One of the characteristics of language is that it is an organised system. This feature is reflected in the English sentence which consists of structurally different but functionally-related elements technically referred to as grammatical units. These units include, in order of hierarchy, the morpheme, the word, the group or the phrase and the clause. In this chapter, we are concerned with the units of phrase and clause. After reading through the unit, you should be able to:
(i) identify a phrase from a clause;
(ii) describe the structure of a phrase;
(iii) describe the structure of a clause;
(iv) identify and discuss phrase and clause types in English; and describe the grammatical functions of the phrase and clause
Phrase and Clause Differentiated
A phrase is a group of closely related words, which does not contain a finite verb and is not semantically self-contained. In other words, a phrase lacks a finite verb in its structure and is dependent on the neighbouring grammatical elements for its meaning. Recall that finite verbs are verbs that distinguish persons and numbers by their form; they change form according to person and number. They are distinguished from non-finite verbs whose form does not change for different persons and numbers. A clause is a group of closely related words, containing a finite verb and is (not) semantically self-sufficient. From this description of a clause, it is clear that, a phrase is not always distinguishable from a clause by virtue of being self meaningful or by not being. Certainly, some clauses are independent, while some are subordinate. Subordinate clauses share the quality of semantic dependence with phrases The implication of all these is that the best way to distinguish a phrase from clause is to consider its structure.
The Phrase
Phrases are considered as the third largest unit of the English units. They are larger than morphemes and individual words but are smaller than clauses and sentences. They are labelled, using the criterion of the phrase. If the head is a noun, then the phrase is called a noun phrase and the same applies to the other classes of words. There are sever and the accepted classifications for phrase of the pications generally based on the head word or construction of the phrase. They generally usually stand alone as a one-word phrase. It is the only part the cannot be omitted from the phrase. These are explained in the following subsection units.
Noun Phrase
A noun phrase does the work of a noun. Noun phrases may serve as subject direct object, indirect object, or object of preposition. In modern grammar the notion ‘complement’ is used instead of ‘object’. What a tradition grammarian refers to as object is what a modern grammarian refers to ‘Complement Extensive’. Also, what a traditional grammarian complement is what a modern grammarian calls ‘Complement Intensive order not to bother you with terminology, we will adopt the tradition approach that you are familiar with. We will simply discuss types of now phrase, using functional criterion as: objective noun phrase, subjective noun phrase, completive noun phrase and appositive noun phrase.
A subjective noun phrase does the work of the grammatical subject by being the agent of the predictor in a sentence. An objective noun phrase does the work of an object by being the recipient of the action of a transitive verb. Completive noun phrase completes the sense of an intransitive verb. A appositive noun phrase co-occurs with another noun or noun phrase an both are co-referential (referring to the same person or thing). The following examples illustrate these noun phrase types respectively:
1. The house built by Uncle Wellington is the best in town
2. The government sold the house built by Uncle Wellington. 3. Here is the house built by Uncle Wellington . 4.The house that he built, green house, cost him several millions of naira.
Adjectival Phrases
Adjectival phrases are composed of the adjectives that modify a noun and any adverbs or other elements that modify those adjectives. Adjectival phrases always occur inside noun phrases or as predicate adjectives. Sometimes, an adjectival phrase is made up of a preposition and its noun object. The examples below illustrate these:
5. Dad bought [(a blue and green) sweater]
6. The ball on the field was donated by our coach.
Adverbial Phrases
Adverbial phrases are composed of the adverbs that modify verbs, adjectives, or clauses. Adverbial phrases may occur with more than one word. The extra adverb is called an intensifier. An adverbial phrase can also be composed of a preposition and a noun or noun phrase complement. They perform the functions of one-word adverbs such as modifying verbs, adjectives and other adverbs by answering the questions how, when, in what manner, and where as the following examples illustrate respectively:
7. He scored the goal with a long and tactical shot.
8. The coach made a substitution that won his team the victory at the last minute of the game.
9. The sick old woman speaks in a low voice.
10. John placed the ball properly on the field.
Prepositional Phrases
Prepositional phrases are composed of the preposition and a following noun phrase. Prepositional phrases are used either adjectivally to modify nouns or adverbially to modify verbs, adjectives, or clauses:
