Chapter 3Chapter 3Chapter 3Chapter 3

Introduction to phrases & Introduction to phrases & clausesclauses

Using these slides• These slides are planned to help

you be a more effective reader of the Longman Student Grammar.

• Please have the book in hand as we go through Chapter 3.

Getting an overview of the chapter

• This chapter is quite small compared to others in the book. How long is it?

• What 2 sections do they promise on page 37?• Flip through. Get a sense of the sections. • Also look to see what kinds of “visible” data

they present. • Find the reviews that come at the end of

section major chunk. You might try reading those first to see what the authors consider the most important information in each section.

Organization in grammar reference

books• Notice that grammar reference

books generally– Start with the most general and

common elements– End up with interesting but infrequent

aspects of the grammar of the chapter– What does that organization suggest

for a reader?!!

What you need to be sure to understand

• By the end of our study of this chapter, you need to be sure that you– Know the difference between phrases &

clauses– Know the most common types of phrases– Know the most common types of clauses– Begin to know about the uses of types of

phrases and clauses in different registers

Register information in Chapter 3?

• In my initial look through the chapter, I didn’t see any of the “visible frequency” figures they gave before.

• But the review on page 46 mentions register differences in use of longer and more complex phrases….so it’s there somewhere.

• As you read, mark the places where they mention register differences and their corpus data.

Words, phrases, clauses

• The purposes for this chapter: “to see how words pattern together to form phrases” and “to see how phrases pattern together to form clauses.” (p. 38)

• Patterns & Grammarians: Grammarians are always looking for patterns…not singularities but patterns. – Combinations that get repeated.– Systematic choices among words that are

part of sub-groups.

How should we talk about phrases?

• We need to learn to talk about phrases in terms of– Structure: the kinds of words that are put

together to make phrases and the ways those words are ordered

– Syntactic roles: the ways that different kinds of phrases are put together to make up clauses

– Communication uses: the ways that phrases are used in different types of communication…register differences

What are phrases like?

See their summary on the top of page 39!Then, we’ll go through each of those statements.

Graphical systems in grammar

• Grammarians have a really difficult task as we try to show readers the internal structures of grammatical units.

• How can we mark up the examples to make their structure more visible to readers and students?

• Two major systems are used now in many publications– Bracketing….using [ ] to mark words that go together

• page 38 Example 1– Trees…drawing lines down from a set of words to show

which words go together• Page 39 Figures 3.1 and 3.2

Embedded Defined• Embedded is the term used in linguistics

to mean “one thing inside another thing.”• The example on page 38 involves a noun

phrase inside a prepositional phrase:– … [by [the opposition]]– The brackets end up being double sets of

brackets to show that the preposition has a noun phrase in its object

• Noun phrase: the opposition• Prepositional phrase: by the opposition

Analyzing phrases• Internal Structure: the kinds of words

that are combined and the order they are combined in– What kinds of words are combined to make

a noun phrase? • Articles, adjectives, nouns, etc.

• Syntactic roles: the ways that the phrases are used in clauses– How is a noun phrase used in a clause?

• Subject, object, etc.

What’s this businesses with clauses?Why don’t they ever talk about sentences?

What are the most important types of phrases?

• Well, you make a list. What can you see by flipping ahead from page 41?– Noun phrases– Verb phrases– Adjective phrases– Adverb phrases– Prepositional phrases

How should you read the descriptions of

phrases?• Grammar materials are just about always

going to tell you 2 things about a grammatical item:– 1. how it is made…its internal structure….the words

that can be combined and their word order– 2. how the phrase type is used to make up larger

units

• You can also expect to start seeing more and more information about “use in context”: – 4. how are these phrases used in particular kinds of

communication

So…read these sections that way asking yourself these questions:

1. What’re the forms? What kinds of words are combined to make these?2. How are they used to make other kinds of grammatical units? 3. How are they used in context? Are there any register differences?

Noun phrase terminology

• Head – Check the glossary!

• Modifier – Check the glossary!

• Complement – Check the glossary!

Remember to let me knowIf and when you get confused

About terminology!

Yeah, they count, too• Yep. Noun phrase includes

– Single nouns as well as 2 or more words with a noun as the head

– Pronouns– Proper nouns– Adjectives used like nouns (the

brave, the impossible)

Noun phrase• So, what’s a noun phrase? Try

writing a definition or saying the complete definition out loud to yourself.– Structure: A noun phrase is …. – Use: A noun phrase is used in clauses

as ….

Verb phrase• Ok. So. What’s in a verb phrase?• What’s the head of a verb phrase?• What other stuff can be added to

that head?

In the lecture for Session 3,I’ll look at Table 3.1 in detail.

Adjective phrase structure

• What’s the head?• What other kinds of things can be

added?• What’s a complement?

– Check the glossary!

Predicative? Attributive?

• Adjective phrase use involves– Adjectives that are used after be or

another linking verb. These uses are called “predicative adjectives.”• She is smart. He is tall.

– Adjectives that are used before a noun are called “attributive adjectives.”• The smart student. The tall teacher.

When we look at adjectives in more detail,You’ll see that some adjectives can be

attributive but not predicative. Forexample, solar = solar power but not

The power is solar.

Adverb vs. adverbial• Oh, dear, 2 terms that seem a lot a like. What

do they mean?• Adverb = adverb phrase

– A single word adverb or– A phrase with the adverb as its head

• Adverbial includes adverb phrases but also other grammatical forms that have adverbial meaning– Adverb clause

• Because she is smart, she gets good grades.– Prepositional phrase for adverbial meaning

• She lives on Main Street.

Prepositional phrase• What’s a prepositional phrase? What

structure does it have?• What work does it do?

– “The preposition can be thought of as a link relating the noun phrase to preceding structure.”

– Sometimes a prepositional phrase is at the same level as a subject or verb phrase and acts as an adverbial. So, it connects to the clause:

• She lives in Atlanta.– Sometimes a preposition phrase connects to a noun

and is part of the noun phrase.• I need the book on the bottom shelf.

Clauses• Clauses are analyzed based on the kind of verb

and the kind of stuff required by that verb. • So, we have the basic clause types given on

page 47.– I’ll go over that table in my lecture so you’ll see that

information again.– But, look closely right now at the middle of page 47 for

the list of verb “valency” types. Take a look at the definition in this website: valence. So, a verb attracts certain kinds of other grammar… or it doesn’t.

• Intransitive verbs: no attraction, no object in = no• Transitive verbs: attract objects

Basic clause patterns• The basic clause patterns involve

– Subject + verb + whatever else is required by that verb type• Verb Types

– In-transitive: no object possible• Drugs kill.

– Mono-transitive: has to have 1 object• He owns a very old car.

– Copular: links the subject to an adjective or a noun phrase or a prepositional phrase to describe the subject

• His car is very old. His car is at the mechanic. His old car is a Ford.– Di-transitive: direct and indirect objects

• His brother gave him the car.– Complex transitive: Well, we’ll just look at the examples for now.

• The car makes him crazy.• He’s sending a letter about the car to his brother.

Basic clause elements• A clause is made up of

– 1. Verb phrase– 2. Subject– 3. Object (not always required, depends on

the verb type)– 4. Predicative (required by copular verbs)– 5. Adverbials (usually optional but

sometimes required by certain verbs)

Long Verb Phrase• This term is one that they have developed to

replace what others call the predicate.• The long verb phrase is made up of

– A verb phrase– Everything that the verb phrase requires based on

the type of verb• Could include objects (monotransitive, ditransitive)• Could include complements (copular)• Could include adverbials (optional or required)

• A clause, then, combines– subject + long verb phrase

Where are we at the end of Chapter 3?

• Give yourself a test. Write down your answers to these questions.– What’s a phrase?– What are the basic phrase types? – What’s a clause?– What’re the basic clause types?– How do phrases & clauses interact with each other?

• Now flip back to the section of the chapter with the information to check your memory.

• Also, re-read the reviews at the end of each section of the chapter:– Phrase review: page 46– Clause review: page 54

Now What?• Read the chapter.• Listen to and read my lectures on WebCT.• Do the quizzes.• Make notes about any of the information

that might be important for your paper.• Email me with your questions. Remember

that I want to hear about what you do NOT understand…your questions about the parts of the chapter that confuse you.