EstÃ¡Cio Estrutura Da Lingua Inglesa

LÍNGUA INGLESA -
ESTRUTURA BÁSICA
autor do original
ROZÂNGELA MORAES
1ª edição
SESES
rio de janeiro 2015
Conselho editorial sergio cabral, claudete veiga, claudia regina de brito
Autor do original Amir Abdala
Projeto editorial roberto paes
Coordenação de produção rodrigo azevedo de oliveira
Projeto gráfico paulo vitor bastos
Diagramação fabrico
Revisão linguística aderbal torres bezerra
Imagem de capa nome do autor — shutterstock
Todos os direitos reservados. Nenhuma parte desta obra pode ser reproduzida ou transmitida
por quaisquer meios (eletrônico ou mecânico, incluindo fotocópia e gravação) ou arquivada em
qualquer sistema ou banco de dados sem permissão escrita da Editora. Copyright seses, 2015.
Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (cip)
M827l Moraes, Rozângela

Língua inglesa: estrutura básica / Rozângela Moraes.
Rio de Janeiro : SESES, 2015.
136 p. : il.
ISBN 978-85-5548-097-3
1. Morfologia. 2. Sintaxe. 3. Sintagma verbal e nominal. 4. Linguística.

I. SESES. II. Estácio.
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Sumário
Prefácio 7
1. The role of the English Teacher –

Studies of Syntax 10
The role of the English teacher 11

Introduction to Morphology 17
Studies of Syntax 18
Syntactic Basics – Subject and Predicate 25
2. Phrases in the English Language - Verb Phrases 32
The concepts of Linguistics 33

The Concept of Phrase 45
Time and tense 48
3. Tense and Aspect: Present and Past -

Nouns and Nouns Phrases: Countable
and Uncountable Nouns 54
Tense and Aspect: present and past 55

Nouns and nouns phrases: countable and uncountable nouns 56
Countable and Uncountable Nouns. 63
Gerund 68
Genitive case 73
4. The Functions of the Nouns Phrases - Adjective
Phrase. the Adjective in English 80
The functions of the Noun Phrases 81

Noun Phrases Functions 82
Adjectives 93
5. Adjective Phrase: Structure and Function 106
Characteristics of adjectives: comparative and superlative forms 107

Adjectives ending in ED and ING 115
Adjective Phrases: Structure and function 124
Prefácio
Welcome to Língua Inglesa Estrutura Básica
In order to improve your knowledge with the English Language, this book
has the aim to develop students’ basic practical communication abilities, deep-
ening the understanding of language and culture, and fostering a positive atti-
tude toward communication through the English language.
The English Language is spoken by more than 300 million native speakers,
and between 400 and 800 million foreign users. It is the official language of air
transport and shipping; the leading language of science, technology, comput-
ers, and commerce; and a major medium of education, publishing, and inter-
national negotiation. It is, as many people have said, as World English.
In an ever growing boundless world, where people deal with each other in
real time and being thousands of kilometers apart in a daily basis, there must
be a shared mean of communication. This link is English. Commercially, cul-
turally, politically, summits are held in English. Contracts in English are signed
all over the world. Lectures and academic content are shared in English. Also in
English, researchers bring better days to humanity.
Learning a language is important, and it does not matter where in the world
you are. English has become the language that is the “international business
language”. Because of the importance of business in our society, English has
become incredibly important to learn.
Therefore, it’s important to say that a language is a systematic means of
communication where people can use the sounds or conventional symbols. As
a code, we all use to express ourselves and communicate to others. A language
is the written and spoken methods of combining words to create meaning used
by a particular group of people. This way, it’s very important for students and
teachers to be prepared for its presence in our communication.
As you are studying to be an English language teacher, the challenge is to
develop language study in such a way that it supports both language learning
and decision-making in language teaching. We, as teachers, need to know the
language and about the language, we are going to teach. Thus, by learning and
improving English language skills, a teacher not only becomes a better educa-
tor, equipping students to face current competitive world, but also better hu-
man beings.
7
So, it’s time to start this real challenge in your life.
For a better organization of your studies, this book is organized into 5 chap-
ters, according to the table below:
CHAPTER 1 The role of the English Teacher – Studies of Syntax
CHAPTER 2 Phrases in the English Language - Verb Phrases
Tense and Aspect: present and past - Nouns and nouns phrases:
CHAPTER 3 countable and uncountable nouns
The functions of the Nouns Phrases - Adjective Phrase. The Adjec-

CHAPTER 4 tive in English
CHAPTER 5 The adjective in English - Adjective Phrase. Structure and Function
Enjoy your studies!
Rozangela Nogueira de Moraes

1
The role of the English
Teacher – Studies of
Syntax
1 The role of the English Teacher – Studies
of Syntax
In this chapter, we are going to discuss and understand the role of the English
teacher. After that, we are going to evaluate and understand through examples and
explanations the morphemes, the words, phrases, clauses and sentences in order
to provide you the basic knowledge of English Syntax. We are also going to study the
different functions and multiple classifications that predicate can assume. Finally,
we are going to connect the notions of transitivity with the grammar notions.
OBJECTIVES
In this chapter, you will be able to:
• Discuss and understand the role of the English teacher;
• Evaluate and understand trough examples and explanations, the following sequence: mor-
phemes = words = phrases = clauses = sentences. This will provide you the basic knowl-
edge to begin your English Syntax studies;
• Deepen discussions in relation to linguistic and syntactic terminology;
• Recall the importance and the dimension of mastering syntactical analysis establishing
connections with Portuguese in order to sediment the studied content, as well as to bring
up to discussion the basic syntactic roles played by parts of the speech when connected in
sentences – subject and predicate;
• Discuss and understand the different functions and multiple classifications that predicate
can assume;
• Connect the notions of transitivity with the studied grammar notions.
REFLECTION
Can you name your first teachers? Do your remember your first days at school? What impres-
sions do you have from your school time and what was the role the teachers have played in
your life? Moreover, how about some doubts you probably have had concerning the termi-
nology when learning your mother tongue or even learning a second language? Do you still
remember what a subject is and what a predicate is in a sentence? Can you identify them?
Don’t worry if you have almost any answers…We are going to review all of them.
10 • capítulo 1
1.1 The role of the English teacher
To start with, let’s first conceptualize the term role. According to Dorneyi and
Murphey1 (2003) role is a technical term, which originally comes from sociology
and refers to the shared expectation of how an individual should behave.
In the domain of English Language Teaching (ELT), several methodologists
(Littlewood, 1981; Richards and Rodgers, 1986; Tudor, 1993; Harmer, 2001)
have suggested many potential roles for a language teacher. Richards and Rod-
gers (1986) consider teacher roles as part of the design" component of a meth-
od, pointing out that these are related to the following issues:
a) the types of function teachers are expected to fulfill;
b) the degree of control the teacher has over how learning takes place,
c) the degree to which is the teacher is responsible for determining the con-
tent of what is taught, and
d) the interactional patterns that develop between teachers and learners.
According to Littlewood2 (1981), the teacher is the “facilitator of learning” which

entails sub-roles of an “overseer” of student’s learning, a “classroom manager”, a
“consultant” or “advisor”, and sometimes, a co-communicator with learners.
Tudor3 (1993) looks at the role of the teacher in the context of the notion of
the learner-centred classroom, a kind of classroom in which the focus is on the
active involvement of the learners in the learner process.
SAVANNAH1969 | DREAMSTIME.COM
1 Dörneyi, Z. & Murphey, T. (2003). Group dynamics in the language classroom.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2 Littlewood, W. (1981). Communicative language teaching: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3 Tudor, I. (1993). Teacher roles in the learner-centred classroom. ELT Journal, 47(1), 22-31.
capítulo 1 • 11
What is your role as an English teacher? In a traditional point of view, a
teacher is a person who educates students and controls the process of learning.
© LJUPCOSMOKOVSKI | DREAMSTIME.COM
© EVGENYATAMANENKO | DREAMSTIME.COM
Nowadays the understanding of this role has changed. A teacher can be a

councellor, a facilitator, a guardian, a mentor, a coach and so on. Should we
possess our traditional role as educators or move to the new roles? I believe that
it is impossible to have only one particular role when you are a teacher. We face
many different and difficult tasks when we teach English.
12 • capítulo 1
If we face many tasks, we should perform different roles, which correspond
to this or that situation.
© MONKEY BUSINESS IMAGES | DREAMSTIME.COM

