Phrases Descriptive Grammar 2 S 2016 Mrs Beln

Phrases Descriptive Grammar – 2 S, 2016 Mrs. Belén Berríos Droguett

Types • For the analysis and parsing of elements in a sentences, we are going to look for six classes of phrases: – Noun Phrase (NP) – Adjective Phrase (Aj. P) – Adverb Phrase (Av. P) – Prepositional Phrase (PP) – Genitive Phrase (GP) – Verb Phrase (VP)

Phrase - Characteristics • Main Phrase vs. Subordinate Phrase – Main: direct constituent, no part of another phrase • E. g. [NP(These days) VP(are) Aj. P(the hardest) PP(during Spring)] – Subordinate: part of another phrase • E. g. [NP(The first day PP(of Spring)) VP(are) Aj. P(the hardest)]

Phrase - Characteristics • Subordination: this can occur of elements of different level as well as at the same level or in some cases, higher (phrase into words or phrase containing other phrases inside them, or even clauses) – E. g. 1) (The kids) 2) (The kids (of the neighborhood)) 3) (The kids [who are playing in the street])

Phrase - Classification • As with words, phrases can also be classified according to form and function. During the following section we will study all of the form and some specific elements related to every of the phrases. Also we will be covering the possible functions of certain phrases inside a sentence.

Noun Phrase (NP) • Function – Probably NPs are the richest structure in thus, they can work with many different purposes: • • • Subject Object Complement Adverbial Modifiers of other phrases (subordination) – From the last, we can consider the concept apposition, where two phrase share the same referent or are defined by an identical element • E. g. my friend the psychologist

Noun Phrase (NP) • Form – The main element (Head) of any NP is either a Noun or a Pronoun – The typical structure could be simplified into: • (M*) H (M*) • Pre and post modifiers can be of many different nature (determiners, enumerators, other nouns, adverbs, prepositional phrases, relative clauses, etc. ) • It is always important to recognize the Head of a NP since this will help us to identify modifiers and it will make an easier analysis process

Noun Phrase (NP) • In some specific cases, we can find adjectives, enumerators or genitive phrase as the head of an NP. This is in the case they actually act as the name or reference to an element: – E. g. » The punctual is always a couple of minutes earlier » The twenty answered correctly » Mary’s is a great restaurant

Noun Phrase (NP) • Coordination: using and/or we can put two NPs together. In the analysis, we will considered the phrases together and the analyze them separately, leaving out and/or v Later we are going to study some specific notation related to coordination

Prepositional Phrases (PP) • Function – In clauses PPs are considered functioning as Adverbial (A) – Usually they answer questions similar to when? or how? – PPs can also being seen as subordinate phrases in NP, Aj. P, Av. P or act as post-modifiers – According to AIGFT, PPs have three functions: • Post-modifier of a noun • Post-modifier of an adjective • Adverbial (as it was mentioned before) – It is very possible the appearance of PPs inside other PPs: • The cat in the house near the park of the city

Prepositional Phrases (PP) • Form – The structure of a PP is characterized by the presence of a preposition at the beginning which is usually followed by a NP: • PP= p + NP – In some specific contexts the preposition can be left out, but the purpose of this course we would keep them together

Prepositional Phrases (PP) – Other two possible units which can follow a preposition in a PP are: • Nominal relative clause (a clause introduced by a nominal relative pronoun, they function as NP) • -ing clause (clauses beginning with a verb in the –ing form) – E. g. » About what you told (nominal relative clause) » Of listening the same stories (-ing clause)

Genitive Phrase (GP) • Function – As pre-modifiers or head of a NP • E. g. – Those were NPC(GPM(the team’s) NHuniforms) – Those uniforms were CNP(HGPthe team’s) • Form – They share a similar structure to NPs with the exception of the use of the particle `s or s`

Adjective Phrase (Aj. P) • Function – Aj. Ps work as Complement (Subject or Object) – As a subordinate phrase, they can act as pre-modifiers of NP • E. g. – – The present situation is problematic Her friend is someone quite strange Some nice girls help the old lady James looks for a job very easy

Adjective Phrase (Aj. P) • Form – Aj. Ps are made of Adjectives as their Heads, which can appear in their plain, comparative or superlative forms (good, better, best) – Adverbs (mostly intensifiers) are the common pre-modifier of these phrases – In the case of possible post-modifiers, they usually are a certain type of explanation to the adjective in the form of PP or NP

Adverb Phrase (Av. P) • Function – Similar to Aj. Ps, Adverb Phrases act usually as Adverbials • Form – Its head is an Adverb and its structure is similar to Aj. Ps

Verb Phrase (VP) • Function – Central element of a Clause, appearing always as the Predicator – At this level, we will considered only tensed verb phrases: TENSED FORMS Operator Full-Verbs Present Past Vs V 0 Ved Regular walks walked Irregular eats eat ate Primary does do did Modals shall should

Verb Phrase (VP) • Form – In a VP we will recognize two elements: Main Verb and Auxiliaries, being the second one optional and precede the Mv – Auxiliaries can act in four different forms: • • Modal Perfect Aspect Progressive Aspect Passive Voice – Here is a table for the construction of VPs: Function Class of Verb Form of following verb Optional Modal Perfect Progressive Passive Modal Verb Have Be Be Vi Ven Ving Ven Obligatory Main Verb (V) -

Verb Phrase (VP) • Relation of Forms and Functions – – – VP Predicator NP Subject, Object, Complement, Adverbial Ajp Complement Av. P Adverbial PP Adverbial