Rizal Technological University

College of Education
English Department

CONSTITUENT AND PHRASES

Bigtas, Gian Harvy
Perez, Markjhun
Rojas, Justine

1. CONSTITUENT STRUCTURE

In syntactic analysis, a constituent is a word or a group of words that function as a single unit
within a hierarchical structure. The constituent structure of sentences is identified using tests
for constituents.

Constituency Tests:

● Replacement Test

You can replace a constituent with a single word in the same category. Typically, these are
going to be used for noun phrases.

● Sentence Fragment Test

The idea is that, if you can answer as a sentence fragment then whatever you answer with it,
is probably a constituent.

2. PHRASES

A phrase is a group of words that does not have a subject-verb combination. It is just a part of
a sentence. It does not have a subject-verb combination or give a complete meaning.

12 types of phrases

1. Noun phrase 7. Infinitive phrase

2. Verb phrase 8. Appositive phrase
3. Adjective phrase 9. Present participle phrase
4. Adverb phrase 10. Past participle phrase
5. Prepositional phrase 11. Perfect participle phrase
6. Gerund phrase 12. Absolute phrase

1. Noun Phrase

- makes the noun more specific

- Consists of a noun or pronoun, the head (main noun or pronoun), and any dependent
words (modifier) before or after the head. Dependent words give specific information
about the head.
- It can be a determiner + noun, adjective + noun, quantifier + Determiner + noun.
- A noun phrase can be just a noun or a pronoun.
Noun phrase: order– Determiner + adjective + noun as a modifier Head
Example: A heavy iron gate

Noun phrase = Noun + modifier (modifiers can come before or after the noun)

Before Noun Example:

Articles a cat, the cat, the engine

Possessive nouns Justine’s dog, the neighbor’s dog

Determiner

Possessive pronouns our cat, her cat, their cat

Adjectives that cat, the big cat, the spotted cat

Participles the barking dog, the well-trained dog

After Noun Example:

Prepositional phrases on the bench, in the front

Adjective clauses that chase hens, that looks happy

Participle phrases whining for a treat, walked daily

Infinitives to catch, to train, to adopt

Noun phrase can function in several different ways in a sentence

● A noun phrase acting as a subject

Example: The yellow house is for sale.
The glistening snow covered the field

● A noun phrase can be a direct object

Example: I want a skateboard.
(‘a skateboard’ is the direct object of the sentence)

● A noun phrase can be the object of a preposition

Example: Rhalp rode on a skateboard.
(a skateboard is an object of the preposition ‘on’)

● A noun phrase can be an indirect object

Example: Emman gave the little boy a candy.
(‘The little boy’ is an indirect object of the sentence)
2. Verb Phrase - a combination of an action verb and a helping verb, also known as an
auxiliary verb.

● Action verb – verbs that indicate an action.

Example: go, come, touch, eat, slap, kiss, learn, study, cook, etc.

● Helping verbs – are the verbs that help or support the action/main verb in the
sentence. They are also called Auxiliary verbs.

Forms of helping verbs:

● “To be” – is, am, are, was, were, is, being, am being, was being, were being, been,
being, etc.

● “To have” – has, have, had

● “To do” – do, does, did

● Modal Auxiliary verbs – can, could, may, might, should, would, will, shall, must,
ought to, etc.

For you to form a verb phrase, you need at least two verbs – a helping verb and an action
verb. Sometimes, a verb phrase has three verbs – one action verb and two helping verbs.

Examples:

a. My mom is cooking my favorite dish while I am writing this post.

b. I have been teaching English for 5 years.
c. We might have been doing it wrong.

Different combinations of verb phrases

a. 2 verbs - 1 auxiliary verb + 1 main verb

b. 3 verbs - 2 auxiliary verbs + 1 main verb
c. 4 verbs - 3 auxiliary verbs + 1 main verb

Verb phrase structures:

a. A helping verb (TO BE) and an action verb (present participle V1+ing)
Structure: To be verb (is/am/are/was/were) + action verb (progressive)
Ex. We are learning verb phrases. (present continuous tense)
Jon was taking drugs last month. (past continuous tense)

b. A helping verb (to be) and an action verb (past participle, passive voice)
Structure: To be verb (is/am/are/was/were) + action verb (past participle)
Ex. We are taught verb phrases.
They were beaten for no reason.
 This structure is used in the present and past indefinite tense in the passive voice.
Verbs ‘s, am and are’ show the present time, and the verbs ‘ was and were’ show the
past time.
Ex. Ashish teaches us verb phrases. (present indefinite tense, active voice)
We are taught verb phrases. (present indefinite tense, passive voice)
The police beat them for no reason. (past indefinite tense, active voice)
They were beaten for no reason. (past indefinite tense, passive voice)

c. Two helping verbs in passive voice (to be = being) and an action verb (V3)
Structure: To be verb (is/am/are/was/were) + being + an action verb (past progressive)
Ex. We are being taught verb phrases in the class.
They were being beaten for no reason.