© MONKEY BUSINESS IMAGES | DREAMSTIME.COM
Being educators whose primary tasks is to build skills and transfer knowl-
edge, it is important:
• to stimulate students to learn English;
• to help them to overcome difficulties which are connected with the learn-
ing process;
• to give them opportunities to express themselves in the context of the lesson.
capítulo 1 • 13
When a teacher becomes a partner, a person who can give you advice or
understand your problems it creates student-friendly atmosphere where ev-
eryone feels comfortable. When a teacher deals with multiple tasks it means
that he or she should perform different roles in order to make the process of
learning more effective4.
According to Choudhury5 (2011) in any teaching-learning situation, the role
of the teacher in the classroom is of paramount significance because it is cen-
tral to the way in which the classroom environment evolves. Moreover, the role
adopted by the learner in the classroom also hinges on the role adopted by the
teacher. Therefore, teachers must be clear about their role in the classroom so
that there is no chasm between their perceptions of their role and what they
actually practice in the classroom. Of course, when I talk of the classroom role
of teachers here, I take a restricted view of the role(s) of a teacher by focusing
on what they do or should do inside the classroom only, leaving out of consider-
ation the institutional or societal roles that they have.
Now, it’s your turn. Your choice has been made!
You have decided to become English teachers. However, do you do know what
is this about? What role will you play in society as a language teacher? What is the
social importance of the content you intend to teach in society? Can you make a
difference? Well, the answers to the previous questions are actually quite private
since each one of you tends to follow different paths. Nevertheless, there are some
common points that can be discussed in order to bring some light to our journeys.
To start with, have you ever thought of what it is to be a teacher? What kind
of role teachers play in society? What role are you going to play as a teacher? Do
you know your conception of language has to do with the role you are going to
play as a teacher? And what is your conception of language?
4 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/admin/teachers-role
5 Choudhury, A.S Classroom roles of English language teachers: The traditional and the innovative.
Contemporary Online Language Educational Journal, 2011, 1, 33-40
14 • capítulo 1
What role are you going to play?
© MARTINMARK | DREAMSTIME.COM
© ALPHASPIRIT | DREAMSTIME.COM
To begin our discussions, let us focus on ourselves as teachers.

What is the meaning of teach? According to the dictionary TO TEACH is:
1. to give (someone) training or lessons in (a particular subject, how to do
something, etc.); pass on knowledge or skill (to): She teaches English to
foreign students;
2. to (try to) make known and accepted: Christianity teaches humility;
3. to show (someone) the bad results of doing something, so that they will
not do it again: That will teach you to go out without an umbrella.(…)
capítulo 1 • 15
USAGE:
Compare with teach, instruct, train, and coach. Teach is the general world for
helping a person or group of people to learn something. If you instruct (rather
formal) a person or a group of people you pass on knowledge to them, (…). You
can train a person or a group of people up to a necessary level in a particular skill
or profession, (…). You can coach a person or a group of people, often outside the
ordinary educational system, and often for a particular examination (…).
And what is the definition for teacher6 ?
a) Person or thing that teaches something; ESPECIALLY: a person whose
job is to teach students about certain subjects;
b) One that teaches; ESPECIALLY: one whose occupation is to instruct;
c) A person who teaches or instructs, especially as a profession; instructor.
Now, we have already known the definition for teach and for teacher. And
we have thought about our role as a teacher, let’s bring these concepts to our
school, then to the place where we live, and decide if it’s possible or not make
the difference in society and in the educational system.
Evidences from around the world shows us that the most important factor
in determining the effectiveness of a school system is the quality of its teachers.
The best education systems draw their teachers from the most academically
able, and select them carefully to ensure that they are taking only those peo-
ple who combine the right personal and intellectual qualities. These systems
train their teachers rigorously at the outset, focusing particularly on the prac-
tical teaching skills they will need. At each stage of their career, and especially
as they move into leadership positions, teachers in the highest performing sys-
tems receive further focused training and development.
Let us focus on the object of our future classes and discussions. The un-
known to be conquered in what concerns to us is a foreign idiom.
http://www.newyorkschools.com/articles/the-importance-of-esl-educa-
tion.html
6 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teacher
16 • capítulo 1
1.2 Introduction to Morphology
Let’s see some definitions to Morphology7 in Linguistics:

1. The study and description of how words are formed in language
2. Study and description of word formation (as inflection, derivation, and
compounding) in language
3. The system of word-forming elements and processes in a language
4. A study of structure or form
Other definitions8.
1. The patterns of word formation in a particular language, including in-
flection, derivation, and composition.
2. The study and description of such patterns.
3. The study of the behavior and combination of morphemes.
In this course, we will study how languages build their words. We will explore
what linguists call morphology, which is another way of talking about the gram-
mar of words and parts of words. In this first chapter, we will introduce the basic
concepts that allow languages to build words. Subsequent chapters will examine
individual parts of speech, the grammatical categories we may use to sort words.
Finally, at the last chapter, we are going to consider the relations between words.
Morphology, somehow, leads us, language students, to dissect words layer
by layer to discover what is underneath.
Every constituent of a sentence consists of words, which are traditionally
called parts of speech. Each word develops a singular role in a sentence and in
communicative process as well.
For definition, morphology can be understood as the identification, anal-
ysis and description of the structure of morphemes appearing in different idi-
oms and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech.
Morphology is the study of the basic building blocks of meaning in lan-
guage. These building blocks, called morphemes, are the smallest units of form
that bear meaning or have a grammatical function.
7 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morphology
8 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/morphology
capítulo 1 • 17
1.3 Studies of Syntax
To better understand morphology, let’s organize our ideas about the terminol-
ogy of some terms that will appear in this chapter: morpheme, word, phrase,
clause and sentence:
1.3.1 Morphemes
What Are Morphemes?

Words are not the most basic units of meaning. They are frequently com-
posed of even more basic elements.
a) a. obvious: homework, dinnertime, moonlight, classroom
b) . medium: fearless, quickly, fishing, momentary
c) difficult: walks, tenth, dog's, flipped
The most basic elements of meaning are called morphemes. Each of the
preceding examples contained at least two morphemes. We can take, for in-
stance, "th" from "tenth" and say that it has a meaning all to itself - namely, "the
ordinal numeral corresponding to the cardinal numeral I'm attached to".
1.3.2 Basic Concept of Word Structure
Morphemes do not combine in arbitrary ways. There are definite patterns to the
distribution of
Morphemes in polymorphemic words.
rewrite # write-re, walks # s-walk.
The number, order of and type of morphemes used to make up a particular

word is called its structure. Morphologists study not only the meanings of the
various morphemes, but also their patterns of distribution - the structures they
are capable of forming. This knowledge is part of linguistic competence.
The structure of words can be represented by trees.
18 • capítulo 1
1.3.2.1 Classification of Morphemes
Free and Bound Morphemes

A morpheme is free if it is able to appear as a word by itself. It is bound if it
can only appear as part of a larger, multi-morphemic word. Every morpheme is
either free or bound.
• Free morphemes are also referred as roots.
• Bound morphemes are also referred to as affixes, among which there are
prefixes, infixes, and suffixes.
a) prefixes: un-happy, re-write, pre-view

b) suffixes: writ-ing, quick-ly, neighbor-hood
c) infixes: (very rare in English) speech-o- meter
• Bound morphemes may be derivational or inflectional

A stem can be defined as a root to which an affix can be added. Thus, the
root dog is also a stem, because, even though it contains no affix (es), an affix
could be added to it - to form dog-s. This notion is necessary because not all
roots are such that affixes can be added to them of, or, I, etc.
Derivational Morphemes
Derivational morphemes create new words. They derive new words from oth-
er words.
Unhappy un + happy;
Happiness happy + ness;
Preview pre + view.
Further properties
1. Change part of speech or the meaning of a word
a) part of speech: us-able (V --- A), trouble- some (N --- A), judg - ment (V
--- N)
b) meaning: dis-comfort, ex-boyfriend
c) both: use-less (V --- A)
capítulo 1 • 19
2.
• are not required by syntax
• are not very productive: dis-like, *dis-hate
• usually occur before inflectional suffixes: work-er-s
• can be either suffixes or prefixes (in English)
Inflectional Morphemes
Inflectional morphemes, on the other hand, do not change meanings or
parts of speech, but instead simply make minor grammatical changes neces-
sary for agreement with other words.
cats cat + s;
cooler cool + er.
• There are only eight inflectional morphemes:
-s, -ed, -ing, - en, -s, -’s, -er, -est
• They do not change meaning or part of speech:
Cat - cats - cat’s ! Nouns
• They are required by the syntax

