A phrase is a combination of words based on a subordinating relationship. As a rule, words in a phrase are connected not only by their meaning, but also by grammar.
At the same time, a phrase is not an independent syntactic unit, it does not convey a complete thought and is not an independent unit in communication. In fact, this is just the material that is needed to build sentences. There are various types and kinds of these syntactic constructions.
According to its lexical and grammatical design, a phrase can underlie a sentence. However, since it does not have the features that a sentence has, it is not. For example, a phrase has no purpose of expression, intonation and grammatical basis. It performs a nominative role, that is, it names objects, actions, states, and so on. At the same time, the information contained in the phrase is moredetailed compared to the word.
One of the words in the construction is the main one, the other is dependent. The connection of these elements is called a subordinating syntactic connection. The functions of the main word can be performed by any part of speech. The types of phrases are determined by the nature of the main word. So, if the main word is a verb, the syntactic construction is called verbal. There are also nominal and adverbial constructions.
The main types of phrases, as a rule, are identified with the concept of types of syntactic connection. The subordinating relationship that words are connected in combination can be of three types: coordination, control and adjunction.
Types of phrases: agreement
Agreement is a type of syntactic connection when the dependent word agrees with the form of the main word in such categories as gender, number and case. This connection changes the form of the dependent word when the form of the main word changes. For example, in the phrase “delicious food”, the dependent word “delicious” is in the form of the feminine, nominative case, singular, like the main word. If the form of the main word changes, then the dependent word also changes: “delicious food”, “delicious food”, and so on.
Types of phrases: management
Control is a syntactic link in which the case of the dependent word is determined by the main word. The form of the subordinate word remains unchanged when the main word changes. For example, in such a phrase as “I love mom”, the dependent word “mom”is in the accusative case. If you change the form of the main word, the dependent remains the same: “loves mom”, “loved mom”, and so on.
Types of phrases: adjunction
Adjacency is a type of syntactic connection in meaning, when the dependent word does not change and has no forms. For example, “walk fast”, “sing loudly”. In such cases, dependent words are adverbs that always remain unchanged. In other words, adjacency is a connection by meaning.
Thus, a phrase is a combination of two or more words through a subordinate connection. It performs a nominative function, which is how it differs from a sentence. There are such types of connection of phrases: adjunction, control and coordination.
