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 Phrases
A PHRASE is a group of words which contains neither
a subject nor a verb. (It may, however, contain a verbal form such as an infinitive, a
participle, or a gerund.)
Prepositional phrases can be used as adverbs
or adjectives:
In a flash, she realized that the tofu had been underneath her chair all along.
After midnight, Egbert's mother was on the roof dancing with a Ukranian
bullfighter.
Infinitive phrases consist of an infinitive (to
dance, to fly, to circumnavigate, etc.) plus an object. They are usually used as nouns,
but they can also be used as adjectives or as adverbs.
As noun (subject): To see him suffer is my dearest wish.
As noun (object): Cordelia longed to eat the last tamale.
As adjective: Franklin had brought nothing to give his mother-in-law.
As adverb: To satisfy this mysterious craving, she was willing to try almost
anything.
Participial phrases begin with a participle.
Participles are adjectives formed from verbs. They come in two tenses: present and past.
present participle: an -ing word like bellowing, waltzing, singing, prancing,
analyzing, fretting, sharpening, sneezing, etc.
past participle: usually an -ed word like bellowed, waltzed, pranced, analyzed,
believed, but sometimes an irregular form like written, sung, lost (from "to
lose"), wept, frozen (from "to freeze"),
Participles can be used as adjectives all by themselves:
bellowing hyena
flying trapeze
tortured soul
lost love
Participial phrases consist of a participle plus
an object. They are used as adjectives.
The creature suffering in the dungeon was once beautiful.
Surprised by the intensity of her disgust, Felicity stared at the cockroach scurrying
across her omlet.
Irving, screaming like a banshee, went careening from the room.
Gerund phrases begin with a gerund (an -ing word
which looks exactly like a present participle, but which is used as a noun.) A gerund
phrase can be used in any way a noun can:
As subject: Playing canasta has been her downfall.
As direct object: He loves embarrassing his relations.
As subjective complement: One of his milder vices is carousing until dawn.
As object of preposition: She amused herself with bungie-jumping from helicopters.
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Independent Clauses
A clause is a group of words
containing at least a subject and a verb (the baby ate), and frequently it lets its hair
down by containing some kind of a complement as well (the baby ate the goldfish).
There are two kinds of clauses: independent and dependent.
Like John Wayne, an independent clause can stand alone.
I shall haunt you till your dying day.
It may, however, become part of a larger sentence if it is connected to other clauses
and phrases by a semicolon or by a coordinating conjunction.
I shall haunt you till your dying day; I shall haunt your friends and
relations after that.
I shall haunt you till your dying day, and I shall haunt your friends
and relations after that.
If you try to join two independent clauses with a comma,
your reader will regard you with horror as the perpetrator of a comma splice.
Don't do it. Use a semicolon or a coordinating conjunction instead.
The coordinating conjunctions that join
independent clauses include and, but, or,
nor, neither, yet, for,
or, and so. The coordinating conjunction does not belong
in either clause, but merely joins them together. Put a comma before the coordinating
conjunction (but note that this particular punctuation rule is so commonly ignored --
particularly in short sentences -- that it is in danger of disappearing).
He fiddled with his cufflinks, and he chewed on his tie.
Fanny Dooley likes sunbathing, but she loves mooning.
She had lost her castanets, so she used her uncle's dentures.
The cat had broken their Ming vase, yet he did not seem to care.
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Dependent clauses and the conjunctions they need
A dependent clause has a subject and a verb, and
looks exactly like an independent clause except for one small thing: it is introduced by
either a relative pronoun or a subordinating conjunction,
which makes the clause grammatically "dependent" on the rest of the sentence.
He fiddled with his cufflinks before he chewed on his tie.
If you're very sweet to me, I'll let you see my collection of exotic tofu
sculptures.
Relative pronouns include who, whom, which, that,
what, whoever, whatever, and whichever. They "relate" the material in the clause
to an antecedent that appears elsewhere in the sentence. In "the bag of potato chips that
I ate," the "that" introducing the clause relates back to "bag of
potato chips."
Subordinating conjuctions are best
classified according to the kind of relationship they express between clauses:
Time: before, after, when, until, while, as soon as, as long as.
Place: where, wherever
Purpose: so that, in order that, so
Cause: because, since
Condition: if, unless, provided that, except
Contrast: although, though, even though, despite, in spite of
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What to do with a dependent clause
Dependent clauses like to make themselves useful within
their sentences; they may act as nouns, as adjectives, or as adverbs.
Dependent clauses as nouns: Dependent clauses used as
nouns can be introduced either by a relative pronoun or by a subordinating conjunction
(that, whether).
I wonder whether ontology recapitulates phylogeny. [direct object]
Whatever is lurking under the bed has
started to snore. [subject]
She knew that her fiancé had an
irrational fear of accordions. [direct
object]
Dependent clauses as adjectives: Dependent clauses used
as adjectives can be introduced by relative pronouns.
Fred, who had long adored her from a distance, finally proposed as their
canoe plunged over the waterfall. [modifies Fred]
The wrestler who is being tossed out of the ring is wearing the toupé that
he found under his couch.
Dependent clauses as adverbs: A dependent clause
introduced by subordinating conjunction can act the same way as a one word adverb. Put a
comma after the dependent clause if it precedes the main clause; do not use a comma if the
dependent clause comes after the main clause.
Time: As soon as they were married, she began to miss her bulldog.
Place: The salesman swore to follow Egbert wherever he might go.
Purpose: He only ate the Doritos so I wouldn't eat them myself.
Cause: She married him because he looked just like her bulldog.
Condition: If our guests hear loud screams coming from the tower, they
may begin to suspect that Uncle Hubert is still alive.
Concession: Although Stanley believed he had taken every possible precaution,
he had forgotten to clean the bloodstains from the boathouse floor.
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Restrictive vs. non-restrictive clauses
An adjective clause can be either "restrictive"
or "non-restrictive." A restrictive clause gives
information needed to identify the person or thing it is modifying. Do NOT use commas to
set off a restrictive clause from the rest of the sentence.
Only someone who truly loves Twinkies™ will eat them by the
truckload. [The clause tells us which kind of person will indulge herself in this
way.]
The old woman who is ogling the waiter is my aunt Edna. [The clause tells
us which old woman is aunt Edna.]
A non-restrictive clause gives information which is not strictly essential. The
information may be very interesting, but the reader does not need it to be able to
identify the person or thing that the clause modifies. You MUST use commas to set a
non-restrictive clause off from the rest of the sentence.
Anastasia, who has started to go bald, was passing out deviled eggs and
cocktail franks to the refugees. [modifies Anastasia, but you don't need the clause to
know which Anastasia.]
Compare the following restrictive and non-restrictive clauses:
Non-restrictive: The brawl, which had begun in a dispute over spelling,
lasted until dawn.
Restrictive: The brawl that began in a dispute over spelling lasted
longer than the brawl that began after an argument about Wittgenstein.
Non-restrictive: The saxaphone player, who wore spats, launched into a
big cadenza.
Restrictive: The saxaphone player who wore spats was chosen to appear in
GQ.
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maintained by Tracy Weiner. Please direct technical questions or comments to her at writing-program@uchicago.edu; questions
about the Writing Program's courses may be directed to Tracy Weiner or Kathy Cochran at
the same address.
This page has last been revised
in May, 1999
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