What Is a Phrase Definition and Examples in Grammar

In English  grammar, a phrase is a group of two or more words functioning as a meaningful unit  within a sentence or clause. A phrase is commonly characterized as a grammatical unit at a level between a word and a clause. A phrase is made up of a  head (or headword)—which determines the grammatical  nature of the unit—and one or more optional modifiers. Phrases may contain other phrases inside them. Common types of phrases include noun phrases (such as a good friend), verb phrases (drives carefully), adjective phrases (very cold and dark), adverb phrases (quite slowly), and prepositional phrases (in first place). Pronunciation:  FRAZEEtymology: From the Greek, explain, tellAdjective: phrasal. Examples and Observations Sentences  can be divided into groups of words that belong together. For instance, in the nice unicorn ate a delicious meal, the, nice, and unicorn form one such group, and a, delicious, and meal form another. (We all know this intuitively.) The group of words is called a phrase. ï » ¿If the most important part of the phrase, i.e. the head, is an adjective, the phrase is an Adjective Phrase; if the most important part of the phrase is a noun, the phrase is a Noun Phrase, and so on. — Elly van Gelderen Types of Phrases With Examples Noun PhraseBuy a big bright green pleasure machine! — Paul Simon, The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine, 1966Verb PhraseYour father may be going away for a little while. — Ellen Griswold in  the movie Vacation, 1983Adjective PhraseIt is always the best policy to speak the truth—unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar. — Jerome K. Jerome, The Idler, February 1892Adverb PhraseMovements born in hatred very quickly take on the characteristics of the thing they oppose. — J. S. Habgood, The Observer, May 4, 1986Prepositional PhraseI could dance with you till the cows come home. On second thought, Id rather dance with the cows till you come home. —Groucho Marx in Duck Soup, 1933 Prepositional phrases differ from the other four types of phrase in that a  preposition  cannot stand alone as the  head word  of a phrase. Although a  preposition  is still the  head word  in a prepositional phrase, it has to be accompanied by another element—or  prepositional complement—if the phrase is to be complete. Most typically, the prepositional complement will be a noun phrase. — Kim Ballard An Expanded Definition of Phrase A prototypical phrase is a group of words forming a unit and consisting of a head or nucleus together with other words or word groups clustering around it. If the head of the phrase is a noun, we speak of a noun phrase (NP) (e.g. all those beautiful houses built in the sixties). If the head is a verb, the phrase is a verb phrase (VP). In the following sentence, the VP is in italics and the verb head is in bold: Jill prepared us a couple of sandwiches. A phrase is only potentially complex. In other words, the term is also used to refer to one-word phrases, i.e. non-prototypical phrases that consist of a head only. Thus the sentence Jill smokes is a combination of a noun phrase and a verb phrase.— Renaat Declerck, Susan Reed, and Bert Cappelle Phrases, Nesting Phrases, and Clauses Phrases contrast with clauses, which they do, however, resemble. ... The main feature of a clause is that it has all the components of a potentially independent sentence, namely a verb and usually a subject, and perhaps objects, too. A part of a sentence with just these components would be called a clause rather than a phrase. A phrase can contain a verb, without its subject, or it may itself be the subject of some verb. —James R. Hurford Hurford notes two ways that phrases can appear inside other phrases: Conjoining smaller phrases by a conjunction, such as and, but or orNesting a smaller phrase inside a larger one Hurfords examples of nesting a smaller phrase inside a larger one as an integral part of it [the nested phrase is in italics]: Might in all probability be comingRan away home quickly to his motherFive extremely tall basketball playersOut from under the kitchen tableIs not very convincingly established Complex Structures Noun phrases and prepositional phrases can have particularly complex structure in written texts, with several layers of phrase embedding. In fact, the complexity of phrases is a very striking measure for comparing the complexity of syntax in different registers of English. The simplest structures occur in conversation and the complexity increases through fiction and newspaper writing, with academic writing showing the greatest complexity of phrase structure. — Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, and Geoffrey Leech Sources Van Gelderen,  Elly. An Introduction to the Grammar of English: Syntactic Arguments and Socio-Historical Background.  John Benjamins, 2002, Amsterdam.Ballard,  Kim. The Frameworks of English: Introducing Language Structures, 3rd ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, Basingstoke, UK, New York.Declerck, Renaat; Reed, Susan, and Cappelle, Bert. The Grammar of the English Tense System: A Comprehensive Analysis. Mouton de Gruyter, 2006, Berlin, New York.Hurford, James R. Grammar: A Students Guide. Cambridge University Press, 1994, Cambridge.Biber, Douglas; Conrad, Susan; and Leech, Geoffrey. Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman, 2002, London.

