Phrases and types of phrases:

 Phrase:- A group of words that makes sense but not complete sense is called a Phrase.

      Or,

A phrase is a part of a sentence which gives us not complete meaning and it can not contain a subject or a predicate of its own.

Types of phrases:- 

There are mainly three types of phrases:

(1) Noun Phrase/ Nominal phrase 

(2) Adjective Phrase/ Adjectival phrase 

(3) Adverb  Phrase/ Adverbial phrase 

Definition of Noun Phrase with examples:

(1) Noun Phrase:-

 A phrase which acts as a noun in a sentence is called a Noun Phrase.

How do you identify a noun phrase?

There are two main parts of a noun phrase: the main noun and its modifiers. The modifiers can be placed before or after the noun. Once you have identified the noun, it is easy to identify the modifiers. Just look at what is next to the noun!

She/He delivered the book with a blue spine.

In this sentence, the head noun is 'book'. The premodifier (modifier that comes before the noun) is the article 'the'. 'With a blue spine' is the postmodifier (modifier that comes after the head noun).

How do we know that the head noun is the 'book' and not the 'spine'? Because the spine gives extra detail about the book rather than the other way 

around.

Ex.

(i) Rahul is a man of spirit.

(ii) The fallen leaves covered the ground.

(iii) Maya loves watching romantic comedies.

(iv) I enjoy playing cricket.

(v) The computer screen is cracked.

In the above sentences, a man of spirit, fallen leaves, watching romantic comedies, playing cricket, and the computer screen are the phrases.

Noun phrase modifiers:- 

Noun phrases come with words that are placed either before or after the main noun. These are called modifiers. If the modifier comes before the main noun, it is called a premodifier, and if it comes after, it is called a postmodifier.

Premodifiers in noun phrases:- 

Premodifiers come before a noun and are usually made up of determiners, adjectives, and nouns.

Determiners:- 

Determiners will usually come first in a noun phrase (e.g. 'the pink skirt'). Determiners include:

✓ Articles, e.g. a/an , the

✓ Demonstrative, e.g. this, that, these, those

✓ Possessive determiners, e.g. my, your, his, her,

✓ Quantifiers, e.g. some, any, all, enough, no, every

✓ Numerals, e.g. one, two, three…..

Determiners might seem insignificant, but they are paramount to expressing the kind of reference the noun phrase makes.

**This book is a history textbook.

The determiner, in this case, is the demonstrative 'this', which makes it clear exactly which book is a history book.

Adjectives

Premodifiers also include adjectives. Adjectives are parts of speech which are meant to define and add detail to a noun.

** A tremendous storm

This noun phrase contains the main noun 'storm' and two premodifiers. The indefinite determiner 'a' and the adjective 'tremendous' act as the premodifiers.

** My interesting and profitable business

This expanded noun phrase contains the main noun 'business' and three premodifiers. The possessive determiner 'my' and the adjectives 'interesting' and 'profitable' act as its premodifiers.

As you can see, premodifiers often work together when forming noun phrases.

Nouns

Nouns can also act as the premodifiers of noun phrases. They tend to explain specific attributes of the noun, such as material, era, type, texture etc.

** A high school diploma**

The noun 'high school' specifies the type of diploma.

** 'A silk jacket'**

The noun 'silk' specifies the type of jacket.

Identifying nouns as premodifiers can be difficult because you run the risk of confusing them with the main noun. Make sure to test whether the noun adds more information to another noun or if it is 

the noun that the other elements work to define.

(2) Adjective Phrase:-

 A group of words which acts as an Adjective and qualifies a noun or a pronoun in a sentence is called an Adjective Phrase. 

How do you identify an Adjective phrase?

To identify the adjective phrase in a sentence, look for the noun first. Then, identify who or what the sentence is about.

Ex. 

(i) Nagma lives in a house made of stone.

(ii) Rahul is a chicken hearted man.

In the first sentence, ' made of stone ' qualifies the 'house' and in the second sentence, ' chicken hearted ' qualifies ' Rahul '. Thus,  ' made of stone ' and ' chicken hearted ' are the Adjective Phrases.

Some more examples:

(3) Adverb Phrase:- 

A phrase which acts as an Adverb in a sentence. It provides more information about the verb, adjective, or adverb.

    Adverb phrases usually answer the questions started with how, where, why or when as you'll see in the adverb phrase examples below.

Ex.(i)

I speak to Nagma all the time.

'All the time' is an adverbial phrase because it modifies the verb 'speak', describing how frequently the action occurs.

Ex. (ii)

A few weeks ago, Rahul came over.

'A few weeks ago' is an adverbial phrase because it modifies the verb 'came', describing when the action occurred.

Ex. (iíi) 

I went to the library to find out more.

'To find out more' is an adverbial phrase because it modifies the verb 'went', describing why the action occurred. This is also an example of an infinitive phrase acting as an adverbial phrase.

An infinitive phrase is a group of words containing an infinitive (to + verb).

Ex. (iv) 

My friends sat as far away as necessary.

'As far away as necessary' is an adverbial phrase because it modifies the verb 'sat', describing where the 

action occurred.

    -:    Types of Adverbial phrase  :-

There are four main types of adverbial phrases:

   (i) Adverb phrases of time,

   (ii) Adverb phrases of place, 

  (iii) Adverb phrases of manner, and

 (iv) Adverb phrases of reason.

(i) Adverb phrases of time:-

Adverb phrases of time tell us when something happens/happened or how often.

He goes to school every day.

After work, I'll ride my bike.

      (c) I'll be there in a minute.

(ii) Adverb phrases of place:-

Adverb phrases of place tell us where something takes/took place.

(a) I'm going for a walk along the beach.

(b) The party is happening now at Maya's place.

(c) He was dancing on the table.

(iii) Adverb phrases of manner:-

Adverb phrases of manners tell us how something happens or is done.

(a) She was painting very carefully.

(b) He kicked the ball with great precision.

(c) Very slowly, the tiger approached.

(iv) Adverb phrases of reason:- 

Adverb phrases of reason tell us why something is happening/happened.

(a) To keep calm, he counted to ten.

(b) She waited in line all day in order to get the new phone first.

  (c) He kissed her head to show his love.