• They are very productive
• They occur after derivational morphemes, usually at the very end of the
word (in English)
• They can only be suffixes (in English)
20 • capítulo 1
Content and Function Morphemes
Morphemes (bound or free) can be either content or function morphemes.
• Content morphemes carry some semantic content as opposed to per-

forming a grammatical function.
and, plural -s
Note that these are not simply different names for the derivational/inflec-
tional distinction – D/I morphemes are all bound; while content/function mor-
phemes may be free as well (prepositions are free function morphemes).
1.3.3 Word
While the concept of morpheme, the minimal unit of form and meaning, aris-
es naturally in the analysis of every language, the concept of word is trickier.
Words can be made up of several morphemes and may include several other
words. It is easy to find cases where a particular sequence of elements might
arguably be considered either a word or a phrase.
Would you promptly define WORD? Well! Let us see if we all agree!
A word, in any language, is the smallest free form that may be pronounced
in isolation with semantic (in relation to its meaning) or pragmatic content
(with literal or practical meaning). This contrasts with a morpheme, which is
the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own. A word
may consist of a single morpheme: red, quick, run, expect, or several - rocks,
redness, quickly, running, unexpected, whereas a morpheme may not be able
to stand on its own as a word.
capítulo 1 • 21
Words frequently consist in more complex forms, which will typically in-
clude a root, and one or more affixes - red-ness - or more than one root in a
compound (black-board, rat-race). Words can be put together to build larger
elements of language, such as phrases, clauses, and sentences.
The term word may refer to a spoken word or to a written word, or some-
times to the abstract concept behind either. The spoken ones are made up of
units of sound called phonemes, and written words of symbols called graph-
emes, such as the letters of English.
Now, we have already seen the concepts of morpheme and word; let us
see the concept of phrase:
1.3.4 Phrase
In everyday speech an expression, or phrase, may refer to any group of words, or

one word. In linguistics analysis, a phrase is a group of words or a single word
that forms a constituent- and by which it functions as a single unit in the syntax
of a sentence. In grammatical hierarchy the phrase is lower than the clause.
A phrase is a collection of words that may have nouns or verbals, but it does
not have a subject doing a verb. The following are examples of phrases:
• leaving behind the dog
• smashing into a fence
• before the first test
• after the devastation
• between ignorance and intelligence
• broken into thousands of pieces
• because of her glittering smile
22 • capítulo 1
In these examples above, you will find:
a) Nouns:
Dog, fence, test, devastation, ignorance, intelligence, thousands, pieces.
b) Verbals
Leaving, smashing,
However, in no case the noun is functioning as a subject doing a predicate

verb. They are all phrases.
1.3.5 A clause
A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb.
The following are examples of clauses:
• Since she laughs at diffident men.
• I despise individuals of low character.
• When the saints go marching in.
• Obadiah Simpson is uglier than a rabid raccoon because she smiled at him.
In the examples above, we find either a noun or a pronoun that is a subject

attached to a predicate verb in each case:
If the clause could stand by itself, and form a complete sentence with punc-
tuation, we call the clause an independent clause. The following are indepen-
dent clauses:
• I despise individuals of low character
• Obadiah Simpson is uglier than a rabid raccoon.
capítulo 1 • 23
We could easily turn independent clauses into complete sentences by add-
ing appropriate punctuation marks. We might say, "I despise individuals of low
character." Or we might write, "Obadiah Simpson is uglier than a rabid raccoon!"
We call them independent because these types of clauses can stand in-
dependently by themselves, without any extra words attached, and be com-
plete sentences.
CONNECTION
To know more about subordinate conjunctions, access this ling:
http://web.cn.edu/KWHEELER/gram_clauses_n_phrases.html
Dependent clauses have a subject doing a verb, but they have a subordinate
conjunction placed in front of the clause. That subordinate conjunction means
that the clause can't stand independently by itself and become a complete sen-
tence. Instead, the dependent clause is dependent upon another clause-it can't
make a complete sentence by itself, even though it has a subject doing a verb.
Here are some examples of dependent clauses:
• Since she laughs at diffident men
• When the saints go marching in
• Because she smiled at him
These clauses simply do not form complete thoughts or sentences by them-

selves. Those subordinate conjunctions since, when, and because, cause the
listener to expect some extra material. The thought is incomplete. If you walked
up to a friend in the dorms and said, "since she laughs at diffident men," and
then walked away without adding an independent clause, the friend would be
completely baffled.
It's important to understand the difference between phrases, dependent
clauses, and independent clauses because many punctuation marks, such as
commas, semicolons, and colons, require one or the other.
24 • capítulo 1
1.3.6 Sentence
A sentence is the written expression of a complete thought. In most sentences,

the reader is given one complete piece of information. A sentence needs to con-
tain the following:
• a capital letter at the beginning and a full stop at the end;
• a subject (person / people or thing(s)) that is / are doing something);
• a verb (action or doing word).
Let’s see some examples:

• Some students like to study in the mornings.
• I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.
• When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.
1.4 Syntactic Basics – Subject and Predicate
The Basic English sentence form is the statement form, the declarative sen-
tence. A well-formed (shapely, studied) declarative sentence must have both a
subject, something the statement is about, and a predicate, something that is
said about the subject.
Language is a chain system and to cope perfectly with it implies in linking
contents and concepts that help you to actually understand it as a whole. Being
so, to complement and amplify the notions of subject and predicators it is un-
doubtedly necessary to understand what VERB TRANSITIVITY is.
A verb can be TRANSITIVE or INTRANSITIVE. When a verb is transitive it
means that it is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects.
See the example below:

• My sister broke the window.
• According to the instructions, we must leave this conditioner in our hair
for twenty minutes.
• The audience attentively watched he latest production of The Trojan
Women.
capítulo 1 • 25
Analyzing the given examples we perceive that transitive verb has two char-
acteristics:
1. First, it is an action verb, expressing a doable activity like in brake,
watch etc.
2. Second, it must have an object, something or someone who receives the
action of the verb.
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs

from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects.
An intransitive verb has two characteristics:
1. First, it is an action verb, expressing a doable activity.
2. Second, it will not have a direct object receiving the action.
Look at the following example:

My father cried.
Many verbs have both a transitive and an intransitive function, depending
on how they are used.
See the examples to understand better:
a) Brad Pity breaks my heart.
In this sentence the verb break takes a direct object = my heart.
b) When I hear your voice, my heart breaks.
In this sentence the verb breaks doesn’t take an object.
A ditransitive verb is one that takes two complements, a direct object and
an indirect object at the same time.
26 • capítulo 1
Let’s see the example:
He gave her the letter
Ditransitive verb Indirect Object Direct Object
Predicate
Subject
According to certain linguistics considerations, these objects may be called

