Sentence, Clause, Phrase - Introduction to Phrases

Within different sentences, phrases perform different roles. They can:

(a) Act as nouns: A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.

[I] [saw] [a ghost in the bed.] Here, ‘a ghost in the bed’ is the object of the action (‘saw’) performed by the subject (‘I’). An object can only be a noun or a pronoun. Hence, in this sentence, the phrase is performing the role of a noun.

(b) Act as adjectives: An adjective describes or modifies a noun or a pronoun.

[My room] [is] [full of books.] Here, ‘full of books’ is the complement of the verb (‘is’). The complement tells us about the subject (‘My room’). When you ask the question ‘What kind of room is it?’, you get the answer ‘it is full of books’. Hence, in this sentence, the phrase is performing the role of an adjective.

(c) Act as adverbs: An adverb describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

[The boy] [is running] [very quickly.] Here, ‘very quickly’ is describing the main verb (‘running’). When you ask the question ‘running how?’ you get the answer ‘running very quickly’. Hence, in this sentence, the phrase is performing the role of an adverb.