11. The man in the house rented it. (prepositional phrase modifying the noun phrase the man).
12. He went in the direction of the explosion. (prepositional phrase modifying the verb ‘went’ adverbially)
13. Dad was happy about the goal, (prepositional phrase modifying the adjective ‘happy’ adverbially).
14. On reflection. I believe that she was correct. (prepositional phrase modifies a clause adverbially).
Gerundive Phrases
Gerundive phrases may function in any way in which nouns may function: as subjects, objects, objects of a preposition, or even nouns functioning as adverbs or other main verb elements. Study the following examples illustrating the functions of gerundive phrases:
15. Driving on a rough road could be dangerous.
16. Dada talked about winning the game.
17. The mind of the athletes is on winning the competition.
Participial Phrases
Participles are root verbs with an ‘-ed, -en or -ing’ suffix. In the case of the past participial, the form may be irregular. Participial phrases may contain objects and other elements that might occur with main verbs. Examine the following examples:
18. Racing around the corner, he slipped and fell.
19. Driven by the desire to satisfy his wife, the man took to armed robbery.
Infinitive Phrases
Infinitive phrases are composed of an infinitive verb (the base form of the verb preceded by to) and any modifying adverbs or prepositional phrases .They can function as: noun, adjective and adverb as the following sentences illustrate respectively:
20. My duty as a coach is to teach skills. (infinitive phrase functions as a noun) . 21. The player to watch in the team is Daniel Amokachi (infinitive phrase functions as an adjective) 22. Bill is eager to work on his skating. (infinitive phrase functions adverbially, modifying an adjective)
Clause
The English clause can be described, using three criteria. These criteria are: structural constituent criterion, grammatical name criterion and functional criterion. Using the first criterion, a clause is described in terms of its structural peculiarities. In this respect, a clause could be constituently complete by containing a finite verb. This clause type is known as a finite clause. On the other hand, a clause may not contain a finite verb but a non- finite verb. This is called a non-finite clause. Below is the mathematical representation of the English finite and non-finite verbs:
Finite verbs:
(i) Xo Simple present base verb.
(ii) Xs Simple present ‘s’or ‘es’ verb.
(iii) Xed Simple past verbs.
Non-finite verbs:
(i) Xing ‘ing’ ending verbs.
(ii) Xen ‘en’ ending verbs.
(iii) to + Xo- simple base verb preceded by ‘to’.
Using the second criterion, a clause is described in terms of its grammatical name. In this respect, a clause is labelled by virtue of the grammatical slot it occupies in a sentence. In other words, the clause is considered in respect of its structural residence, which is the position a single part of speech will occupy. And so, the clause is named after that part of speech, the position it occupies.
Using the criterion of function, a clause is described in terms of its functional relations with other grammatical elements in a sentence. A very important point to note here is that in English, a clause of a given grammatical name can be used outside its normal constituency to perform the function of another grammatical element. What this suggests is that the true function of a clause is not determined by its structural content, but by the relation it exhibits with other elements in the sentence in which it occurs. Given these criteria, the following clause types are recognisable:
Independent Clause
This clause can act as a sentence as in the following examples:
23. I wanted a new ball.
Subordinate Clauses
A subordinate clause has a subordinate which signifies that the clause cannot stand on its own. It is dependent on other elements for its complete sense.
24. Dickson ran away because he knew that the young wrestler would beat him.
25. None of the market women could explain what brought about the fire.
Adverbial Clauses
Adverbial clauses modify the entire independent clause or another subordinate clause to which they may be attached. Examples of adverb subordinates are: because, while, as, if, when, although, as if, after, since, unless, before, until. Adverbial clauses signal common adverbial meanings such as time of the event, place of the event, manner of the event, cause of the event or condition for the event. Study the following examples:
26. I have not been skating since we all went up to Banff last winter time)
27. He stood there as if he was frozen to the very spot. (of manner).
28. Fred jogs where there is no traffic (adverbial clause of place) because likes it. (of reason).
Relative or Adjectival Clauses
Relative clauses modify nouns and sometimes indefinite pronouns. Relative clauses occur with the relative pronouns that, who, which, whom, whose. Relative clauses may also begin with the following relative adverbs when, where, why. In the examples below, the expressions underlined are adjectival or relative clauses:
29. I saw the player who hit you.
30. This is really the lady that you care for.
31. I like the park where I jog.
The label noun clause refers to any kind of subordinate clause which can occupy the position of a noun or noun phrase. It can, for example, be the subject of a verb. It can also be the object of a verb. Nominal clauses function as nouns and are introduced by one of the following words: “how, ‘that’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, whether’, ‘which’, ‘who’, ‘why’. Nominal clauses may be replace noun. Consider the following Nominal clause illustrate the subjective, objective and completive functions of complex clauses respectively:
32. How you did it is not my concern.
33. All that she wanted was what she was given.
34. The fact of the matter is that I want my money.
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