direct and indirect, or primary and secondary.
Next chapter we are going to see about the English syntax in a more com-
plex way.
ACTIVITIES
1. What is the importance of English and what role can you play as an English teacher?
2. Define:
a) Morpheme
b) Word
c) Phrase
d) Clause
e) Sentence
REFLECTION
In this chapter, you have understood the importance of English and the role a teacher can
play. I hope you can make a reflection about this, recognize your role as an English teacher,
and decide what kind of teacher you would like to be. You also studied the specific terminol-
ogy about morphology: the Morphemes, the Word, the Phrase, Clause and sentence. Finally,
you have started your learning about subject and predicate
capítulo 1 • 27
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
For further reading, I recommend Interactions II, A Communicative Grammar in order to improve
your knowledge.
WERNER, P. CHURCH, M. BAKER, L. Interactions II- A Communicative Grammar. Mc Graw-Hill,
Inc. New York. 1990.
For more information about the role of the English teacher, please, access the following link:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/admin/teachers-role
REFERENCES
BALTIN, Mark & Chris COLLINS. The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory. Malden:
Blackwell Publishers, 2001.
BIBER, D. CONRAD, S. and LEECH, G. Student grammar of spoken and written English. 10th
Ed. Essex: Longman, 2011.
BROWN, Keith & Jim MILLER. Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1996.
CARNIE, Andrew. Syntax: a generative introduction. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2002.
CHOUDHURY, A.S Classroom roles of English language teachers: The traditional and the
innovative. Contemporary Online Language Educational Journal, 2011, 1, 33-40
GREENBAUM, S. and QUIRCK, R. A student’s grammar of the English language. 8th Ed.
Essex: Longman, 2006.
28 • capítulo 1
NEXT CHAPTER
Next chapter, we are going to study the phrases in the English language. We are also going
to study the concept of syntagm as well as its different types. We are going to point out
the core of a verb phrase and explain the difference between a simple verb phrase and a
complex one.
capítulo 1 • 29
2
Phrases in the
English Language -
Verb Phrases
2 Phrases in the English Language - Verb
Phrases
In this chapter, we are going to learn the concept of syntagm, and as you have
already seen in the previous chapter, it is usually assumed that sentences con-
sist of hierarchical structures, which may be represented graphically and some
attempt is made to capture the formal rules of a language, the patterns that gov-
ern whether a sentence is grammatical or ungrammatical. You are also going
to study how to identify and classify the phrases in verbal phrase, nouns phrase
and adjective phrase. We are also going to study the difference between a sim-
ple phrase and a complex verb phrase. Finally, we are going to see the concept
of lexical verb and auxiliary thorough exercises and examples.
OBJECTIVES
• Understand the concept of syntagm and the different types of syntagm as well;
• Learn how to identify the essence of phrases in general in order to classify them as verbal
phrase, noun phrase or adjective phrase;
• Perceive the occurrence of verbal phrases inside a sentence.
• Understand the structure of a verbal phrase with examples;
• Point the core of a verb phrase (verb);
• Explain the difference between a simple verb phrase and a complex verb phrase;
• Internalize the concept of lexical verb and auxiliary through exercises and examples.
REFLECTION
You have already studied about the language structure in Portuguese. Do you remember
this? If your answer is yes, probably it will be easier for you to understand the similarities in the
English language. All right,… you are going to study all of this. I hope you can do a good job.
32 • capítulo 2
2.1 The concepts of Linguistics1
Let’s start this chapter by having an overview about Linguistics to situate the
Syntax, part of linguistics that is concerned with the structure of language and
very important for this chapter.
Each human language is a complex of knowledge and abilities enabling
speakers of the language to communicate with each other, to express ideas, hy-
potheses, emotions, desires, and all the other things that need expressing. Lin-
guistics is the study of these knowledge systems in all their aspects: how is such
a knowledge system structured, how is it acquired, how is it used in the produc-
tion and comprehension of messages, how does it change over time? Linguists
consequently are concerned with a number of particular questions about the
nature of language. What properties do all human languages have in common?
How do languages differ, and to what extent are the differences systematic, i.e.
can we find patterns in the differences? How do children acquire such com-
plete knowledge of a language in such a short time? What are the ways in which
languages can change over time, and are there limitations to how languages
change? What is the nature of the cognitive processes that come into play when
we produce and understand language?
The part of linguistics that is concerned with the structure of language is
divided into a number of subfields:
Phonetics - the study of speech sounds in their physical aspects;
Phonology - the study of speech sounds in their cognitive aspects;
Morphology - the study of the formation of words;
Syntax - the study of the formation of sentences;
Semantics the study of meaning;
Pragmatics - the study of language use.
There are some other definitions for linguistics. Let’s see some of them:
Study of the nature and structure of language. It traditionally encompasses
semantics, syntax and phonology. Synchronic linguistic studies aim to describe
a language, as it exists at a given time; diachronic studies trace a language's
historical development.
1 http://linguistics.ucsc.edu/about/what-is-linguistics.html
capítulo 2 • 33
With the rise of historical linguistics in the 19th century, linguistics became
a science. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ferdinand de Saussure es-
tablished the structuralist school of linguistics, which analyzed actual speech
to learn about the underlying structure of language. In the 1950s, Chomsky
challenged the structuralist program, arguing that linguistics should study na-
tive speakers' unconscious knowledge of their language (competence), not the
language they actually produce (performance). His general approach, known as
transformational generative grammar, was extensively revised in subsequent
decades as the extended standard theory, the principles-and-parameters (gov-
ernment-binding) approach, and the minimalist program. Other grammatical
theories developed from the 1960s were generalized phrase structure gram-
mar, lexical-functional grammar, relational grammar, and cognitive grammar.
Chomsky's emphasis on linguistic competence greatly stimulated the develop-
ment of the related disciplines of Psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics.
2.1.1 Syntax2 – conceptualization
Now, that we have already seen some definitions for Linguistics, let’s under-
stand the meaning of Syntax, part of linguistics that is concerned with the struc-
ture of language and very important for this chapter.
Syntax studies the arrangement of words in sentences, clauses, and phrases,
and the study of the formation of sentences and the relationship of their compo-
nent parts. In English, the main device for showing this relationship is word order;
Let’s see what a syntactic structure is and what the rules that determine syn-
tactic structure are like.
What meant by structure here is word order. The meaning of a sentence de-
pends on the order in which words occur in a sentence. Let’s compare the fol-
lowing sentences:
f) I sing because I am happy.

g) I am happy because I sing.
2 http://www.merriam-webster.com/concise/syntax
34 • capítulo 2
As you can see, the sentences above have the same categories and number of
words, but they are different in structure (words order).
2.1.2 Syntactic Category
Syntactic category is a set of words and/or phrases in a language, which share a

significant number of common characteristics. They commonly include:
3. Parts of Speech:

Determiner, adjective, noun, pronoun, preposition, adverb, auxiliary, verb ….
4. Phrase structure grammar

• Noun Phrase (NP)
• Adjective phrase (AdjP)
• Verb Phrase (VP)
• Adverb Phrase(AdvP)
• Preposition Phrase ( PP)
5. Sentence, as the core of the structure.

The syntactic categories tree are illustrated in a tree diagram, called phrase
structure tree, by supplying the name of the category of each word grouping.
These names are often referred as syntactic labels. Let’s see them:
• Sentence S
• Determiner Det
• Adjective Adj
• Adverb Adv
• Verb V
• Pronouns Pro
• Preposition P Syntatic Labels
• Auxiliary verb Aux
• Preposition Phrase PP
• Adverb Phrase AdvP
• Adjective Phrase AdjP
• Noun Phrase NP
• Verb Phrase VP
Before we introduce the concepts of a Noun Phrase, Adjective Phrase, Ad-

verb Phrase, Preposition Phrase, and Verb Phrase, let’s first remember from the
previous chapter, the definition of phrase
capítulo 2 • 35
Phrase is a sequence of words or a group of words arranged in a grammati-
cal construction, and functions as a unit in a sentence.
Now, let’s see the five commonly occurring types of phrases in more details:
1. A Noun Phrase (NP) refers to a phrase that built upon a noun which
functions as the headword of the phrase.
a) The young man threw the old dog a bone.
(NP) (NP) (NP)
b) Pretty girls whispered softly
(NP)
2. An Adjective phrase (AdjP) refers to a phrase that modifies a noun. It

built upon an adjective, which functions as the headword of the phrase.
a) Mary seemed extremely pleasant.
(AdjP)
b) You are much quicker than I.
(AdjP)
3. A Verb Phrase (VP) refers to a phrase that composed of at least one verb
and the dependents of the verb, in which the verb functions as the head-
word of the phrase.
a) He has been singing.
(VP)
b) The child found the puppy.
(VP)
4. An Adverb Phrase refers to a phrase that often plays the role of telling us
when, why, or how an event occurred, in which the adverb functions as
the headword of the phrase.
a) We are expecting him to come next year.
(AdvP)
b) He ran very quickly.
(AdvP)
36 • capítulo 2
5. A Preposition Phrase refers to a phrase that begins with a preposition, in
which the preposition functions as the headword of the phrase.
a) He arrived by plane.
(PP)
b) Do you know that man with the scar?
(PP)
2.1.3 Phrase structure tree
The phrase structure tree, also called constituent structure tree, with a tree dia-
gram with syntactic category information provided. It shows that a sentence is
both linear string of words and a hierarchical structure with phrases nested in
phrases (combination of phrase structures). It is also a formal device for repre-
senting speakers’ knowledge about phrase structure in speech.
Let’s see an example of a phrase structure sentence:
NP VP
Det N V NP
Det N
The Child Found The Puppy
No information is lost in the simplified model of phrase structure above. The

syntactic category of each individual word appears immediately above that word.
In this way, the is a determiner, child is a noun, found is a verb, the is a de-
terminer and puppy is a noun.
capítulo 2 • 37
2.1.4 Basic Phrase structure rules
1. S → NP VP
2. NP → (Det) (Adj) N (PP)
3. VP → V (NP) (PP) (Adv)
4. PP → P NP
1. S → NP VP
NP VP
2. NP → Det N
NP VP
Det N
38 • capítulo 2
3. VP → V PP
NP VP
Det N V NP
4. PP → P NP
NP VP
Det N V PP
P NP
Det N
capítulo 2 • 39
S
NP VP
Det N V PP
P NP
Det N
The Boat Sailed Up The River
2.1.5 Word order
Let’s see this example:
The boy loves his dog
Subject Verb Object
This sentence follows the standard subject-verb-object word order, and

switching the order of such a sentence would change the meaning or make the
sentence meaningless.
40 • capítulo 2
Word order is much more flexible in languages such as Latin, in which word
endings indicate the case of a noun or adjective; such inflections make it un-
necessary to rely on word order to indicate a word's function in the sentence.
It is usually assumed that sentences consist of hierarchical structures,
which may be represented graphically and some attempt is made to capture the
formal rules of a language, the patterns that govern whether a sentence is gram-
matical or ungrammatical.
Look at the sentence below and analyses the word order. After that,
write the words according the Basic Phrase structure rules
a) The boy is eating a huge cake. I20/I21

To summarize, let’s remember that according to Chomsky1 , syntax is the
study of principles and process by which sentences are constructed in partic-
ular languages. Syntactic investigation of a given language has as its goals the
construction of a grammar that can be viewed as a device of some sort for pro-
ducing the sentences of the language under analysis.
After discussing the concepts of linguistics and syntax, let’s recover some ideas:
• Linguistics is the study of language;

