REVIEW ON

PHRASES,
CLAUSES, AND
SENTENCES

PRE-ADVANCE STRUCTURE
Eko Rujito DA
eko_rujito@uny.ac.id
 PHRASES
 Groups of related words that form a unit in a
sentence
 These words are organized around a head or
central word
 Phrases never have a subject and predicate in
them
 Consider this example:
the black cat
jumping over the fence
steals food
every morning
PHRASES
 Consider this example:
the black cat
jumping over the fence
steals food
every morning
Does each of these have a complete
message?
PHRASES
 the black cat (Noun Phrase) “black” modifies
“cat”
 jumping over the fence (Adjective Phrase)
modifies “cat”
 over the fence (Prepositional Phrase) modifies
“jumping”
 steals food (Verb Phrase)
 every morning (Adverb Phrase)

*) the underlined words are the head words

 PHRASES
 Thus “The black cat jumping over the fence
steals food every morning” is a complete
sentence consisting of a numbers of phrases.
 Can you identify the subject, the predicate, the
object, and the adverb of the sentence?
 What about “The black cat jumping over the
fence”?
 Is it a sentence?
 PHRASES
1. Noun Phrase vs. Prepositional Phrase
during the Civil War (Prep. Phrase)
the Civil War (Noun Phrase)
a house with glass windows (Noun Phrase)
with glass windows (Prep. Phrase)
inside a bell jar (Prep. Phrase)
a bell jar (Noun Phrase)
because of the increase in raw materials’ prices
(Prep. Phrase)
the increase in raw materia’s prices (Noun Phrase)
in raw material’s prices (Prep. Phrase)
raw material’s prices (Noun Phrase)
PHRASES
2. Gerund Phrase
 gerund phrase always acts as a noun in a sentence
 Like other nouns, a gerund phrase can serve as the subject of
a sentence, the object of a verb or preposition, or the
complement of a linking verb.
 Examples:
Consuming too much alchohol may cause serious liver
problems (GP as Subject)
The two countries avoided breaking the agreement (GP as
Object)
The senator made his reputation by talking often and loudly
(GP as Object of Preposition)
Calling George by his nickname is asking for trouble (GP as
Subject and Complement of a linking verb)
PHRASES
3. Infinitive Phrase
 An infinitive phrase contains an infinitive (for example, to sleep,
to have slept, to consider, to throw) and its objects and
modifiers
 Infinitive phrases usually function as nouns, though they can be
used as adjectives and adverbs.
 Examples:
To sleep all night was his only wish (Inf. Phrase as Noun/Subject)
The representatives didn’t want to take an unpopular stand (Inf.
P as Noun/Object)
He had plenty of money to spend foolishly (Inf. P as Adjective
modifying “money”)
After the confrontation, she drove miles to clear her mind (Inf.
Phrase as Adverb modifying “drove”)
CLAUSES
 Groups of words that contain both a subject and a predicate
 An independent clause, along with having a subject and
predicate, expresses a complete thought and can stand
alone as a sentence.
 A subordinate or dependent clause does not express a
complete thought and therefore is nota sentence.
 Consider this sentence:
When the night fell, her mind started to wander to her
childhood
The sentece consists of two clauses:
Dependent clause: When the night fell (S= the night, P= fell)
Independent Clause: her mind started to wander to her
childhood (S = her mind, P= started)
CLAUSES
1. Independent (Main Clause)
 An independent clause may stand alone as a simple
sentence:
Erica brushed her long, raven hair
 Two independent clauses can be joined by a coordinating
conjunction:
Fernando left, and Erica brushed her long, raven hair
 Or y a semicolon:
Fernando left; and Erica brushed her long, raven hair.
 An indpendent clause may be preceded by a dependent
clause:
After she told Fernando to leave, Erica brushed her long, raven
hair.
 Or followed by a dependent clause:
Erica brushed her long, raven hair while she waited for
Fernando to leave.
CLAUSES
2. Dependent (Subordinate) Clause
 A subordinate clause has a subject and predicate but cannot
stand by itself
 It depends on something else to express a complete thought
 It is ususally introduced by subordinating conjunctions
(although, because, if, unless, when, if, after, before, when,
etc.)
 Examples:
 While Mauna Loa was erupting and spewing fountains of
lava into the air, we drove away as quickly as we could
 Unless a firm agreement is achieved, the conflict between
the two parties will remain unchanged.
 The price fell significantly because there was not enough
demand for the product.
 The regime will likely be stable as long as the people are
kept unaware of the real situation.
FRAGMENTS
 A fragment is a sentence-like construction, but it lacks one or
two important elements.
 Most fragments are actually dependent clauses (or modifying
phrases).
 Consider these examples:
 During the Gulf War, at the beginning of Operation Desert
Storm, in the city of Baghdad.
 Defending their position to the last man in an effort to
prevent the Soviets from reaching Hitler’s bunker.
 The French soldiers defending the city of Orleans from the
attacking English army until Jeanne d’Arc arrives.
 Because the captain had ordered his fleet to be loaded
with explosive mixtures of sulfur.
SENTENCES

A sentence it is a group of words containing a

subject and a predicate and expressing a
complete thought.
 Based on the number and the relations of clauses,
sentences are categorized into tree types:
Simple sentences
Compounds
Complex
Compound-complex
SENTENCES
1. Simple Sentence
A simple sentence has one independent clause and
no subordinate clauses.
Examples:
Citizens must act.
Shakespeare is one of the greatest figures in English
literature.
He first Olympic game was held in Athen.
The candidates are giving speech in the conference
Old-growth forests in the United States are
disappearing
The students have submitted their proposals.
SENTENCES
2. Compound
 A compound sentence has two or more independent
clauses, joined by coordinating conjunctions (for, an, nor, but,
or, yet, so) and no subordinate clauses.
 The subjects of a compound may be either similar or different.
 Examples:
It was raining and the wind was blowing.
The city needs a new city hall, but the government refuses to
pay the expense.
I could have kebabs for dinner or I could have pizza
Instead.
The demoness Surpanakha was not able to seduce
Rama, nor was she able to harm Rama’s wife Sita.
SENTENCES
3. Complex Sentence
A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one
or more subordinate clauses.
The subordinate clauses are usually introduced by subordinating
conjunctions.
Examples:
 Because old growth forests in the United States are fast
disappearing, citizens must act now.
 Before the arrival of Europeans, American continent was
inhabited by hundreds of Amerindian tribes.
 The passengers are in confusion since neither the airport
authority nor the flight companies give reliable information
about the delays.
 If dinosours had not been extinct, human being would
have had difficult time to survive.
SENTENCES
4. Compound-complex
 A compound-complex sentence joins two or more
independent clauses with one or more subordinate
clauses.
 Examples:
After my friend had arrived, we had dinner, and
then we went to a movie.
Although the movie was badly reviewed, it sold
well, but obviously it failed to gain any nomination
for Oscars.
Because old growth forests in the United States are
fast disappearing, citizens must act now, or we will
witness an enviromental damage soon.
Because America seemed to provide limitless
natural resources, until the second half of this
century we spent them freely. We mined for
minerals, diverted rivers, and cut down trees,
many of which had been growing for
thousands of years before the first settlers
arrived. Over the years, America’s wilderness
has given way to prosperous cities, and
skyscrapers have replaced giant old trees.
America has succeeded, but now we are
paying the price.