The Phrase and the Clause Phrases & Clauses

The Phrase Phrase – a group of related words that is used as a single part of speech and that does not contain both a verb and its subject Could have been looking (no subject) In the backyard (no subject or verb) To reach the highest shelf (no subject or verb)

Phrases continued… Note: A phrase cannot stand alone as a sentence. They must be used with other words to make a complete sentence. Ex: Phrase: in the box Sentence: We put the CD’s in the box.

Clause Note: If a word group has both a subject and a verb, it’s called a clause Ex: The coyote howled. (Coyote is the subject of the verb howled.) When Al left (Al is the subject of the verb left.) Hint: A clause may or may not be a complete sentence.

Practice Identifying Phrases… Some people enjoy skiing Not a phrase Ski lifts are used for Alpine skiing Down the snowy hills phrase During the race Maybe I can go next year With tiny snowflakes on my face

The Phrase and the Clause Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional Phrases Prepositional phrase – includes a preposition, the object of the preposition, and any modifiers of that object Prepositional phrases are one kind of phrase Prepositions show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence Ex: Herbie walked to the store. The girl with black hair is very kind. On the porch we found an old rocking chair.

Objects of the preposition Object of the preposition – the noun or pronoun that follows a preposition Ex: The man from Singapore was giving a speech. The preposition from shows the relationship between the object Singapore and the noun man. The tree in front of the window blocks our view. The compound preposition in front of shows the relationship between the object window and the noun tree. The modifies window. Please hand me the book on the long, green table. The preposition on shows the relationship between the object table and the noun book. The adjectives the, long, and green modify table.

Objects of the preposition Note: A preposition may have more than one object Ex: Aaron showed his arrowhead collection to Tranh and her. The preposition to has two objects The dinner consisted of baked chicken, salad,and two vegegables. The preposition of has three objects

Practice … Identify the prepositional phrase and the object Dinosaurs roamed across the earth sixty-five million years ago. Across the earth Although some of the dinosaurs were enormous, others were quite small. Of the dinosaurs Many dinosaurs fed on plants and vegetables. On plants and vegetables Dinosaurs with sharp teeth ate flesh. With sharp teeth Some people in science claim that birds are living dinosaurs. In science