• Linguistics believe that at the abstract level, beneath the surface varia-
tion, languages are remarkably similar.
• Syntax is a branch derived from Linguistics that study how words com-
bine to form meaningful phrases and sentences.
We can conclude, after discussing the concepts about linguistics that every-
thing is interconnected in a minor scale and in a major scale as well. For this
reason, we can say that Portuguese and English share some comparable aspects
and the concepts of subject and predicate are effective for both languages.
1 Noam Chomsky, Syntactic Structure, 1971
capítulo 2 • 41
Let’s see the definitions
SUBJECT - The subject of a sentence or clause is the part of the sentence or

clause about which something is being said. It is usually the doer of the action.
It is a noun or a pronoun.
• John often comes late to class.
• My friend and I both have a dog named Spot.
• Many parts of the Asian coastline were destroyed by a tsunami in 2004.
• The old hotel at the end of the street is going to be knocked down to
make way
PREDICATE - The predicate of a sentence is that part of the sentence, which

says something about the subject. It expresses the action of the sentence or the
condition of the subject.
• John often comes late to class.
• My friend and I both have a dog named Spot.
• Many parts of the Asian coastline were destroyed by a tsunami in 2004.
• The old hotel at the end of the street is going to be knocked down to make
way for a new supermarket.
DIRECT OBJECT - A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the ac-
tion of a verb or shows the result of the action. It answers the question "What?"
or "Whom?" after an action verb. An action verb with a direct object is called a
transitive verb.
John received a letter.
INDIRECT OBJECT - An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells
to whom or for whom the action of the verb is done and who is receiving the di-
rect object. There must be a direct object to have an indirect object. Indirect ob-
jects are usually found with verbs of giving or communicating like give, bring,
tell, show, take, or offer. An indirect object is always a noun or pronoun which
is not part of a prepositional phrase.
42 • capítulo 2
Mary gave me the report.
It is important to mention that syntagms, or phrases, can be classified ac-

cording to the tendency expressed within its structure. In other words, phrases
can be arranged in a way that the meaning depends on a word, a key word, also
known as the head of the sentence.
Look the examples:
1.
NP VP
N V PP
Pn P NP
Det N
It Is Under The Box
2.
S S
NP VP NP VP
N V ADJ N V
Alsatians Are Big Jhon Waved
capítulo 2 • 43
3.
NP VP
N AUX V
Pn
It ‘S Raining
In the sentences:
1. It is under the box, He hit the ball,
2. Alsatians are big, John waved,
3. It is raining
We notice that the coherent arrangement of each syntactic unit depends on

the verb. It is around it that the meaning of the phrase orbits attracted by its
gravitational force. The verb justifies each occurrence.
A phrase composed of at least one verb and that dependents on that verb it
is classified as VERB PHRASE – VP.
There are two main types of VPs: finite VPs (the verb is a finite verb) and
non-finite VPs (the verb is a non-finite verb).
44 • capítulo 2
2.2 The Concept of Phrase
2.2.1 Phrase – structure and head
The central element in a phrase is the HEAD of the phrase. Let’s look at the
examples to better understand it.
The children
In this noun phrase, the head is CHILDREN.

© FEVERPITCHED | DREAMSTIME.COM
The title of the newspaper.
In this noun phrase, the head is TITLE.
capítulo 2 • 45
© PHOTOGRAPHERLONDON | DREAMSTIME.COM
Nouns phrases don’t have to contain strings of words. In fact, they can
contain just one word, such as children. This is also a phrase, though it
contains only a head.
2.2.2 Structure and head – Three part – structure
PRE-HEAD STRING HEAD POST-HEAD STRING

The Endangered Animals In the Wild
The head is the only obligatory part, which cannot be omitted from the phrase.
Just as a noun functions as the Head of a noun phrase, a verb functions as
the Head of a verb phrase, and an adjective functions a the Head of an adjective
phrase, and so on. We recognize five types in all:
46 • capítulo 2
PHRASE TYPE HEAD EXAMPLE
Noun Phrase Noun The Endangered Animals
Verb Phrase Verb Correct Exercises
Adjective Phrase Adjective Delighted To Meet You
Adverb Phrase Adverb Rather Respectable
Prepositional Phrase Preposition Under The Rubble
Look at the example
Sentence
Verb Phrase
Preposition Phrase
Noun Phrase Noun Phrase Noun Phrase
Noun Verb Noun Preposition Noun
Michael W. studies linguistics at Estácio University
This table is illustrative. We should concentrate on Verb Phrases and use

the previous discussion, as well as the table, as a comparative term in order to
induce our reasoning to understand how things work as whole.
capítulo 2 • 47
2.3 Time and tense
It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to
talk about time.
For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
I hope it rains tomorrow.
“rains” is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow);
Or
A past tense does not always refer to past time:
If I had some money now, I could buy it.
“had” is past simple but it refers here to present time (now).
In abstraction from any given language, we can think of time as a line on
which is located, as a continuously moving point, the present moment. Any-
thing ahead of the present moment is in the future, and anything behind it is in
the past (…) In relating this REFERENTIAL view of time to the meaning of the
verbs, it is useful to reformulate it so that on the semantic level of interpretation
as “present” if it exists the present moment and may also exists the past and in
the future. (…) (GREENBAUM and QUIRK, 2006, p.47)
Look at the figures below:
The present moment
F.1 Past x Future
(Now)
The present moment

(Now)
F.2 Past time x Future time
The present time
Including now
48 • capítulo 2
Tense can be defined as the forms a verb takes by inflection or by adding
auxiliary words, to indicate the time of the action or event signified; which verbs
undergo the modification for the indication of time. Consequently, time can be
understood as points specifically located in the timeline.
2.3.1 Simple and complex verb phrase
A simple verb phrase consists of one verb only while a complex one consists of
at least two verbs. In complex verb phrases, the rightmost verb is the head, or
main verb, because it provides the primary communicative content (it is also
known as a full verb or a lexical verb), while all other verbs in the verb phrase are
premodifying auxiliary verbs.
Let’s see some examples of simple verb phrases, which have only one verb
in their structure.
1. Simple verb phrases
b) The ninja’s head suddenly exploded.
b) But the man is a complete idiot
c) Before the Martians attacked Earth, the Eiffel Tower stood in Paris.
Simple verb phrases consist of only one verb, which may be imperative,
present, or past.
2. Complex verb phrases

a) The ugly alien was pointing a death ray gun at me, and told me I would
be buried alive in
b) the red sands of Mars
c) I have eaten all the leaves on this tree, for I am an evil giraffe
d) I could have been there, but I was sleeping
In a complex verb phrase, there are verbs that are actually responsible for
the ongoing action while other complement their meaning indicating tense
or mood. Thy are called auxiliary verbs, and when inserted in the structure of
phrases and sentences follow a strict order.
capítulo 2 • 49
There is a name for each one of them:
a) Modal, followed by an auxiliary:

You must follow the orders!
b) Perfect (auxiliary have), followed by the participle form:
She has finished her duties.
c) Progressive (the auxiliary be), followed by an ING form:

The detectives are interrogating a suspect.
d) Passive (the auxiliary be), followed by an ED form:

Brazil was discovered in 1500.
To conclude, it can be said that there are lexical verbs and auxiliary verbs.
Auxiliary verbs always precede main verbs within a verb phrase. Auxiliaries are
also known as helping verbs. They contrast with lexical verbs, also known as
main verbs since they are responsible for the meaning in a verb phrase.
CONNECTION
To learn more about the verb phrase, access this link:
http://www.hum.aau.dk/~kim/Grammar10/gram2.pdf
ACTIVITIES
1. Identify the verbs and classify if the sentences are Simple or complex?
e) John has finally found the love of her life.
f) Customers may withdraw their purchases on the counter.
g) Children must be respected as if they were adults.
h) Friends respect each other.
i) Felines hunt at night.
j) The government announced new fiscal adjustment measures yesterday.
k) Shut up!
50 • capítulo 2
2. Match the concepts and the definitions
(( ) Phonetics
(( ) Phonology
(( ) Morphology
(( ) Syntax
(( ) Semantics
(( ) Pragmatics
(( ) Discourse analysis
a) The analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed).

b) The study of sounds (or signs) as discrete, abstract elements in the speaker’s
mind that distinguish meaning;
c) The study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified;
d) The study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences;
e) The study of the meaning of words and fixed word combinations, and how
these combine to form the logical, meaningful sentences;
f) The study of how utterances are used in communicative acts, and the role
played by context and nonlinguistic knowledge in the transmission of meaning;
g) The study of the physical properties of speech (or signed) production and per-
ception;
3. What is the time and what is the tense expressed in the sentences below?
a) I hope it rains tomorrow.
b) If I had some money now, I could buy it.
4. Write the examples in a phrase structure tree.

