At a glance
Kinds of phrases
- Noun phraseworks like a noun
- The tall girl in the red dress is my sister.
- Verb phrasemain verb + helping verbs
- She has been working all day.
- Adjective phrasedescribes a noun
- He is very good at maths.
- Adverb phrasehow, when, where
- She spoke very quietly.
- Prepositional phrasepreposition + noun
- The cat is under the bed.
- Start
- Does it have a subject and its own verb?YesClausewhen she arrived
- Phraseafter her arrival
Examples
The big red bus stopped. (noun phrase)
The baby has been sleeping. (verb phrase)
The cat is under the bed. (prepositional phrase)
The tortoise walked very slowly. (adverb phrase)
This ice cream is too sweet for me. (adjective phrase)
Phrase or clause?
because of the rain (phrase: no verb)
because it was raining (clause: subject + verb)
at sunrise (phrase)
when the sun rose (clause)
Phrases with verb forms
To speak English well is my goal. (infinitive phrase)
Reading good books makes me happy. (gerund phrase)
Walking along the beach, we found shells. (participle phrase)
Practice
Answer the questions. Get 7 out of 10 to finish this lesson.