Search results for 'tag:Noun phrases tag:Adverbs' matching tags 'Noun phrases' and 'Adverbs'

Re: Help please! Subordinate or main clause

CalifJim — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:27:31 GMT

Eddie88
The subject in this case has a subject and a verb, why is it not a clause?

Nobody said it was not a clause!

There are several bits of terminology that are confusing.

One set of terms applies to the individual words. 'house' is a noun. 'happy' is an adjective. 'quietly' is an adverb. And so on.

Another set of terms applies to groups of words that do not form complete thoughts or complete sentences, but which "go together". These are phrases: noun phrases, adjective phrases, verb phrases, and so on. 'in the corner' is a prepositional phrase. 'very unhappily' is an adverb phrase. 'the bird singing in that tree' is a noun phrase. 'what I did last summer' is a noun phrase. 'slept for ten hours' is a verb phrase. Phrases can have other phrases or clauses within them. The noun phrase 'the bird singing in that tree' contains the prepositional phrase 'in that tree', for example, and the verb phrase 'slept for ten hours' contains the prepositional phrase 'for ten hours'.

Another set of terms applies to the functions of phrases within clauses. The main terms that show function are words that show the function of noun phrases in a sentence. A noun phrase is almost always going to be one of these: a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, an object of a preposition, or a subject complement.

(Another term for a verb phrase is predicate. And, just to make it confusing, sometimes the term 'verb phrase' is applied only to groups consisting of consecutive verbs, not the objects that follow them.)

This means that the same group of words in a sentence can be labeled in more than one way. For example, anything that is a subject is also a noun phrase. Anything that is an object of a preposition is also a noun phrase. And so on.

Clauses almost always contain a verb. But on rare occasions the verb that is intended is so obvious that it is not stated; the word group is then often called a clause anyway. The verb may show tense ("be tensed", "be finite"), or the verb may not show tense ("be non-tensed", "be non-finite"). Depending on this feature, the clause is called a finite clause or a non-finite clause. Non-finite forms of the verb are gerunds, participles, and infinitives.

Independent clauses are those that can stand alone as complete sentences. These are either complete sentences or the clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions like and or but. All other clauses are dependent clauses. A non-finite clause can only be a dependent clause. But finite clauses can be dependent clauses as well.

Clauses can occur within phrases. These are all dependent clauses. Independent clauses are not embedded within phrases.

the man whom I saw walking down the street yesterday is a noun phrase, but it contains a dependent clause used as an adjective to modify the noun man.

into the house located across the street is a prepositional phrase, but it contains the noun phrase the house located across the street. The noun phrase contains the clause (which is) located across the street (also called a participial phrase). And across the street is also a prepositional phrase inside the larger prepositional phrase.

You have to think in terms of hierarchies and structures that are embedded inside of other structures.

Re: Simple, short phrase question.

CalifJim — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:42:39 GMT

Eddie88
Are phrases words that are additional parts to a sentence (namely advectives or nouns) which are not constituents of the actual clause

No. Clauses are made up of phrases. The phrases of the clause are the constituents of the clause. Clauses generally have a subject, which is a noun phrase, and a predicate, which is a verb phrase, although sometimes these elements are understood. (They may be implicit rather than explicit). The verb phrase may contain, besides a verb (or more), one or more noun phrases to act as a direct object (or in some other function). Generally speaking, at the highest level of analysis of a sentence, all the words belong to one phrase or another, and all the phrases together make the clause (which is the whole sentence).

But phrases may contain clauses as well. Relative clauses, for example, act as adjective phrases. Noun phrases may contain adjective phrases within them. Verb phrases may contain adverb phrases and noun phrases within them, and so on. A single word can even be considered a phrase. Any of these phrases may also contain (lower-level) clauses within them.

The whole system is hierarchical. Everything tends to be embedded in everything else, so to speak! What is a phrase on one level of analysis can be a clause on another level.

Eddie88
1) How come 'He has hosted' is not an indep. clause? A subject exists and there is the auillary verb, which I thought helps the non-finite/verbal, hosted, become a verb. Or is it something to do with intransitive verbs where it the verbs needs an object for it to be grammatical?

It has nothing to do with transitivity considerations. the other parties he has hosted: he has hosted is not an independent clause because it is a dependent clause. It depends on the other parties. It acts as an adjective phrase to modify parties. It answers Which parties? Here the usual relative pronoun is omitted.

the other parties [that / which / ---] he has hosted comes from the other parties [he has hosted (those) other parties]

When the relative pronoun is omitted, it is implicit -- understood. This is called a "contact relative (pronoun)". It is actually missing! There is no word there! Its function is carried out simply by direct contact between the antecedent (the other parties) and the following words (he has hosted (the other parties)) The implicit relative pronoun is the direct object of has hosted, just as that or which would be, if it were explicitly stated.

Eddie88
2) Finally, the verbal hosted...How is it a verbal (can't stand as the main verb in a clause) if it can be the main verb in a clause, for example, 'He hosted the event'

It is the main verb of its clause. I would not call it a verbal. It's the main verb of its clause. See above: He hosted the other parties is understood.

