Phrases

Phrases consist of one or more words that behave like a unit syntactically. Phrases typically have a unique head, i.e. a most important word after which the phrase is named. Thus, the head of a noun phrase is a noun, the head of a verb phrase is a verb, etc. The other elements in the phrase are dependents of the head, i.e. complements and specifiers selected by the head, and adjuncts.

The major phrases of English are the following:

1. Noun Phrases (NP)
2. Verb phrases (VP)
3. Adjective phrases (AP)
4. Prepositional phrases (PP)
5. Clauses (S)

Grammatical Functions

1. The predicate
   
2. The subject
   
3. The complements
   
   1. The direct object
      
   2. The indirect object
      
   3. The predicative complement
      
   4. The oblique complement
      
4. Modifiers (Adjuncts)
   

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