Phrase Identification

Question

Would someone please help me find the phrases and their kind (gerundive, infinitival or participal) in these sentences?

Yes.
Just look for words ending in -ing, or the word "to" followed by a verb.
Then find the words that go together with this word.
Can you do that?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Would someone please help me find the phrases and their kind (gerundive, infinitival or participal) in these sentences?

Yes.
Just look for words ending in -ing, or the word "to" followed by a verb.
Then find the words that go together with this word.
Can you do that?

LilyPhilly · Answer

AlpheccaStarsJust look for words ending in -ing, or the word "to" followed by a verb.Then find the words that go together with this word.Can you do that?

"In the past few weeks, they (have often been seen) (going to the theatre together)."
"(Rejecting their offer), she said she was no longer interested in (doing business with them)"
Are these correct?
What about participles ending in -EN? Can a part of a main clause be part of a phrase?
My text says that in the sentence "I really enjoy reading mystery novels" that "reading" is a gerund but it looks like a finite verb to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

they have often been seen - They is the subject, often is an adverb, and the underlined is the main verb.

going to the theatre together - participial phrase.

Rejecting their offer - participial phrase.

doing business with them - gerund phrase

Participles ending in -en or -ed are past participles. They can be adjectives or participial phrases

Eaten up by mosquitoes and bothered by pesky ants, we abandoned our picnic.

Some modern grammarians call word groups with non-finite verbs "reduced clauses". Traditional grammar texts call them phrases.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

LilyPhillyMy text says that in the sentence "I really enjoy reading mystery novels" that "reading" is a gerund but it looks like a finite verb to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1. I enjoy live music. - What is the verb here?
2. I am enjoying my breakfast. - What is the verb here?

3. I enjoy reading books. - What is the verb here? Compare with #1 above.
4. I am enjoying reading the latest best-seller mystery novel. - What is the verb here? Compare with #2 above.

LilyPhilly · Answer

I am still having difficult time with phrases (I am sorry). I have a better understanding for clauses than phrases. Would you mind helping me again to get a better understanding? I can find the verb usually but do not know what to include in the phrase (I have difficulty finding the modifiers).
1. "(Eating and drinking) (was forbidden) during the performance.
gerunds=nominal phrase used as subject
was forbidden = past participle, used as?
2. If it continues to rain like this, we will have to leave.
(to rain like this) - infinitival phrase - adjectival
(have to leave) - infinitival phrase - nominal (direct object?)
3. Bored with the game, he walked to the exit whistling loudly.
"walked to the exit"-
"whistling loudly" ~~present participle~~ adjectival phrase

AlpheccaStars · Answer

1. "(Eating and drinking) (was forbidden) during the performance.

When in doubt, change the sentence to something simpler, so you can better understand it.

What was forbidden during the performance?
What (subject) was forbidden (verb, simple past, passive voice) during the performance (prepositional phrase, adverbial)?

So, answer the question - What was forbidden?
Answer: Eating was forbidden. Eating - a noun, subject of the verb "was forbidden"
Drinking was forbidden. Drinking - a noun, subject of the verb "was forbidden"
Eating and drinking (compound subject, two nouns joined with "and")

And also these were probably forbidden:
Taking pictures was forbidden.
Using a cell phone was forbidden.
Whistling was forbidden.
etc.

2. If it continues to rain like this, we will have to leave.

Both continue and have are a kind of verb we call "catenative" - what follows is a gerund or infinitive. It makes a complex verb phrase.

have to is also considered to be a helping verb, used to show obligation. It is not like other auxiliaries in that it is inflected.
I have to go now. = (I must go now)
I had to leave yesterday.
I will have to leave soon.

Here is a description:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_catenative_verbs

3. Bored with the game, he walked to the exit whistling loudly.
whistling loudly - a participial phrase, since whistle is a verb.
Some grammarians would say that "whistling loudly" is adverb of manner; others would favor an adjective. I prefer adverb, because the phrase can be moved around the sentence. Adjectives stick more closely to their nouns. Compare with this clear adverb:
Bored with the game, he walked to the exit quickly.

LilyPhilly · Answer

thank you for taking the time out to help me.
There were no changes to my phrase identification so I assume they are correct (although I added "during the performance" as a prepostitional phrase).
1. (Eating and drinking) (was forbidden) (during the performance).
2. (to rain), (have to leave)
3. (bored with the game) (he walked) or (he walked to the exit)? (whistling loudly)
*my text is old and confusing and does not say anything about catenative verbs but the link helped.

BillJ · Answer

LilyPhillyI am still having difficult time with phrases (I am sorry). I have a better understanding for clauses than phrases. Would you mind helping me again to get a better understanding? I can find the verb usually but do not know what to include in the phrase (I have difficulty finding the modifiers).1. "(Eating and drinking) (was forbidden) during the performance.gerunds=nominal phrase used as subjectwas forbidden = past participle, used as?2. If it continues to rain like this, we will have to leave.(to rain like this) - infinitival phrase - adjectival(have to leave) - infinitival phrase - nominal (direct object?)3. Bored with the game, he walked to the exit whistling loudly."walked to the exit"-"whistling loudly" present participle adjectival phrase

First, some of the expressions you ask about are clauses, not phrases, in modern grammar.

1. Eating and drinking were forbidden during the performance.

Eating and drinking - best analysed as verbs - they are coordinated gerund clauses functioning as subject.

Were forbidden during the performance - a passive past-participial verb phrase functioning as predicate.

2. If it continues to rain like this, we will have to leave.

To rain like this - an infinitival clause functioning as complement to the verb continues.
Have to leave - a perfect infinitival clause functioning as complement to will.

3. Bored with the game, he walked to the exit whistling loudly

Walked to the exit whistling loudly - past tense verb phrase as predicate.
Whistling loudly - participial clause functioning as depictive adjunct (with progressive aspectuality).

BillJ

Anonymous · Answer

Is this a phrase or a clause?

Since I was upset

Anonymous · Answer

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