phrases

• The headword of a verb phrase is a lexical verb.
• Like in noun phrases, the head of a verb phrase can be pre-modified and post-modified.
• Pre-modifiers are mainly auxiliary verbs , but some types of adverbs are also possible.
• Post-modifiers are generally adverbs.
• A verb phrase can be followed by a noun phrase or by a prepositional phrase. (cf. transitive verbs , intransitive verbs , and ditransitive verbs ).
• My daughter studies Chinese;
• My daughter has been studying Chinese for ten years;
• My daughter should have studied Chinese;
• The DNA was discovered by Watson and Crick in 1953;
• Tom and his family have never been to Brazil;
• She rarely goes to the cinema alone;
• The President was speaking very slowly;
• I sent Mary a long letter of complaint.

Case study: Verb phrases in news English

Consider the following headlines and newspaper articles and look at the VPs in them :

• Twelve ( were ) killed in protests across Afghanistan;
• Fanzine ( is ) cleared over racism claims;
• Heathrow service drivers ( are ) to strike;
• Obama ( is ) to hold first news conference of the year;
• Dozens ( were ) arrested (while they were ) protesting against California education cuts;
• Palin before resignation ( says ): I can't take it anymore. ➡ ADJECTIVE PHRASE In an adjective phrase (AP), the head word is an adjective :
• Susan is [AP clever ];
• The doctor is [AP very late ];

• My sister is [AP fond of animals]. The pre-Head string in an AP is most commonly an adverb phrase such as very or extremely. Adjective Heads may be followed by a post-Head string :
• [AP happy to meet you];
• [AP ready to go];
• [AP afraid of the dark]. A small number of adjective Heads must be followed by a post-Head string. The adjective Head fond is one of these. Compare :
• My sister is [AP fond of animals];
• *My sister is [ fond ].

Adjective Post-modification

‣ Prepositional phrase

• Lucy is afraid of the dark;
• I was aware of the difficulties of the project;
• Why are you so angry at your brother?;
• Mary is much taller than Peter. ‣ Non-finite clause
• John is very difficult to please. He's such a demanding child!;
• The place was easy to reach thanks to the many signposts;
• He was aware of being late. ‣ Complement clause
• I was afraid (that) he wasn't coming;
• I'm quite sure (that) you'Il be fine at your friend's house;
• He was certain (that) his girlfriend was still waiting for him. ➡ ADVERB PHRASE In an adverb phrase , one or more words work together to give more information about an adverb.
• Especially softly ;
• Much too quickly.

Prepositional phrases are made of a preposition followed by a noun phrase. We don't have a head word as such, since prepositions are not considered head words. !!!! NO HEAD !!!!

• [PP through the window];
• [PP over the bar];
• [PP across the line];
• [PP after midnight];
• after a very long walk;
• behind the old building;
• for all the hungry children. This makes prepositional phrases easy to recognize. Only rarely are prepositional phrases pre- modified by an adverb :
• [PP straight through the window];
• [PP right over the bar];
• [PP just after midnight]. DEFINING THE CLAUSE Clause (CI) → technical a group of words that contains a subject and a verb , but which is usually only part of a sentence. Clauses are the main structures used to compose sentences. A sentence will be made up of at least one main clause (a clause that makes sense on its own and that is not dependent on or part of another clause ); A clause can function as a sentence by itself or as part of a sentence. A sentence may also contain one or more subordinate clauses (a clause that cannot stand on its own and that is Dependent on the main clause ).

The structure of clauses

Clauses are made of phrases , which occupy different positions and serve different functions. We have a distinction between FORM ( type of phrase ) and FUNCTION ( role of the phrase in the clause ). Five possible functions of phrases:

1. Subject ;
2. Verb ;
3. Object :
   • direct object ;
   • indirect object.
4. Complement :
   • subject complement ;
   • object complement ;
   • adjunct. ➡ SUBJECT → (or AGENT / ACTOR or PATIENT ): Function generally served by a noun phrase. It normally precedes the verb in a clause. It is linked to the verb by “ agreement ".