_____

Maybe you should review whatever texts you have on the topic of relative clauses. These are clauses that act as adjectives on a higher level in the hierarchy of the sentence.

the water [that / which / ---] I drank is a noun phrase. Let's break it down into its parts, starting with the level of the whole noun phrase.

Determiner: the

Head noun: water

Adjective phrase = Relative clause: [that / which / ---] I drank

___

Analysis of the adjective phrase. (We're "down one level" here.) The adjective phrase IS a relative clause. [Some grammarians just say that the relative clause is an adjectival clause instead of bothering to call it an adjectival phrase. Or they just say that the clause modifies a noun without bothering to characterize it as adjectival.]

The relative clause starts with a relative pronoun: that, or which, or 'null' (the contact relative pronoun) and continues with the remainder of the relative clause, which contains a "gap" (____) where the relative pronoun came from before it was moved to the beginning of the clause.

the water [I drank the water] > the water [I drank ___] > the water [I drank that] > the water [that I drank].

the water [I drank the water] > the water [I drank ___] > the water [I drank which] > the water [which I drank].

the water [I drank the water] > the water [I drank ___] > the water [I drank ___] > the water [___ I drank].

In this case the gap is where the direct object goes. So the relative pronoun (that, which, or 'null') has the function of direct object.

Subject: Noun phrase : Personal pronoun: I

Verb: drank

Direct object: Relative pronoun: that, or which, or 'null'.

___

This explains three noun phrases. (Pick whichever you want; they all have the same structure.) the water that I drank, the water which I drank, the water I drank

A noun phrase can function as a subject, a subject complement (after a linking verb), or a direct object, or an object of a preposition, and so on. So the noun phrase the water that I drank can be placed in different sentences in different ways:

The water that I drank made me sick. [used as subject]

That water in the green glass was the water that I drank. [used as subject complement]

Miss Scarlet poured the water that I drank. [used as direct object]

I am glad that poison was not added to the water that I drank. [used as object of a preposition]

Note that the noun phrase contains a (relative) clause, and it is also contained within a larger clause in each case above.

P.S. Part of your frustration may be because not all writers use the terms ''phrase' and 'clause' (and others) completely consistently at all times, and you may run across many alternate technical terms that mean the same thing. For example, there may be other members of the forum who would not agree with my analyses, or who would use different terminology to describe the parts of the same sentences.

Re: Question- please help!

AlpheccaStars — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:38:21 GMT

Eddie88
Secondly, the phrase you have listed are different from the phrases I have read of. They had the following: prepositional, absolute, appositive, gerund, particple and infinitive...

I suppose that phrases can be classified in different ways - I found a good reference with a similar classification. But the classification can be two-dimentional: the part of speech of its head, and / or its grammatical function in a given sentence.

Noun phrases - includes special sub-categories: appositive (syntactical category), gerund, infinitive (but this can also function as an adjective or adverb)

Verb phrase (can refer to the predicate of a sentence, but also can be just the verb)

Adverbial phrase

Participial phrase - adjective

Prepositional phrase - but it can also function as a noun, adjective or adverb phrase

Absolute phrase - this is phrase that is almost a clause. It modifies the entire sentence.

analyse and differences

ericsteef — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:27:39 GMT

f 1 She stopped looking for a way out.

2 She stopped to look for a way out.

my analying to these sentences is like this:

sentence f1 : "She" pronoun functioning as subject
"stopped" is main verb
"looking" i don't know what is it ,it could be gerund,but can we call it second main verb?or adjective?
"for a way out" is prepositional phrase,consist of the preposition "for" and the noun phrase "a way". "out" is an adverb.

the first sentence means that she gave up finding an exit.
the second sentence means that she stopped walking to find where is the exit.

is my analysing correct? and what is the syntatic analyse of the second sentence?

Re: what type of grammer pattern behind this sentence?

AlpheccaStars — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:34:34 GMT

Nithila
Â A U.S. newspaper says the nation's twohighest-ranking intelligence officials expect to be replaced whenPresident-elect Barack Obama takes office in January.
Â
what type of grammer pattern behind this sentence?

Â A U.S. newspaper: -> subject, main clause

Â says -> verb, main clause. The rest of the sentence is a dependent clause, direct object of "says"

Â nation's two highest-ranking intelligenceÂ officialsÂ -> noun phrase, subject, dependent clause

expect Â -> verb,Â dependentÂ Â clause

Â to be replaced --> infinitive phrase; passive voice, direct object,Â dependentÂ Â clause

Â when President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January.Â -> dependent clause, adverb, modifying infinitive "replace"

Â President-elect Barack ObamaÂ -> noun phrase, subject, dependent clause

Â takesÂ -> verb,Â dependentÂ Â clause

Â officeÂ -> noun, direct object, dependent clause

Â in January. -> prepositional phrase, adverb,Â modifying verb "take"

Re: not / neither / nor

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:09:37 GMT

When looking up tricky constructions or words, one can often go to the dictionary to view its proper usage. For example, www.dictionary.com shows this definition and usage note for nor:

1. (used in negative phrases, esp. after neither, to introduce the second member in a series, or any subsequent member): Neither he nor I will be there. They won't wait for you, nor for me, nor for anybody.
2. (used to continue the force of a negative, as not, no, never, etc., occurring in a preceding clause): He left and I never saw him again, nor did I regret it.