This structure is used to form sentences in the present continuous tense and the past
continuous tense in the passive voice.
Ex. Ashish is teaching us verb phrases in this class. (present continuous tense,
active voice)
We are being taught verb phrases in this class (by Ashish). (this sentence is in
present continuous tense, passive voice. The importance is not given to who is acting
as teaching; the object who is receiving the action (we) is to whom the importance is
given. That’s what we use passive voice for.)

d. A helping verb (to have) and an action verb (past participle V3)
Structure: To have (has/have/had) + an action verb (past participle)
Ex. I have taught verb phrases recently.
Everyone has asked me to leave the office.
I had finished dinner when they joined me.

We use this structure to form sentences in the present perfect tenses and the past perfect
tenses. Has/have is used to show the present tense and had is to show the past tense.

e. Two helping verbs (to have + been) and an action verb (present participle V1 +ing)
Structure: To have (has/have/had) + been + an action verb (progressive)
Ex. We have been living in India since 1996.
He has been teaching English for 5 years.
I had been doubting myself until I read that book.

We use this structure to form sentences in the present perfect continuous and past
perfect continuous tense.

f. A modal auxiliary verb and an action verb (V1)

Structure: a modal auxiliary verb (can, could, may, might, should, would, will, shall,
should, will, and would, etc.) + an action verb (past participle)
Ex. We should meditate for a peaceful mind.
He must learn from his mistakes.
They can kill us.
 g. Two auxiliary verbs (modal auxiliary +have) and an action verb (past participle V3)
Structure: Modal auxiliary verb + have + past participle (V3)
Ex. We should have paid more attention to the class.
He must have studied at a good college.
They could have helped us, but they didn’t.

h. Two auxiliary verbs (modal auxiliary + be) and an action verb (present participle V1 +
ing):
Structure: Modal auxiliary verb + be + present participle (v + ing)

Ex. You should be spending more time with us.

He must be crying in his room right now.
They would be making a movie based on my life.

i. Three auxiliary verbs (modal auxiliary + have + been) + an action verb (present
participle V1 + ing)
Structure: Modal auxiliary verb + have + present participle (V1 + ing)
Ex. They must have been working on this project for 10 years.
She might have been waiting for the last 2 hours.

Verb phrases get interrupted in negative and interrogative sentences and also by adverbs.

Ex. I am not eating anything right now.

Verb phrase: am eating
Interrupter: not

Has she cooked my favorite dish?

Verb phrase: has cooked
Interrupter: she

3. Adjective phrase
- is a group of words that modifies the noun or pronoun in a sentence. It can be placed before
or after the word(noun or pronoun), it modifies or describes. A regular adjective phrase is
formed using an ‘adjective’ and an ‘adverb’.

There are two ways to form a regular adjective phrase:

a. Adverb (intensifier/mitigator) + adjective - this is the most common form of an

adjective phrase. Here, we use an adverb and a regular adjective to form an adjective
phrase.
Ex. Your sister is very smart. (Here, very smart is the adjective phrase. Very is the
intensifier, and smart is the adjective.)

b. Adjective + adjective complement - this is another way to form an adjective phrase.

Here, the adjective phrase is formed using an adjective and a word or words that
modify the adjective: adjective complement.
 Ex. We are happy with your performance. (Happy with your performance is the
adjective phrase in the sentence. Happy is the adjective (headword), and with your
performance is the prepositional phrase that modifies the adjective happy and works as the
adjective complement (adverb)).

4. Adverb phrase

- is a group of words that modifies the main verb of a sentence. Just like an adverb, an adverb
phrase also tells us why, where, when, and how an action takes or takes place.

Look at the following examples:

● Ashish teaches English.

● Ashish teaches English here.
● Ashish teaches English right here without any book.

