PHRASE ELEMENTS

DEFINITION OF A PHRASE

4. Phrases With Respect to Use.-In sentences we very often find groups of two or more words that seem to belong together, very much as if they were parts of a compound word. They consist of several closely related ideas expressing a compound idea, and this does the duty of a single word in the sentence where it occurs. This duty or function is to modify like an adjective or an adverb, or to name some object or some action in the way that nouns do. Although the uses of prepositional phrases as adjectives and adverbs have already been touched on, the importance of the general subject of phrases is so great as to require further consideration.

There are two special marks by which a group of words may be known to form a phrase:

1. It must do the work that is usually done by one word.

He was busy in his office during the whole day.

Reading good books is a profitable method of passing the time.
To have visited Paris seemed to the speaker a reason for boasting.
Seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain.

The nine phrases in these sentences are used exactly as if each were a single word. Two of them, reading good books and to have visited Paris, are noun phrases because each is the subject of the sentence in which it occurs. Both phrases in the first sentence are adverbial phrases, being modifiers of the adjective busy. In his office tells where he was busy and during the whole day tells how long he was busy. Other adverbial phrases are to the speaker, which modifies the verb seemed, and into a mountain, which modifies the verb went. The adjective phrases are of passing time, modifying the noun method; for boasting, modifying the noun reason; and seeing the multitude, modifying the pronoun he.

2. It must not contain a verb that predicates; that is, a verb that actually asserts, denies, etc.

In the sentences above, the expressions reading, passing, to have visited, boasting, and seeing are verbals, since they are derived from verbs; but they are not in a full sense verbs. It is impossible with them alone to make a statement or ask a question. Predication by verbals is only assumed or taken for granted-not actually made. This will be more fully explained in another place.

Definition. A phrase is a group of words used as a single part of speech, but containing no word of real predication.

5. Phrases With Respect to Form.-We have seen that when phrases are considered with respect to the work they do in sentences, they are of three kinds: noun, adjective, and adverbial phrases. When they are examined with regard to their form or structure, the three kinds of phrases mentioned above can be reduced to two general classes:

1. Prepositional Phrases.-Such as begin with a preposition. The following are examples:

in the morning, by the seashore, above the falls, against the evidence, according to the best dictionary, in spite of good counsel

Prepositional phrases may contain verbals:

for being present, of passing counterfeit money, in having disobeyed the teacher, against wasting words

2. Verbal Phrases.-Such as are introduced by a verbal. The following sentences have verbal phrases in Italics:

Fearing a riot, the mayor called out the police.

Having been elected President, he promptly took the prescribed oath of office.

He was reported to have resigned his position.

Verbal phrases are of two kinds: participial and infinitive. The verbal phrases in the first two sentences above are participial phrases; the phrase in the third sentence is an infinitive phrase. The meaning of these names will be explained later. Infinitive phrases begin with the preposition to. The following are some examples: .

to study his lesson, to have written a letter, to be loved, to have been seen, to be walking, to have been walking

The student should notice the difference between the infinitive phrase and the prepositional phrase consisting of to followed by an object noun or pronoun. Some examples

follow:

to a good boy, to the city, to church, to them

EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE

1. Construct sentences in which shall occur the following phrases: during the rain, upon the hill, over the sea, according to law, by an honorable life, through a dark wood, of the people, beside his sister, behind the wagon, across a wide river.

2. Separate the following compound phrases into the simple phrases of which they are composed: at the bottom of the sea, with his sister by his side, in a boat on the river, during a trip through Europe in vacation, earning money by the hardest kind of labor, observing the time by the clock in the steeple of the old church on the hill.

3. Use the following phrases in sentences, and decide what is the function of each; that is, tell which you use as nouns, which as adjectives, and which as adverbs: to study, to be answered, to have been chosen, seeing a procession, eating an apple, to write a letter, to earn his living, having built a home, having been sick.

4. Write sentences and use in them the following words each of which is modified by a phrase: loaf, kind, caught, fun, black, skate, run, river.

5. Use each of the following as the first part of a phrase: against, between, without, upon, pushing, having reached, in reply to, with regard to, down, to earn.

6. Pick out the noun, the adjective, and the adverbial phrases in the following sentences:

(b)

(a) Years steal fire from the eyes as vigor from the limbs. Know when to speak; for many times it brings Danger to give the best advice to kings.

(c). But I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widened by the process of the suns. He drew his bridle in the shade

(d)

(e)

Of the apple trees, to greet the maid,

And ask a draft from the spring that flowed
Through the meadow, across the road.

If wisdom's ways you wisely seek,

Five things observe with care:

Of whom you speak, to whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.

(f) You must get into the habit of looking intensely at words, and of assuring yourself of their meaning syllable by syllable--nay, letter by letter.

(g) Being entirely right and adhering to your opinion in spite of all temptation to do otherwise, will be found more difficult than being a hero in battle.

CLAUSE ELEMENTS

DEFINITION OF A CLAUSE

6. How Sentences Become Clauses.-Two or more sentences may be made into one by means of conjunctions. After the union of these elements, they are no longer sentences, but clauses of a sentence. Thus, take the two

sentences:

The earth is round.

Men can sail around the earth.

These two sentences may be united into one sentence by using as a conjunction any one of the following and making some slight changes in the wording: and, if, so, then, because, for, since, inasmuch as, seeing that, etc.

The earth is round, for men can sail around it.

Here we have a sentence consisting of two clauses connected by the conjunction for, each clause having a subject and a predicate.

When separate sentences are united, slight changes are usually necessary. This happens in such cases

following:

as the

1. When subjects in two or more of the sentences denote the same person or thing.

The sun rises in the east.
The sun moves across the sky
The sun sets in the west.

The girls stayed at home.
The girls did the housework.
The boys went to the picnic.

The sun rises in the east, moves across the sky, and sets in the west.

The girls stayed at home and did the housework, but the boys went to the picnic.

Here we still have three statements, in which the omitted

subjects are clearly implied.

2. When two or more of the predicates are alike.

Spring returned once more.

The birds returned once more.

The flowers returned once more.

The day is dreary.

The world is dreary.
My life is dreary.

Spring and the birds and the flowers returned once more.
The day and the world and my life are dreary.

In such cases the predicate usually appears but once in the final sentence, making a structure without clauses. It being impossible to say anything completely without using a predicate, this element is the most important part of a sentence. A sentence is considered to have only as many clauses as it has different predicates; for, if it be rightly constructed, the subjects that are not expressed are plainly implied. over, the imperative regularly omits the subject, but the predicate cannot be omitted without destroying the sentence.

Definition.-A clause is one of the predicating parts of a sentence that has two or more such parts or elements.

7. Varieties of Clause Connectives.-Besides being joined by regular conjunctions, clauses may be united by adverbs and by certain pronouns. An adverb used for this purpose is called a conjunctive adverb, and a pronoun so employed becomes a relative or conjunctive pronoun.

The

Adverbs that are much used as connectives are when, where, while, why, how, as, since, and many others. following are some examples:

He left for the city when the clock struck ten.

They buried him on the field where he had fought so well.

One half the world does not know how the other half lives.

No one has been here since you went away.

It was easy to understand why he left so suddenly.

Conjunctive adverbs may be distinguished from regular conjunctions by the fact that they connect and at the same time denote place, time, or manner, while conjunctions connect and nothing more. The following will illustrate: