Words’
Combination
Guspatni, [Link], M.A
Combination of words
Phrase Clause Sentence
2/ more 2/ more words A thoughtful
words (it has S and V) clause
Phrase
Noun phrase
Prepositional
Verb phrase
phrase
Adjective Adverb
phrase phrase
Infinitive Participle Appositive
Gerund phrase
phrase phrase phrase
1. Noun Phrase
Noun with modifiers or determiner
(articles, quantifiers, possessive, demonstrative and modifiers )
• A book • Two bags • My book • This cat
• An apple • Few people • Our class • Those pen
• That little boy
• Her bag • That bag • A smart boy
• The Indian • A lot of money
• A wet and stinky dog
• I, you, we, they, she, he, it
2. Adjective Phrase
has an adjective, sometimes with an adverb of degree
• Very good • Very delicious
• Pretty dangerous • Way too high
• Extremely expensive • Older than
3. Adverb Phrase
has an adverb, sometimes with an adverb of degree.
• Very quickly
• Almost certainly
• Very well
5. Gerund Phrase
is simply a noun phrase that starts with a gerund
Gerund: verb acting as a noun
(V-ing)
Walking in the rain can be difficult.
Strolling along a beach at sunset is romantic.
Getting a sore back was the result of the golf game.
Pulling an all-nighter did not improve his test scores.
6. Prepositional Phrase
consists of a preposition with its object and the modifiers.
Preposition + noun phrase
(Preposition + modifiers + noun/ pronoun/gerund/ clause)
(can act as a noun, an adjective or an adverb)
• With Jokowi • In a neat class • By singing
• For an hour • About what we need
• Between you and me
• Around the globe
7. Verb Phrase Verb+ modifiers
(verb + helping verbs/ auxiliaries)
• be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being
• do, does, did
• have, has, had
Primary
Auxiliaries
can, could, shall, should, will, would,
may, might, must, ought [+ to + main
verb]
Modal
• Can stand
• Is raining
• Could be borrowed
• Will be climbing
8. Infinitive Phrase
: a noun phrase that begins with an infinitive.
Everybody loves to watch movies.
I went to Spain to study the language and culture.
To make lemonade, you have to start with lemons.
I tried to see the stage, but I was too short.
To see Niagara Falls is mind-boggling.
FUNCTION OF INFINITIVE
1. Subject
An infinitive can constitute the subject of a sentence. For example, in “To go, even after all that trouble, didn’t seem worthwhile
anymore,” “to go” is the action that drives the sentence.
2. Direct Object
In the sentence “We all want to see,” “to see” is the direct object, the noun (or noun substitute) that receives the action of the verb. “To
see” refers to a thing being done — or, in this case, desired to be done: the act of seeing.
3. Subject Complement
In “My goal is to write,” “to write” is the subject complement. A subject complement looks just like a direct object, but the difference is
in the type of verb preceding it. The verb in the previous example, want, is a transitive verb. (Transitive verbs have two defining
characteristics: They precede a direct object, and they express an action.)
In “My goal is to write,” the verb is a copular, or linking, verb — one that links a subject to a word or phrase that complements it. (In this
sentence, “to write” is the goal, so it’s the complement of goal. Note that in the previous example, “to see” is what those referred to as
we want, but it’s not the complement of we.)
4. Adjective
In “She didn’t have permission to go,” “to go” modifies permission — it describes what type of permission is being discussed — so the
phrase serves as an adjective.
5. Adverb
In “He took the psychology class to try to understand human behavior,” “to understand (human behavior)” explains why the taking of the
class occurred, so it’s an adverb modifying the verb took.