It is generally the agent , the actor of the verb (in active constructions ) but can only be the patient of the action in the case of passive constructions. Examples:

• The mouse runs up the clock;
• The mice run up the clock;
• The house was destroyed by a fire. But:
• To fly on a hot-air balloon is the best experience one can have ( subject = nominal clause);
• In the wardrobe is where I put my clothes ( subject = prepositional phrase; cleft sentence). ➡ VERB This function is always performed by a verb phrase. It is normally preceded by a subject , but not necessarily ( imperatives , Get out! ). It is the fundamental part of the clause , though we also have instances of verbless clauses (the so- called minor clauses → Fire!, Bye bye, Hey John! ; or elliptical clauses ). Verbs agree with the subject in number. Examples: A: Where are you going on holiday next summer? B: To Australia (elliptical clause). A: I should leave now; it's getting late B: Bye bye, Terry (minor clause). ➡ OBJECT ‣ Direct object (or PATIENT) Generally performed by a noun phrase positioned after the predicator. It is the entity or object to which the action is done (patient). Example → Brenda is expecting a big surprise But: I told him to come to the party (nominal clause) ‣ Indirect object (or RECIPIENT/BENEFICIARY) Performed by a noun phrase or by a prepositional phrase , it is positioned after the predicator. It describes the beneficiary of an action. Examples:
• James gave his wife a bunch of flowers;
• James gave a bunch of flower to his wife. ➡ COMPLEMENT → (or PREDICATIVE ) The complement function can be performed by a noun phrase or by an adjective phrase , and it is a strategy used to give extra information on the subject ( Subject complement ) or the object ( Object complement ). Complements generally comes after the verb to be , copular verbs , and similar. Examples:
• Paul has become a qualified engineer
• Roger seems quite amusing
• I find your novel particularly boring

B: Hallo John! A: Tom and Susan got married yesterday! B: Congratulations! ‣ Major clauses → do have a predicator and are the clauses we are more familiar with. Ex → Could you answer the phone?; Mary studies Chinese; Come here!; Dad suggested that she change her car. ‣ Elliptical vs. non-elliptical clauses → Major clauses are said to be elliptical when they have some omitted constituents which can be retrieved from previous clauses.

• What are you two talking about so secretly?→ <We're talking about> Mary's birthday present. → QUESTION/ANSWER ELLIPSIS.
• What time are they supposed to be back? → Early? → TEXTUAL ELLIPSIS. Elliptical clauses are very common in conversation , while non-elliptical clauses are the norm in written prose. Initial, medial and final ellipses
• Tom called the office but received no answer;
• Tom and Mary studied hard, Tom to pass the exam, Mary because she loved the subject.
• Why can't he find himself a wife? He will , but I don't know when he will find himself a wife>. Examples of ellipsis in conversation : Unstressed function words are often left out in conversation ( subject pronouns , auxiliaries )

1. What you going to do? You going to tell your sister about that? ( OMITTED AUXILIARY );
2. Saw Susan and her new boyfriend at the cinema the other day! ( OMITTED SUBJECT );
3. A: Got a spider in here! ( OMITTED SUBJECT + AUX. ) B: You what? ( OMITTED AUX. + VERB? ) A: Said I got a spider in here! ( OMITTED SUBJ. + AUX. ) ‣ Independent clauses (or main clauses) → They can stand alone , i.e. they do not need any other clause to convey a whole message , and they have MOOD of their own and can shift in MOOD → Sonny sang a moving song; Did Sonny sing a moving song?; Sing us a moving song, Sonny! ‣ Dependent clauses (or subordinate clauses) → They cannot stand alone because they need another clause to convey a message that is perceived as complete. They expand the message of the main clause. They're usually introduced by subordinative conjunctions (or subordinators ). ‣ Embedded clauses → They are non-ranking clauses , i.e. they function as clauses (conveying a message , as independent clauses do , or expanding it, as dependent clauses do), but they are down-ranked clauses , functioning as constituents within another clause. Embedded clauses are for instance those clauses used as postmodifiers in phrases :

• I really like the girl that I met at the party;

• John is very difficult to please;
• This is the cheapest way to go an holiday;
• The new vaccine discovered in China is very strong.

