Class Notes

Class: VIII Topic: PHRASES & CLAUSES

Subject: ENGLISH

Phrase- A phrase is any collection of related words that, unlike a sentence,

has no combination of subject-predicate. The words in a phrase function
together so that the phrase itself acts as a single part of speech. Phrases
can never stand alone as sentences.

For example,
He is playing with his toy.
(Here, ‘with his toy’ is a phrase as there is no subject verb/predicate
combination in it and it is not making any proper sense.)

Types of Phrases -

1. Noun phrase
A noun phrase is a group of words that consists of a noun (or pronoun eg.
he, she, it) and other words that modify the noun. Modifiers can refer to
articles (a/an/the), quantifiers (some, a lot, a little), demonstratives (this,
that, those), possessives (his, her, their), adjectives or adverbs.
Noun phrases are used to give more information about a noun. They can
function as the subject, object or complement of a sentence.
Examples of Noun Phrase-
a) “Your black cat is always outside.”
Here, the noun phrase is
“Your black cat.”
It is used to add detail to the sentence, by indicating the subject (cat) and
describing it (a cat that is black and belongs to someone).
b) “I saw a scary movie at midnight.”
The noun phrase is:
“A scary movie.”
It is used to indicate the object of the sentence (a movie) and provide a
description of it (scary).
It is used to indicate the object of the sentence (a movie) and provide a
description of it (scary).
It has been argued that a noun phrase can consist of only one word, which
would be either a noun or pronoun.
“Beth is walking home from school”.
Here, Beth is the only noun in the sentence, so it can be considered a one-
word noun phrase.

2. Adjective phrase
An adjective phrase (also known as an adjectival phrase) is a type of phrase
which is a group of words that consists of an adjective and other words that
modify or complement it. Adjective phrases have the purpose of an
adjective and are used to describe or add more detail to a noun/pronoun.
They can come before or after a noun.
Here are some examples of adjective phrases.
a) “The man with short hair is running in the park.”
The adjective phrase is
“Short hair.”
It appears after the noun and is used to provide more detail about the noun
(the man).
b) “I ate some sugar-coated doughnuts.”
The adjective phrase is:
“Sugar-coated.”
It appears before the noun and is used to provide more information about
the noun (doughnut) - it describes what they were like (sugar-coated).

3. Adverb phrase
An adverb phrase (also known as an adverbial phrase) is a group of words
that consists of an adverb and often other modifiers. They have the
function of an adverb in a sentence and are used to modify verbs,
adjectives and other adverbs. They can appear before or after the elements
they modify
Here are some examples of adverb phrases.
a) “I go to the gym every weekend.”
The adverb phrase is:
“Every weekend.”
It gives more information about how often the action takes place.
In the sentence:
“He very carefully lifted the trophy.”
The adverb phrase is:
“Very carefully.”
It gives more detail about how the action (lifted) is carried out.

4. Verb phrase
A verb phrase is a group of words that consists of a head (main) verb and
other verbs such as copular verbs (verbs that join the subject to the subject
complement i.e. seems, appears, tastes) and auxiliaries (helping verbs ie.,
be, do, have). It can also include other modifiers. A verb phrase has the
function of a verb in a sentence.
Here are some examples of verb phrases.
In the sentence:
a) “Dave was walking his dog.”
The verb phrase is:
“Was walking.”
It consists of the auxiliary verb ‘was’, which indicates the tense of the
sentence, and the main verb ‘walking’, which indicates the action.
In the sentence:
b) “She will go to the party tonight.”
The verb phrase is:
“Will go.”
It consists of the modal verb ‘will’, which indicates a degree of certainty,
and the main verb ‘go’ which indicates the future action.

5. Prepositional phrase
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that consists of a preposition
and an object. It can also include other modifiers, but these are not
essential. A prepositional phrase can either act as an adjective or adverb in
a sentence. It is used to modify nouns and verbs and gives information
about the relationships between subjects and verbs.
Here are some examples of prepositional phrases.
a) “The rat runs into the box.”
The prepositional phrase is:
“Into the box.”
It gives information about where the subject (the rat) goes.
b) “The cut on my leg is painful.”
The prepositional phrase is:
“On my leg.”
It gives information about where the subject (the cut) is situated.

Practice questions-
Identify and underline the types of phrases in the given sentences-
1. After finishing his homework, Alex went to the park to play
basketball.
2. The enormous elephant with long tusks trumpeted loudly in the
jungle.
3. With great enthusiasm, Sarah delivered her speech to the audience.
4. A cup of hot cocoa is the perfect way to warm up on a cold winter
day.
5. The team has been practicing tirelessly for the upcoming
competition.
6. The cat sat on the windowsill.
7. He bought a car with a sleek, aerodynamic design.
8. After the rain stopped, the children went outside to play.

In English, there are two grammatical terms, that forms part of a sentence
which may or may not be meaningful. These are phrase and clause,
wherein the phrase implies a set of words, that acts as a single unit but
does not have a subject and predicate. On the contrary, a clause is also a
group of words, which contains a subject and a predicate.
Now, let’s have a look at the examples given below, to understand the
difference between phrase and clause in a better way:

(i) She lives in Gujarat, since 2012.