So,

"Usage Note: When using neither in a balanced construction that negates two parts of a sentence, nor (not or) must be used in the second clause: She is neither able nor (not or) willing to go. Similarly, when negating the second of two negative independent clauses, nor (not or) must be used: He cannot find anyone now, nor does he expect to find anyone in the future; Jane will never compromise with Bill, nor will Bill compromise with Jane. Note that in these constructions, nor causes an inversion of the auxiliary verb and the subject (does he ... will Bill ...). However, when a verb is negated by not or never, and is followed by a verb phrase that is also to be negated (but not an entire clause), either or or nor can be used: He will not permit the change, or (or nor) even consider it. In noun phrases of the type no this or that, or is actually more common than nor: He has no experience or interest (less frequently nor interest) in chemistry. Or is also more common than nor when such a noun phrase, adjective phrase, or adverb phrase is introduced by not: He is not a philosopher or a statesman. They were not rich or happy. "

So, or is more common than nor, but nor is still acceptable (even if it sounds weird).
It further becomes clear that not...nor is acceptable when you look at the definition of neither, which is a conjunction for not either.

Re: Lack of emphasis on NPs in ESL

Kooyeen — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:38:55 GMT

I obviously agree with Forbes: it depends on your first language. I have never had any problems with passive sentences, subjects and objects, the difference between countable and uncountable, etc. because those are all features I have in Italian too. It is not difficult at all for me to use conditional structures (= modal verbs) in polite requests, like in "Could you lend me 1,000 dollars?", because very similar structures are used the same way in Italian too. On the other hand, I know some Asian languages don't even have past or future tenses, so it's easy to imagine how much more difficult it must be for them to learn English.

So instead of focusing on noun phrases, shouldn't we rather focus on the real difficulties, which happen to vary from learner to learner according to their native language and past experience with languages in general?

Anonymous

How about this student?

<<I assume many of you have watched the cartoon "Totally spies", right?
I just wonder why it is "Totally" here. "totally" is always an adverb, so what do they imply when using "totally" here? How can it go with the noun "spies"?>>>

Heh, good question! I don't know! Could somebody tell me more about that, as a side note here without going completely off topic? Otherwise I will open another thread. I would say "Total spies", but if I suspect that "totally" in "Totally spies" is used informally in some dialects to mean "definitely", like in, like " Are you, like, coming to my awesome party tonight? - Oh, yeah, totally!"
If that is the case, then I don't think that "totally" has anything to do with proving learners have trouble with noun phrases. It would suggest learners have trouble with informal English, and if you ask me, that's true.

Sentence Analysis

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:49:24 GMT

I have to analyse the following sentence, but I'm really stuck...

"Amanda's practical solutions of what had seemed an insoluble mystery descended on the family like a balm."

I have to cut this sentence into constituents and cut those up in nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions etc.
For now I have this:
'Amanda's practical solutions of what had seemed an insoluble mystery' = the subject of the whole sentence and is a Noun Phrase
'descended' = the main verb of the sentence,
'on the family' = a Prepositional Phrase
'like a balm' = a Prepositional Phrase

The two prepositional phrases don't give me any trouble (both start with a preposition, than have a determiner article and end in a noun).

The Noun Phrase is what gives me trouble...

'Amanda's practical solutions of what had seemed an insoluble mystery' has two constituents, I'd say...
'Amanda's practical solutions' = Noun Phrase
'of what had seemed an insoluble mystery' = ???
I really can't get beyond this point... How should I analyse this?

I really hope someone can help me with this sentence...

Re: sentence structures!!! need your comment

Doll — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:05:32 GMT

Hello,

I tried to see your diagrams and Ä± couldn't find anything wrong with the second one. As for the first one, it is really difficult to read the elements but I will do it like this:

butter and cheese: double noun phrases

with butter and cheese: prepositional phrase

sandwiches with butter and cheese: noun phrase

tasty sandwiches with butter and cheese: noun phrase (there is an adjective phrase in the noun phrase)

incredibly tasty sandwiches with butter and cheese: I thikn this is a noun phrase which has and adjective and an adverb phrase in it.

are: verb phrase

these are incredibly tasty sandwiched with butter and cheese: sentence

Well, I hope I didn't make any mistakes because I am really really hungry.

Re: when to?

CalifJim — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:28:55 GMT

Taka
I think what the author is trying to say is 'when you change trains',

Yes, that's most likely the intent.

Taka
but is that 'when to' grammatically acceptable?

Not here. No. when to clauses are indirect questions, hence, they function as noun phrases:

I didn't know when to change trains.

Be sure to tell him when to change trains.

They don't function as adverbs:

*You have to walk when to change trains.

*Be sure to read the posted signs when to change trains.