a) The girl loves her cat.
b) Jeanne studies Spanish at Crawford University
REFLECTION
In this chapter, you could learn the concepts of Linguistics and the concept of Syntax. You
have identified the elements that constitute the phrases and the verb phrases. You could
understand the structure of a verb phase and saw some examples with them. Finally, you
have studied the difference between a simple and a complex verb phrase and conclude that
capítulo 2 • 51
there are verbs that complement the meaning of the verbs that express the actual action and
other that complement verbs expressing mood. After this, you could internalize the concept
of lexical verb and auxiliary verbs by analyzing some examples.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
For further reading about the Syntactic Theory, I recommend:
BALTIN, Mark & Chris COLLINS (eds). The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory.
Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2001.
REFERENCES
BIBER, D. CONRAD, S. and LEECH, G. Student grammar of spoken and written English. 10th Ed.
BROWN, Keith & Jim MILLER (eds). Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1996.
GREENBAUM, S. and QUIRCK, R. A student’s grammar of the English language. 8th Ed. Essex:
Longman, 2006.
NEXT CHAPTER
Next chapter, we are going to study tense and aspect: present and past; nouns and nouns phras-
es countable and uncountable nouns. You are also going to study noun phrases and noun clauses
and identify determiners and modifiers. Finally, you are going to recognize noun phrases, its func-
tions, and the study more about the difference between simple and complex sentences.
52 • capítulo 2
3
Tense and Aspect:
Present and Past -
Nouns and Nouns
Phrases: Countable
and Uncountable
Nouns
3 Tense and Aspect: Present and Past -
Nouns and Nouns Phrases: Countable and
Uncountable Nouns
In this chapter, you are going to study tense and aspect: present and past. As
you have already seen in the previous chapter, tense and aspect are concerned
with time. While tense refers to the time in which the verb of a sentence places
an action, the aspect refers to the duration of an event within a particular tense.
You are going to distinguish noun phrases and noun clauses and identify deter-
miners and modifiers. You are also going to understand the structure of noun
phrases and recognize noun phrases and its functions. Finally, you are going to
study the gerund and the genitive case.
OBJECTIVES
• Distinguish noun phrases and noun clauses;
• Identify determiners and modifiers;
• Understand the structure of noun phrases.
• Understand Gerund and its use;
• Understand the Genitive case.
REFLECTION
Can you distinguish noun phrases and noun clauses? Have you ever seen a modifier and a deter-
miner? Do you know what a determiner is? And how about the gerund? Do you remember that
we use it to talk about something is happening now, for instance? I am studying English right now,
for example. However, of course there are other uses for ING. We are going to study all of them.
Wait…
54 • capítulo 3
3.1 Tense and Aspect: present and past
As we have already introduced in the previous chapter, tense and aspect are
concerned with time. According to Klein1 (1994) the “temporal relations”.
Let’s compare both:
Tense
• Is grammaticalized expression of location in time, usually with reference
to the present moment that something occurred rather than how long it
occurred for, which is realized by verb inflection.
• Tenses have consistent relational values: anteriority, posteriority and si-
multaneity, with the present moment as deictic center, past, present and
future (Comrie, 1985, p. 11; Smith, 1991, p. 145).
• Refers to the time in which the verb of a sentence places an action.
There are two tenses in English: present and past. Unlike many languages,
English does not have a future tense. To talk about the future, English requires
either the modal verb WILL or the present progressive.
For each grammatical tense, there are subcategories called aspects.
Aspect
• Aspect refers to the duration of an event within a particular tense. In oth-
er words, the aspect of a tense allows us to describe or understand how
an event unfolds over time.
• Is concerned with the internal temporal constituency of the one situa-
tion. The duration of the activity is indicated by the verb.
English has four aspects2 : simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progres-
sive. Let’s see them grouped by verb tense:
1 Klein, 1994, p. 3
2 http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/blog/learn-english/grammar/progressive-aspect/
capítulo 3 • 55
TENSE ASPECT EXAMPLE
Present Simple present I wash the car
Present progressive I am washing the car
Present perfect I have washed the car
Present perfect progressive I have been washing the car
Past Simple past I washed the car
Past progressive I was washing the car
Past perfect I had washed the car
Past perfect progressive I had been washing the car
3.2 Nouns and nouns phrases: countable and uncountable nouns
As we studied in the Chapter 1, words can be organized into higher units known as
phrases, which can be identified by substitution, that is, by replacing one expres-
sion with another to see how it fits into the structure. In particular, a multi-word
can often be replaced by a single word phrase without changing its meaning.
We can also identify phrases by movement tests. A phrase can be moved as
a unit to a different position. When we place one set of brackets inside another,
this means that one phrase is embedded inside another. According to BIBER,
CONRAD and Leech3 , the possibility of embedding sometimes means that a
given structure can be understood in two or more different ways.
Let’s see this example:
[The opposition] [demands] [more governmental investments in education].
3 BIBER, CONRAD and Leech, 2011, p. 38
56 • capítulo 3
Identifying phrases:
[It] [demands] [something]
We substituted the noun OPPOSITION by the pronoun IT and MORE GOV-

ERNAMENTAL INVESTIMENTS IN EDUCATION by something.
We can conclude that there are three phrases in the given example.
• Words make up phrases, which behave like units.

• A phrase can consist of either one word or more.
• Phrases can be identified by substitutions and movements tests.
• Differences in phrase structure show up in differences of meaning.
• Phrases can be embedded.
In larger structures, phrases become part of a logical arrangement. They can

function as objects and subjects, for example. The ability to recognize this func-
tional feature typical of phrases can be crucial for the interpretation of linguis-
tic situations. According to the function performed, phrases can be classified
in different types.
For each class of lexical word, there is a major type phrase with an example of
that class as the head (as we saw previously) which is the principal obligatory word.
To move forwards, let us recall the procedure of word classification, taking into
consideration the following factors: form/structure, syntactic role, and meaning.
c) Form / structure:
It has to do specially with the word class of the head of the phrase in an anal-
ogous process of word class recognition.
d) Syntactic role:
Phrases can be described and classified according to the function it performs.
e) Meaning:
The semantic nature of phrases is to specify and convey meaning.
capítulo 3 • 57
3.2.1 Clauses and their characteristics
The clause is the key unit of syntax, capable of occurring independently, with-
out being part of any other unit. It is useful to think of the clause as a unit that
can stand alone as an expression of a complete thought, that is a complete de-
scription of an event or of a state of affairs.
Hence, many spoken utterances consist of a single clause:
a) Have you got an exam on Monday?
b) She smiled sweetly.
Clauses can be defined as a group of words that contains a subject and a

predicate. A clause may be either a sentence, independent clause, or a sen-
tence-like construction within another sentence, dependent clause, as we have
already seen in the previous chapter.
Let’s see the examples:
a) Peter and his friends traveled to another country.

Subject Verb Phrase
b) Carla’s parents are sending her to Miami.

Subject Verb D.O. Adv.
3.2.2 Noun Phrase
A noun phrase is a group of words used to form a basic

name when it is:
a) Impractical to employ a single noun word;
b) When a single noun would have too broad a concept if used as a basic
name. For example, ‘machine’ and ‘board‘.

• The Vice President of the Textile Industries Association.
• The new vitamin packed high calcium low fat breakfast cereal.
• The crimson, ermine trimmed, velvet gown with gold trimmings was
worn by Anne Boleyn at her coronation.
58 • capítulo 3
The head in a Noun Phrase can appear in uncountable occasions preceded
by determiners such as the, her, a and can be accompanied by modifiers.
Determiners are words that are used with nouns to clarify it. They can clarify:
a) To define something or someone.
b) To state the amount of things, people or other nouns.
c) To state possessives.
d) To state someone or something is (or is not) specific.
e) To state how things or people are distributed.
f) To state difference between nouns.
There are different types of determiners, and their use is subject to the type
of the noun to which it relates.
5. Singular and plural nouns
Singular nouns always need determiners;

If determiners are related to plural nouns, they are optional.
There are about different types of determiners in English: quantifiers, arti-

cle, possessive, demonstratives, ordinals and numbers.
A house These houses Many houses
Heavy rain driven by

The little girl next door His bristly short hair
gales
Any inflammable material

discovered which might Her below Knee skirt
be found as dangerous
capítulo 3 • 59
Abstract head noun can be followed by complements that happen to complete
the meaning of the noun it is connected, specially that-clauses or infinitive clauses:
The old belief that mirrors attract lightning is proven invalid.

© LISIZA | DREAMSTIME.COM
© SOPHIE MCAULAY | DREAMSTIME.COM
60 • capítulo 3
Modifiers are optional elements in phrase structure or clause structure. Its
occurrence is not mandatory or essential in a phrase or clause. Actually it can be
removed and still not cause any damage to the idea that is being transmitted. In
English, adverbs and adjectives function as modifiers, but they also have other
functions. Moreover, other parts of speech (or even entire phrases or clauses)
can function as modifiers.
See the following examples:
• His desk was in [the faculty office]. (Noun in noun phrase)
• I saw [the man whom we met yesterday]. (Clause in noun phrase)
• She’s [the woman with the hat]. (Preposition phrase in noun phrase)
• We’ve already [gone twelve miles]. (Noun phrase in verb phrase)
According to its placement in a phrase or clause, modifiers can be called:

a) Pre-modifier- when placed before the head
Ancient times
Post-modifier- when placed after the head: Men in black suits.
Although modifiers may precede nouns or come after them, their place-
ment must be carefully measured so it is connected to the intended noun.
Otherwise, the misplacement of modifiers can cause unintentional and
unwanted changes in the general sense of the phrase or clause.
3.2.3 Noun clauses and noun phrases
Noun clause – It refers to any kind of subordinate clause, which can occupy the po-
sition of a noun or noun phrase. It can be the subject of a verb or the object of a verb.
capítulo 3 • 61
She has decided that she will find a good job.
Object of the verb Decided
That she has not yet arrived worries me
Subject of the verb Worries
Noun phrase - A noun phrase is a syntactic unit, which can serve as subject,
direct object or object of a preposition in a sentence. A noun phrase is con-
structed around a noun or a pronoun as its head. A noun phrase may be of any
size. The simplest form consists of just one word.
Italian Renaissance painters left an incomparable legacy.