The clause complex (or sentence)

When two or more clauses combine to form a larger structure , we refer to this new combination as a clause complex (or sentence ). At least one independent clause is needed in each clause complex.

• Example 1 : Paratactic relation / coordination [ Sally went to the market]MAIN and [bought some vegetables] MAIN
• Example 2 : Hypotactic relation/ subordination [ The train arrived at the station]MAIN [when it was dark]SUB. CLAUSE
• Example 3 : Clause complex with embedded clause [When I was a child]SUB. CLAUSE [I used to go to school with a boy (who was older than me)]MAIN + EMBEDDED CLAUSE

Types of dependent clauses

Three main classes of subordinate clauses:

1. NOMINAL CLAUSES (or COMPLEMENT CLAUSES );
2. RELATIVE CLAUSES ;
3. ADVERBIAL CLAUSES. ➡ NOMINAL CLAUSES Nominal clauses serve the same role of noun phrases ( subject , object , complement ). They can be finite (with finite verb) or non- finite clauses (with non-finite verb). ‣ Finite nominal clauses : that^ clauses ,^ wh-clauses

• I asked him what he was doing ( OBJECT );
• Pam believes that lim's job is quite good ( OBJECT );
• What happened took everybody by surprise ( SUBJECT );
• That Mary should move out surprised John ( SUBJECT );
• It surprised me that John wanted a new car ( SUBJECT );
• The reason is that John is bored of his job ( COMPLEMENT );
• The question is what we do now (COMPLEMENT). ‣ Non-finite nominal clauses :^ infinitive^ and^ participle clauses^ (-ing forms)
• I asked him to leave the room ( OBIECT );
• Watching a Christmas tree makes me feel happy( SUBJECT );
• To eat mum's cake is to experience a culinary delight ( SUBJECT and COMPLEMENT );
• They accused the keeper of giving peanuts to the elephants ( OBJECT ). MAIN CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

• Since I arrived late, I wasn't allowed to enter the institution.

3. Concessive (or contrast) clauses : although ; even though ; while , whereas , whilst …

• My son studies Medicine, while my daughter studies Art;
• Even though the project sounds promising, it still has some weak points;
• John won the race, although he was young and unexperienced.

4. Conditional clauses : if , unless , as long as , on the condition that …

• We won't allow him to sit the exam, unless he has a plausible justification;
• If it rains tomorrow, we won't go out for a picnic;
• A widow has left money to an animal charity on the condition that her cats are looked after for the rest of their lives.

5. Purpose clauses : so…that , to , in order to , so as to …

• They bought on alarm, so that they can feel safe when thev're not at home;
• He will study in Australia for nine more months in order to perfect his English.

6. Result clauses : so..that, so…. as to …

• The picture was so old that nobody could recognize her;
• It was so dark as to make it impossible to see her face.

7. Comparative (or comparison) clauses : as…. as, than …

• You're taller than I am;
• I’ll try to run as fast as I can.

8. Degree clauses : insofar as, inasmuch as, so far as …

• We agree only insofar as the budget is concerned;
• Recession will last at least 5 years, inasmuch as we can predict. A note on adverbial clauses The examples we saw so far use finite verb forms. However, adverbial clauses can be constructed using non-finite forms , such as present and past participles. We can call these clauses participle clauses (see also slide on relative clauses). MAIN CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

Purpose clauses can be realized through infinitive clauses :

• I spent a month in Australia to improve my English (purpose cl.).