(ii) I went to my home, after returning from the party, last night.

BASIS FOR
PHRASE CLAUSE
COMPARISON
Meaning A phrase is a set of A clause is a component of
words, taken together grammatical arrangement, that
 BASIS FOR
PHRASE CLAUSE
COMPARISON
in the form of a contains set of words having a
conceptual unit. subject and verb.
Component of Clause or sentence Complete sentence
Does it convey a No Yes
thought or idea?
Example I will see you at the The one who met you at Mc
court. Donald's, is my neighbour.
Harry loves to travel You can play after you finish
alone. the homework.

Definition of Clause
When in a set of words, there is a subject actively performing an action
(verb), then that combination of words, is called as a clause. A clause can
function as a sentence, which may or may not be a complete one.

There are two parts in a clause, i.e. a subject and a predicate. The predicate
expresses something with respect to the subject.
Independent Clauses:
An independent clause is a complete sentence that can stand alone. It
expresses a complete thought and contains a subject and a verb. It is also
known as a main clause. Example: She went to the store.
Dependent Clauses:
A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence. It needs an
independent clause to make complete sense. It contains a subject and a
verb but does not express a complete thought.
There are three types of dependent clauses:

1. Noun Clause 2. Adjective Clause 3. Adverb Clause

Ex A. Underline the dependent clauses in the following sentences.
1. I had a strange thing happen to me when I was twelve.
2. She was hardly inside the house before the kids started screaming.
3. As soon as she agreed to marry him, she started having serious
doubts.
4. You will get to speak English more easily as times goes by.
5. I don’t know how we are going to get over the river.
6. I didn’t have much time to talk to her because I was leaving for
England in two hours.
7. I’m going to be working all day tomorrow, so I won’t have time to
shop.
8. If I ever find the person who did that, I’ll kill him.
9. I looked a real fool when I fell in the river.
10. She was speaking so softly that we could not hear her at all.

1. Noun Clause: A noun clause is a dependent clause that functions as

a noun in a sentence. It can act as the subject, object, or complement
of a sentence. A noun clause can start with words such as “what,”
“who,” “whom,” “whose,” “where,” “when,” “why,” or “how.”
The function of a noun clause in a sentence is to act as a noun. It can
be used as the subject of a sentence, such as “What he said was true.”
It can also be used as the object of a sentence, such as “I know what
he said.” Additionally, it can be used as the complement of a
sentence, such as “His goal is to find out what happened.”
Examples of Noun Clauses. Here are some examples of noun clauses:
(i) I don’t know what he wants.
(ii) She asked me where I was going.
(iii) They wondered how they could help.
(iv) He told me why he was late.
(v) I’m not sure who is coming to the party.

2. Adjective Clause: A dependent clause that functions as an adjective in

a sentence is called adjective clause.
An adjective clause works like adjective in a sentence. The function of
an adjective is to modify (describe) a noun or a pronoun. Similarly a
noun clause modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Example - He wears a shirt which looks nice.
The clause “which looks nice” in above sentence is an adjective clause
because it modifies noun “shirt” in the sentence.
• An adjective clause always follows the noun it modifies.
Example - I met the boy who had helped me.
An apple that smells bad is rotten.
The book which I like is helpful in preparation for test.
The house where I live consists of four rooms.
The person who was shouting needed help.

Adjective clause begins with relative pronoun (that, who, whom, whose,
which, or whose) and is also relative clause.

3. Adverb Clause: A dependent clause that functions as an adverb in a

sentence is called adverb clause”
An adverb clause like an adverb modifies a verb, adjective clause or
other adverb clause in a sentence. It modifies(describes) the situation
in main clause in terms of “time, frequency (how often), cause and
effect, contrast, condition, intensity (to what extent).”
The subordinating conjunctions used for adverb clauses are as
follows.
Time: when, whenever, since, until, before, after, while, as, by the
time, as soon as
Cause and effect: because, since, now that, as long as, so, so that,
Contrast: although, even, whereas, while, though
Condition: if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, providing or
provided that, in case
Examples.
(i) Don’t go before he comes.
(ii) He takes medicine because he is ill.
 (iii) Although he tried a lot, he couldn’t climb up the tree.
(iv) Unless you study for the test, you can’t pass it.
(v) I will go to the school unless it rains.
(vi) You are safe as long as you drive carefully.
(vii) You can achieve anything provided that you struggle for it.

Difference between Adjective Clause & Adverb Clause

Ex B. Read the following sentences and identify the type of clause each one
contains. Five clauses are underlined. The remaining ones you have to
underline and identify.
1. You can sit wherever you find comfortable.
2. Since she was absent, I talked to her mother.
3. Can you wait until I come back?
4. I am afraid that I might fail.
5. This is the girl who won the scholarship last year.
6. I suspect you have made an error.
7. John had a dog whose fur was as white as snow.
8. This is the book which you were looking for.
9. She never does anything that could harm anyone.
10. The car that I drive belongs to my father.