Sentence analysis

Question

I could really use some help with some sentences analysis. I am not sure at all if I am on the right track .

First sentence:

"A time of prosperity and peace"

I did this analyse:

A time is a noun phrase, where a is the determiner and time is the head. Of is a preposition, so I think it`s a prepositional phrase with a noun complement. Is this wrong?

Another sentence is:

"In delft, the economy was thriving and brought wealth to town and country"

I did this:

In delft ( Prep phrase) the econony (noun phrase) was thriving (verb phrase) and (conj) brought (verb) wealth (noun phrase) to town and country (prep phrase)

Please let me know what is wrong. Thank you so much

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

First sentence:

"A time of prosperity and peace"-- This is not a sentence; it is a noun phrase

'A time' is a noun phrase, where 'a' is the determiner and 'time' is the head. 'Of' is a preposition, so I think it's a prepositional phrase with a noun complement. -- OK, but notice that the prepositional phrase is post-modifying 'time', making the whole thing a larger noun phrase.

In Delft ( Prep phrase) the econony (noun phrase) was thriving (verb phrase) and (conj) brought (verb) wealth (noun phrase) to town and country (prep phrase)-- OK

Needgrammarhelp · Answer

so it will be like this then:

A (det) time (head) of prosperity and peace (post-modifier)?

Can you explain what you mean with post-modifying? I don`t understand, because my grammarbook explains this very briefly..

Mister Micawber · Answer

'Post-modification' just means that the modifier (in bold) comes after the head (underlined):

Is it good enough?
A time of peace.
The bag that I put the body parts in.

Andriy Lapin · Answer

Greetings, Tina,

Mister Micawber's answers are completely relevant, but let me make some additional remarks:

1. A time of prosperity and peace - is a noun phrase you analysed absolutely correctly. In general, noun phrases may have the following constituent parts:
a) the head, around which the other constituents cluster. In your case, it is time;

b) the determinative, which includes

- predeterminers, all items which precede any central determiner in a noun phrase, eg all, both, half (there are no predeterminers in your case);

- central determiners, such as articles, this/that, some, etc. In your example, a is a central determiner;

- postdeterminers, follow central determiners but precede premodifiers (premodifiers are usually adjectives) - numerals, many, few, several, as in the many new offices (the - central determiner; many - postdeterminer, new - premodifier, offices - noun)

c) premodifiers, all items places before the head other than determiners, mainly adjectives and adjective phrases. There are no premodifiers in your case;

d) postmodifiers, comprising all the items placed after the head. In your example, of peace and prosperity is a postmodifying prepositional phrase.

Please note that, under certain circumstances, the phrase we are discussing can be a special type of sentence - irregular sentence (called so because it lacks all the necessary constituents, such as a verb phrase). Consider the following example:

- What do you want for this country?
- A time of peace and prosperity.

- (In this example, the highlighted part is no longer a mere noun phrase, but an utterance meaning (I want) a time of peace and prosperity (for this country). However, such analysis is only possible if you consider stretches of text; if you deal with phrases in isolation, they remain just phrases, no question as to that.

2. Your analysis of the sentence is flawless. However, when talking about a sentence, we have to acknowledge that any phrase performs a certain function in it - this is a distinction between form (manifested by phrases) and function (expressed by clause elements). Thus, your sentence can be described as follows, with clause elements placed before types of phrases in brackets:

In Delft (adverbial of place/prepositional phrase), the economy (subject/noun phrase) was thriving (verb/verb phrase) and brought (verb/verb phrase) wealth (direct object/noun phrase) to town and country (adverbial of place/prepositional phrase).

As you can see, the same type of phrase can function as different clause elements, eg a noun phrase may be a subject or an object.

Respectfully, Gleb Chebrikoff

Needgrammarhelp · Answer

Thank you very much!!! THis was very helpful, you explain it in a way that I actually understand. A general problem is that my grammarbook explains this in a way  I find very complicated, you just say it in a lucid way. Thank you! HAve no words for how much I appreciate it, wish you were my teacher! =)

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