What Is A Phrase ?
What Is a Phrase? (with Examples)
A phrase is a group of words that stand together as a single grammatical unit, typically as part of a clause or a sentence.
My cousin Janet was eating cream cakes from the bakery during the week.
(We've added another phrase. This one has five words. It is functioning as a direct object in this sentence.)
The examples above prove that phrases function as one single unit within a sentence. But, let's look a little closer.
The term "cream cakes from the bakery" has its own embedded phrase ("from the bakery"). This is a prepositional phrase describing the "cream cakes." So, it's possible to have a phrase within a phrase. It's common in fact. There's more. The words "was eating cream cakes from the bakery during the week" are also classified as a phrase. It's called a verb phrase. (A verb phrase consists of a verb and all its modifiers. Those modifiers could also be phrases, as they are in this example.)
Common Types of Phrase
Here are some examples of the common types of phrases.
Adjective Phrase
An adjective phrase is a group of words headed by an adjective that modifies a noun. In these examples, the adjective phrases are shaded and the head adjective is in bold.
Dexter had noticeably evil eyes.
(Here, the adjective phrase modifies "eyes.")
Victoria was immensely proud of us.
(Here, the adjective phrase modifies "Victoria.")
The term "adjectival phrase" is often used interchangeably with "adjective phrase," but many grammarians reserve "adjectival phrase" for multi-word adjectives that are not headed by an adjective. For example:
My auntie is the lady with all the unicorn tattoos.
(The phrase "with all the unicorn tattoos" is a multi-word adjective describing "the lady," but it is not headed by an adjective (hence no word in bold). Headed by the preposition "with," this is an example of a prepositional phrase functioning as an adjective. It is best classified as an adjectival phrase as opposed to an adjective phrase.)
Adverbial Phrase
An adverbial phrase is a group of words that functions as an adverb. In these examples, the adverbial phrases are shaded.
He sings in a low register.
(Here, "in a low register" modifies the verb "sings." As it is headed by the preposition "in," this adverbial phrase is also a prepositional phrase.)
Luckily for us, we arrived just in time.
(Here, the adverbial phrase modifies the verb "arrived.")
Read more about adverbial phrases.
Noun Phrase
A noun phrase consists of a noun and all its modifiers. In these examples, the noun phrases are shaded and the head nouns are in bold.
How much is that doggy in the window?
(Here, the head noun is "doggy." "That" is a modifier. "In the window" is also a modifier (a prepositional phrase functioning as an adjective describing "doggy.")
You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.