PersonalityDimensionsAssignmentWinter2015 1 - 898 Words

HRPD702 – Contemporary Organizational Behaviour S. Shiewitz – Individual Assessment of Personality Dimensions Due Date: as noted on eCentennial website RATIONALE: The purpose of this assignment is to have you explore dimensional facets of, the composite hypothetical construct, â€Å"personality.† You will do this by studying, self-administering, and then interpreting and reporting on the results of, several â€Å"personality tests.† Each test assesses, typically, just a singular dimension [facet] of this multi-dimensional construct [though some, like the Big 5 and MBTI, measure multiple dimensions on the one test]. To interpret the result[s] properly you will need to investigate / study / research to understand each of the dimensions on each†¦show more content†¦PLEASE REMEMBER – when taking personality tests, or any psychological tests, you typically need to respond based on your PREFERRED way of being, not necessarily how situations in the past have required / compelled you to be. ALSO - people are rarely a â€Å"pure† form or completely one way or the other – most are an amalgam – so when responding to any question on any personality / psychological test, go with your first instinct as to what the best response is for you. Please note: INDIVIDUAL PAPERS: ARE INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS. Each student’s submission must be unique. You should not be collaborating. Copying from someone else is a violation of Academic Integrity. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING AND ADHERING TO ACADEMIC INTEGRITY REQUIREMENTS IN ALL COURSES / PROGRAMS. http://www.centennialcollege.ca/pdf/Academic%20Honesty%20-%20Policy.pdf Most tests ask for your preferences, so do not state circumstances change what you will do, or how you would react, etc†¦ People are what they do – not what they think they would do. If the response to a test defines you in a certain way, think very carefully about how you answered the questions because the answers you provide to the questions reveal what you actually [think you] would do, which

Mass Communications Free Essays

In the past 10 years, mass communications underwent perhaps one of the most profound revolutions in their history, matched perhaps by the arrival of the telegraph and the telephone. Technology changes affect who we reach and in what ways. They also affect our entertainment and the way we spend free time. We will write a custom essay sample on Mass Communications or any similar topic only for you Order Now The most notable change has certainly been the Internet. Its vast online spaces have made tons of information easily available to masses of people who previously would find difficult and costly to obtain information of similar quality from other sources. In this way, the Internet democratized communication between people, making writing cheaper through e-mail and making voice connections more accessible through Internet telephony and programs like Skype. I regularly use Skype and e-mail to reach my relatives in other countries, and this makes our communication much easier. The use of online communication has also provided people with immense opportunities to address large audiences without considerable expense of starting one’s own media project. To make a site that will deliver content and the author’s news to large groups of people is very easy and inexpensive. This helps overcome the problem of freedom of speech that many saw in the world where media were owned and governed by rich tycoons. The critics of such freedom noted that it did not provide for â€Å"freedom of expression† of those who are not commercial film producers or media barons† (Iyer, 2004). Today, one can air political or social views without investing a lot of money. Blogs are yet another way to make one’s views known to a group of people and make an online community, getting new friends. In 2005, Business Week reported that â€Å"there are some 9 million blogs out there, with 40,000 new ones popping up each day† (Baker, Green, 2005). I tried once to start a diary at LiveJournal.com, but soon got tired of writing there and could not find many people to read my writing. I believe myself to be a slow adopter, although when technical improvements in communication get popular, I do begin to use them. References Baker, S., Green, H. (2005, May). Blogs Will Change Your Business. Business Week. Retrieved August 29, 2006 College of Communication, the University of Texas at Austin. Thoughts about the Future of Advertising. A White Paper by the Faculty, Department of Advertising. Retrieved August 29, 2006, from http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/reports/future/whitepap.html Iyer, V. R. (2004, July). ‘Culture Cops’ and the mass media. Retrieved August 29, 2006, from http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/jul/med-copmedia.htm    How to cite Mass Communications, Essay examples

Reaction Paper for Economics of the Public Sector free essay sample

The Economics of Public sector, Firm Behavior A reaction paper Do you consider taxes as positive or negative externalities? Negative externalities occur when the effects of decision that are not considered/taken into account by the decision maker are detrimental to others. On the other hand, if the effects are beneficial to others, that is a positive externality. The government’s ability to serve the people depends upon the taxes that are collected. Taxes are indispensable in the government operation and without it, the government will be paralyzed. So, this not only means imposition of financial charges or other levies, upon a taxpayer (negative externality) it is also a mean of raising money to spend on armies, roads, schools and hospitals, and on more indirect government functions like market regulation or legal systems for the use of people (positive externality). Taxes are levied to address externalities; for example, tobacco is taxed to discourage smoking. We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction Paper for Economics of the Public Sector or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Hence, taxes are both negative and positive externalities. When public goods become private goods and vice- versa? A  private good  is an item that yields positive benefits to people  that is  excludable. Its owners can exercise private property rights, preventing those who have not paid for it from using the good or consuming its benefits. It is also rivalrous; consumption by one necessarily prevents that of another. A public good is both non-excludable and nonrivalrous. Unlike  public goods, private goods are less likely to have the  free rider problem. For instance, although many people think a television signal is a public good, cable television services scramble their transmissions so that nonsubscribers cannot receive broadcasts easily. In other words, the producers have figured out how to exclude nonpayers. Private goods may however, become public goods. Shopping malls, for instance, provide shoppers with a variety of services that are traditionally considered public goods: lighting, protection services, benches, and restrooms are examples. Charging directly for each of these services would be impractical. Therefore, the shopping mall finances the services through receipts from the sale of private goods in the mall. On the other hand, public goods become private goods when restriction is put on access. Examples of these are copyright or patent.