NP = Subject
62 • capítulo 3
3.3 Countable and Uncountable Nouns.
In a restaurant
© SEBASTIAN CZAPNIK | DREAMSTIME.COM
Ordering lunch and dinner

What else do you recommend?
Waiter Are you ready to order, sir?
Mr. .Senna Yes. I´ll have a salad for starters and my wife would like tomato soup.
Waiter One salad and one tomato soup. What would you like for the main course?
I´ll have the steak and my wife would like the fried trout with mashed
Mr. .Senna
potatoes.
Waiter I´m afraid the trout is off.
Mr. Senna Oh dear. Err... What else do you recommend?
Waiter The chicken is very good
OK. I´ll have that. Do you have any potato salad with
Mr. Senna
Cabbage? And please, a small mixed salad and a bottle of red wine, please
capítulo 3 • 63
3.3.1 Countable nouns
Countable nouns are for the things we can count. They usually have a singular
and a plural form.
Dog, horse, man, shop, idea

© FDC789 | DREAMSTIME.COM
Two dogs, ten horses, a man, six men, the shops, a few ideas
© EHOMAN | DREAMSTIME.COM
64 • capítulo 3
3.3.2 Uncountable nouns
• Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count.
Tea, sugar, water, air, rice
© ANJELAGR | DREAMSTIME.COM
© LIGHTZOOM | DREAMSTIME.COM
capítulo 3 • 65
• They are often the names for abstract ideas or qualities.
Knowledge, beauty, anger, fear, love
© CARRIENELSON1 | DREAMSTIME.COM
• They are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form.
We cannot say sugars, angers, knowledges.
Let’s see some more examples of common uncountable nouns
Money, furniture, happiness, sadness, research, evidence,

safety, beauty, knowledge
We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of one of these
nouns, use a word or expression like:
Some, a lot of, a piece of, a bit of, a great deal of...
66 • capítulo 3
a) There has been a lot of research into the causes of this disease.
b) He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.
c) They’ve got a lot of furniture.
d) Can you give me some information about uncountable nouns?
Some nouns are countable in other languages but uncountable in English.

Some of the most common of these are:
Accommodation - advice - baggage - behavior - bread - furniture -

information - luggage – news - progress - traffic - travel – trouble - weather -
work
Be careful with the noun ‘hair’ which is normally uncountable in English:
She has long blonde hair.

It can also be countable when referring to individual hairs:
My father’s getting a few grey hairs now.
CONNECTION
If you want to do some more exercises related to this subject, you can try:
http://esl.about.com/library/intermediatecourse/blintermediate_course_quantity1.htm
http://esl.about.com/od/grammarforbeginners/a/g_cucount.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/business/tendays/day10videobd.shtml
capítulo 3 • 67
3.4 Gerund
Let’s read this text before we start the studies concerning the gerund:
The media1
© PRESSUREUA | DREAMSTIME.COM
How has communication changed in the last one hundred years?

Reporting the news
Today newspapers, magazines, radio and television share the responsibility

of reporting the news to the public. However, communicating through printed
and electronic media is a relatively new development. For centuries, the news
traveled in a wide variety of ways. In Rome, in the fifth century B.C., for instance,
Roman barbers were the major sources of news. They reported on recent happen-
ings as they were cutting people’s hair. Later, romans learned the news by reading
handwritten reports that were posted on the walls of public buildings. In England
and North America in the eighteenth century, the news was delivered by a town
crier. His job was shouting out the latest news as he walked the city streets.
In less populated areas, news was often spread by “word of mouth” or oth-
er methods. In West Africa, for example, the news traveled from one village to
another via the “talking drum”. In North America, the American Plains Indians
communicated over long distances by sending smoke signals back and forth
over hills and plains.
1 Interactions II A communicative Grammar . Chapter 11
68 • capítulo 3
Methods of reporting important events changed when people began print-
ing daily newspapers. For a long time, newspapers were the chief medium for
learning about the day’s events. The transistor radio, however, revolutionized
communication. Nowadays, listening to the latest news on the radio is an event
that takes place in even the most remote corners of the world.
3.4.1 Gerunds and infinitives
Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms that may be used in place of a noun or pro-
noun. A gerund is a verbal that ends in ING and functions as a noun. The term ver-
bal indicates that a gerund, like the other two kinds of verbal infinitive and partici-
ple, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. However,
since a gerund functions as a noun, it occupies some positions in a sentence that
a noun ordinarily would, for example: subject, direct object, subject complement
and object of preposition.
Let’s see the common use of gerunds and infinitives:
EXAMPLES NOTES
NOUN I like books
GERUND I like reading A gerund is the simple form of verb + ING.
NOUN I like magazines
INFINITIVE I like to read An infinitive is to + the simple form of a verb
Use of gerunds:
Gerunds may replace nouns or pronouns as subjects, objects, or comple-
ments. Not is used before the gerund to form the negative .
a) Gerund as subject
Travelling is always a pleasure.
capítulo 3 • 69
b) Gerund as direct object
They do not appreciate my singing.
c) Gerund as subject complement

My cat’s favorite activity is sleeping. (The gerund is sleeping.)
d) Gerund after prepositions

The gerund (-ing form) must be used when a verb comes after a preposition:
against – at – after – by – on – instead of – talk about – tired of |– without
• I am against smoking in public places.

• She is good at speaking English.
• I went home after leaving the party.
• You can improve your English by using the Internet.
• We need to keep on going.
• You should tell the truth instead of lying all the time.
• We can talk about going home.
• I’m tired of hearing excuses.
• You can’t learn English without making mistakes.
e) Gerund after certain verbs
acknowledge - admit - adore – anticipate – appreciate – avoid –

celebrate -confess - contemplate – delay – deny – describe – detest – dis-
cuss – dislike -dread
• I adore reading your books.

• They anticipated winning the election.
• I detest going to discos.
• We postponed making any decision in the meeting.
• I quit smoking.
• Do you recall seeing someone like that?
70 • capítulo 3
f) Negative gerund
Many people complain about not getting accurate news.
g) Possessive with gerund

Reggie’s reporting is normally very accurate.
ACTIVITY
Reread the text The Media at the beginning of this unit, circle all the gerunds, and determine their
grammatical function in the sentence (subject, object, object of a preposition, or complement)
3.4.2 Gerunds after prepositions
These are common phrases with prepositions that are often followed by
gerunds.
BE I’M ACCUSTOMED TO READING THE PAPER

ACCUSTOMED EVERY DAY.
TO
Be used to I’m not used to reading quickly in England.
Look forward to I always look forward to getting news from home.
Angry about Lois was angry about losing her job as a reporter.
Bored with (by) She is bored with living in a small town.
Certain of She wasn’t certain of finding another job.
Concerned about Lois’s parents are concerned about her leaving.
Excited about She is excited about moving to New York.
Happy about Clark was happy about receiving the letter.
capítulo 3 • 71
BE I’M ACCUSTOMED TO READING THE PAPER
ACCUSTOMED EVERY DAY.
TO
Interested in Several papers are interested in in hiring her.
Nervous about The reporter was nervous about writing his first article.
Responsible for The publisher is responsible for hiring the newspaper staff.
Satisfied with Vince is not satisfied with being a sports reporter.
Thrilled about (by) Lois was thrilled about getting a job in New York.
Believe in The publisher believes in publishing accurate stories.
Care about The reporters care about writing good articles.
A reporter’s job consist of gathering information and writing

Consist of
articles.
Depend on The reporter depends on getting accurate information.
Dream about Many writers dream about becoming famous.
Insist on The editor insists on checking all the facts.
Succeed in He finally succeeded in getting a job at the local paper.
72 • capítulo 3
3.5 Genitive case
The genitive case is predominantly used for showing possession. With nouns it
is usually created by adding ‘s to the word or by preceding it with of.
It is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun. It
often marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun; however, it can also
indicate various other relationships than possession.
Let’s see some other examples of the genitive case:
a) Mary’s haircut.
b) The edge of the table.
c) Dog’s bone.
We normally use the ’s with people, animals though it can also be used with
places, organizations and companies (which suggest a group of people). It is
not common to use the ’s with non-living things.
Let’s observe the rules with singular nouns
a) With singular nouns we add ‘s (apostrophe S)

b) My mother’s house is next to the beach.
c) Jason’s car was stolen last night.
d) Tomorrow, we’re all going to see the museum’s new art exhibit.
3.5.1 Genitive case with plural of nouns
a) Plural nouns ending in –s we only add the apostrophe’ (without the S)

