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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