Subject Predicate
The boy ran across the road.
The stream trickled along beside the path.
Jack is an electrician.
She gave me my wages.A variety of phrases and clauses can be used to enhance your
writing.
Introducing phrases
Phrasesare groups of two or more words that donotcontain
a finite verb. They do not make sense on their own but add
detail to the sentence. Phrases can do the same work as parts
of speech. There are adjectival phrases, adverbial phrases
and noun phrases. There will be more about adjectives and
adverbs later. There are also prepositional phrases, par-
ticipial phrases and infinitive phrases. Some phrases can be
classified under two headings.
In the above sentences ‘across the road’ and ‘beside the
path’ are both phrases. They don’t make sense by themselves
but they can be used as the subject, object or the com-
plement of the sentence. They are sometimes introduced by
a non-finite verb – the infinitive or the present or past
participle.
Looking at infinitive phrases
The infinitive is the part of the verb introduced by ‘to’. An
infinitive phraseis introduced by the infinitive.
To be a nurse was her ambition.28 / IMPROVE YOUR PUNCTUATION & GRAMMAR