The first sentence has a subject (Ashish), a verb (teaches), and the object of the verb teaches
(English).

The second sentence, apart from having a subject, a verb, and an object, has an adverb of
place: here. It modifies the verb teaches and tells us where the action of teaching happens.

The third example has two adverb phrases that give more details about the action teaches.
Right here, the first adverb phrase tells us where the action of teaching happens, and the
second adverb, without any book, tells us how the action of teaching happens.

Now, do we have to answer why adverb phrases are important to use? We just saw how using
adverb phrases makes our sentences more detailed by telling us the details of the action

Ex. She works at night. (when)

He is cycling on the road. (where)
The guy works hard to earn a lot of money. (why)
Max was rudely talking to me. (How)

5. Prepositional phrase - phrases that start with a preposition are called prepositional
phrases in English. Prepositional phrases start with a preposition and are followed by an
object of the preposition. Well, that's how easy it is to identify prepositional phrases in
English.
A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and is followed by its object. It generally
functions either as an adjective or as an adverb. It has the following things in it:

a. Preposition
b. Object of the preposition (noun or noun equivalent)
c. Modifier/adverb (optional)
Ex. The girl at the door is Lucy. (prepositional phrase)

● ‘At the door’ working as an adjective, modifying the noun ‘girl’

● Preposition = at
● Object of the preposition = the door

The door is hiding under your table. ((prepositional phrase)

● Working as an adverb, place of the action
● Preposition = under
● Object = your table

I will call you after the meeting.

● Working as an adverb, time of the action
● Preposition = after
● Object = the meeting

6. Gerund phrase - A phrase that starts with a gerund and works as a noun in a sentence is
called a gerund phrase. A gerund is a word that is formed by adding ‘ing’ at the end of an
action verb. Gerund examples- playing, smoking, laughing, running, smoking, teaching, etc.
Structure: V+ing + object/modifier
Ex. Teaching English is my passion.
● Teaching English is the subject
● Gerund = teaching
● Object of the gerund = English

Everyone in my family loves playing here.

● Playing here is the object of the gerund loves
● Gerund = playing
● Modifier = here

Most people are scared of facing their fear.

● Facing their fear is the object of the preposition of
● Gerund = facing
● Object = their fear (noun phrase)

My biggest mistake was trusting him.

● Subject complement = trusting him
● Gerund = trusting
● Object = him
7. Infinitive Phrase

- A phrase that starts with an infinitive [to] and a verb and is followed by an object of
infinitive or its modifier
- It can function as noun, adjective, and adverb
- Formula; to + (verb) + (direct object or adverb)
Example:
a. Swimming in the ocean is my favorite summer activity. [as noun]
b. The opportunity to learn new skills excited her. [as adjective]
c. She worked hard to finish the project on time. [as adverb]

8. Appositive phrase

- A noun phrase that is followed by a noun that identifies it with a new name.
- It may be essential or nonessential to the sentence.
Example:
a. Anna, the girl in the other class, is running as the president.
b. The band vocalist John Carl is my favorite member of the band

9. Present Participle Phrase

- A phrase that starts with the present participle verb and modifies a noun
- I can function as an adjective, also as an adverb
- Formula; (verb) + (-ing)
Example:
a. The girl, holding a bouquet of flowers, smiled at the audience. [adjective]
b. Laughing uncontrollably, Sarah couldn't speak.[as adverb]

10. Past participle phrase

- A phrase starts with a past participle verb

- It can function as an adjective or adverb
Example:
a. Exhausted from the long journey, they arrived at the destination. [as adverb]
b. The book, written by a famous author, became a bestseller. [as adjective]
11. Perfect participle phrase

- A phrase that starts with present [HAVING] followed by past participle verb and
modifying the noun
- It can function as the reason for the main clause
- Formula;
Active: having + (past participle verb) + object/modifier
Passive: having + been + (past participle verb) + object/modifier

Example:

a. Having finished her work early, Anna decided to go for a walk. [active sentence]
b. The cake, having been baked to perfection, was enjoyed by everyone at the party.

12. Absolute phrase

- A phrase that contains a subject (noun) and an adjective (adjective phrase) that
modifies an entire sentence.
- It gives more details about the sentence
Example:
a. Her ankle being injured, Jana wasn’t able to finish the tournament.
b. Him talking fast, and I wasn’t able to write anything about the lesson.
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