Kinds of phrases I

Phrase
A phrase is a combination of words that makes some sense,but not complete sense.

• at the airport;in the hall,in the dead of night;at her beck and call;the whirlpool of circumstances.

Kinds of phrases with exercises

1. The noun phrase
A noun phrase is a group of words which does the work of a noun or pronoun. A simple test for locating a noun phrase is to place "it, "him" or other pronouns in place of the groups of words functioning like a phrase.
• They want to visit Europe.
• Here "to visit Europe" does the work of a noun or pronoun.We could have said: They want this or it...
Provide meaningful noun phrases:

Examples What they want is difficult to give them. They hope= They hope to visit America some day. ... is not known to them= What to do with their money is not known to them. Did they try?Did they try reading in the dark?

Exercise She likes ... Our friends say they play ... ... is all incorrect. The great powers want ... ...is not clear to us.

2. The adjective phrase
An adjective phrase is a prepositional phrase that qualifies or tells about a noun or pronoun.(or) An adjective phrase is a group of words which does the work of an adjective.
• It is an important matter.(important-adj.)
• It is a matter of importance.(of importance-adj.phrase.)
  A foolish act-an act of foolishness.
  The highest building-the building of the greatest height.
Provide meaningful adjective phrases:

Examples The Chinese people are peace-loving= The people of China are peace-loving. Have you ever seen such a greedy animal?= Have you ever seen an animal of such greed? She heard a scholarly lecture. = She heard a lecture of great scholarship (learning). The lonely boy was crying. = The boy without any companion was crying. Had they replaced the illegible words? =Had they replaced the words that could not be read?

Exercise Wealthy people often do not take enough exercise. They have not seen all the Pakistani cities. Have you met the red-haired children? Do the people like the brave deeds of the soldiers? The beautiful dancer won the hearts of the spectators. We will face their inimical (unfriendly) plans and terrorist acts wisely and bravely. Note.We cannot replace all adjectives with adjective phrases.

3. The adverb phrase
A prepositional phrase that modifies a verb,an adjective or an adverb is an adverb phrase.An adverb phrase does the work of an adverb and tells how,when,where or to what extent.
• You did it well.(adv.)You did it in a good way.(adv. phrase)
  They went there.(adv.)They went to that place.(adv. phrase)
Provide meaningful adverb phrases:

Examples They played happily. = They played in happiness. She works carefully. = She works with care. The students arrived there in time. = The students arrived at the place in time. They played very cheerfully. = They played in all cheerfulness.

Exercise She went there ...(in a great hurry or by bus,etc.) Did they speak to you...? Never behave towards your elders... Do not cry... We did not play... The population of Pakistan is increasing...

4. The prepositional phrase
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun with another word.In,on,at,towards,under,over,beside are some of the most common prepositions.An object always follows a preposition.Note how different prepositions in the same sentence change its meaning. A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun.

It works as a noun It works as an adjective It works as an adverb

The pictures she wants are with the librarian.[with(prep.),the librarian(n.phr.)] The building of the college is quite beautiful. She spoke in a sweet voice.

Note the prepositional phrases in italics in the following sentences:
• She lives in a small room.The train was moving fast at that time.Please walk across the road.