The two sisters’ house is next to mine
The plumbers’ tools were rusty.
The players’ boots were dirty and smelly after the game.
capítulo 3 • 73
b) Plural nouns not ending in –s: we add ‘s
Be careful not to trip over the children’s toys.
The women’s bathroom is currently flooded with water.
The presidential candidate is often called the people’s favorite politician.
3.5.2 Singular noun ending in –s:
It depends…
a) Most names: add ‘s (apostrophe S)
They had a really good time at James’s barbecue last Friday.
We spent the day admiring Frances’s new car.
b) Classical or religious names: add ‘ (only the apostrophe)

Jesus’ disciples carried out the teachings of Jesus.
Sophocles’ plays are still performed today.
3.5.3 Possessive nouns as part of a phrase
a) Sometimes more than one word/noun is a possessive. The same rules as

above are still valid:
The King of Sparta’s wife was called Helen.
The President of Chile’s speech was very long.
I accidentally took someone else’s bag home by mistake.
I had to give my boss three weeks’ notice that I was leaving the company.
b) If there are two owners of something, we add ‘s to the final name:

Rick and Steve’s car is quite old.
But, if each person owns a car, then add ‘s to both names:

Rick’s and Steve’s cars are quite old.
74 • capítulo 3
ACTIVITIES
1. Complete the sentences with ’ or ’s:
a) Billy blue ______ car is in the garage.
b) Mr. John ______ secretary is here.
c) They sell ladies ______clothes in this store.
d) The doctor ______ kids are very nice.
e) The women _________boyfriends are late.
f) My friends ________cousins are beautiful.
g) Bring the baby _______toys.
2. Rewrite the sentences using genitive case:

a) The skirts of the women are white.
b) The tail of the horse is not short.
c) The books of the students are new.
d) The toys of the babies are funny.
e) The hat of Mrs. Sally is red.
3. Choose the right answer:

1. Whose coat is this? It’s my _____________________________
a) brother-in-law’s
b) brother’s-in law
c) brother-in’s-law
d) brother-in-law
e) all the above are correct
2. She bought the ______________ food.

a) dog’s
b) dog
c) of dog’s
d) of the dog
e) dogs’s
capítulo 3 • 75
4. Put an N next to the noncount nouns and a C next to the count nouns. If the noun can be
either noncount or count depending on the context, put a D next to it.
a) World
b) Textbook
c) Acid
d) Smoking
e) Poetry
f) Applause
g) Thought
h) Banana
i) Conduct
j) Progress
k) Biology
l) Essay
m) Crystal
n) Shopping
REFLECTION
In this chapter, you have studied tense and aspect and you could observe that tense and aspect
are concerned with time. While tense refers to the time in which the verb of a sentence places
an action, the aspect refers to the duration of an event within a particular tense. You also stud-
ied the noun phrases, noun clauses, identified determiners, and modifiers. You are also going
to understand the structure of noun phrases and recognize noun phrases and its functions.
Finally, you studied the gerund and infinitives, and you could learn that they are verb forms that
may be used in place of a noun or pronoun. A gerund is a verbal that ends in ING and functions
as a noun. The term verbal indicates that a gerund, like the other two kinds of verbal infinitive
and participle, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. About the
genitive case, you learned that the genitive case is predominantly used for showing possession.
With nouns it is usually created by adding S to the word or by preceding it with of.
76 • capítulo 3
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
For further reading, I recommend Interactions II, A Communicative Grammar in order to im-
prove your knowledge.
WERNER, P. CHURCH, M. BAKER, L. Interactions II- A Communicative Grammar. Mc Graw-
Hill, Inc. New York. 1990.
REFERENCES
BROWN, Keith & Jim MILLER (eds). Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
NEXT CHAPTER
Next chapter, you are going to study the functions of the Nouns Phrases. You are going to learn
the language as a complex system in which the terms vary in functions. You are also going to study
the Adjective phrase, the adjectives in English, and ddiscuss the perspective and the impact that
adjectives produce in language both syntactically and semantically. Finally, you are going to learn
how to correctly use and place adjectives in communicative situations.
capítulo 3 • 77
4
The Functions of
the Nouns Phrases -
Adjective Phrase. the
Adjective in English
4 The Functions of the Nouns Phrases -
Adjective Phrase. the Adjective in English
In this chapter, you are going to study the functions of the Nouns Phrases. You
are going to learn the language as a complex system in which the terms vary
in functions and words and phrases can behave similarly. You will be able to
understand that nouns phrases have different functions. You are also going to
study the Adjective phrase, the adjectives in English, and discuss the perspec-
tive and the impact that adjectives produce in language both syntactically and
semantically. You will be able to understand the concept of adjective and its be-
havior in the language structure. Finally, you are going to learn how to correctly
use and place adjectives in communicative situations.
OBJECTIVES
• Discuss language as a complex system in which words and terms vary in function;
• Learn that language is a complex system in which words and phrases can behave similarly;
• Understand that noun phrases have different functions.
• Discuss the perspective and the impact that adjectives produce in language both syntacti-
cally and semantically;
• Learn how to correctly use and place adjectives in communicative situations;
• Understand the concept of adjective phrases and its behavior in language structure.
REFLECTION
We have already learned the nouns and the noun phrases. Do you remember everything
about them? Can you recognize the structure of the noun phrases? Now, you are going to
see the functions of the noun phrases. Do you remember the functions of the noun phrases
in Portuguese? Do you remember what is a subject, a direct object, an object complement,
among others? And how about the adjectives? What is an adjective? Is there a correct order
to place the adjectives in a sentence? All right. Let’s remember some of them in Portuguese
and study them in English.
80 • capítulo 4
4.1 The functions of the Noun Phrases
To understand the various dimension involving language and communication,

we need to dedicate our attention to the grammatical relations noun phrases,
which we have already studied in the previous chapters, are entitled to perform
and establish within sentences.
When we discuss about language we face a totally interconnected system in
which elements can vary in what relate to use, application and representation.
To better understand this, let’s see this example
Well-succeeded individuals avoid illusion at any cost.
We can observe that the noun illusion, in the above example, is now the ob-
ject of the verb to avoid. There was a changing of roles played as the intended
message changed.
The same thing can occur with noun phrases when inside complex linguis-
tic structures. They can play different roles just as nouns do.
When we think about words performing various functions along the com-
municative process, we tend to think that there should be a way to view the
possibilities of action and organization, and those possibilities should follow a
pattern that preserves the effectiveness of communication.
This pattern, an internal structural organization, is made effective through
a system of arbitrary elements, which includes rules for combining its com-
ponents, such as words, nations, people, or other distinct community. These
common and traditionally language rules are found in grammars.
capítulo 4 • 81
Let’s see some definitions for grammar1 :
• The study of the classes of words, their inflections, and their functions
and relations in the sentence
• A study of what is to be preferred and what avoided in inflection and syntax
• The characteristic system of inflections and syntax of a language
• A system of rules that defines the grammatical structure of a language
• Speech or writing evaluated according to its conformity to grammatical rules
• The principles or rules of an art, science, or technique <a grammar of the
theater>; also : a set of such principles or rules
According to Crystal2 (2004) grammar is the structural foundation of our

ability to express ourselves. The more we are aware of how it works, the more
we can monitor the
meaning and effectiveness of the way we and others use language. It can
help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression
available in English. Moreover, it can help everyone – not only teachers of En-
glish, but also teachers of anything, for all teaching is ultimately a matter of
getting to grips with meaning.
Grammar names the types of words and word groups that make up sentenc-
es not only in English but also in any language.
Knowing about grammar can helps us understand what makes sentences
and paragraphs clear, interesting, and precise.
4.2 Noun Phrases Functions
Nouns in English are traditionally described as naming “persons, places, things,

and ideas.” Pronouns are a subcategory of nouns. A noun or pronoun and any
modifiers, complements, or determiners including adjectives, determiners,
prepositional phrases, noun clauses, and verb phrases form noun phrases.
Nouns and noun phrases, and pronouns as well, perform ten main gram-
matical functions within sentences in the English language.
1 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grammar
2 David Crystal, In Word and Deed, TES Teacher, April 30, 2004
82 • capítulo 4
The primary function of a singular noun phrase in a sentence is, roughly
speaking, to draw the attention of the hearer to some object in the world that is
relevant to the current conversational situation.
However, such a generalization masks the fact that there are many ways in
which this function can be performed. A number of important distinctions con-
cerning the use of noun phrases can be made when investigating it. This sec-
tion, gives some idea of the range of functions that a noun phrase may assume.
The ten functions of nouns and noun phrases are:
4.2.1 Subject
The subject of a sentence or clause is the part of the sentence or clause about
which something is being said. The subject performs the action of or acts upon
the verb. It is usually the doer of the action.
The baby cried.
Dogs and cats make excellent pets.
© JOSE MANUEL GELPI DIAZ | DREAMSTIME.COM
I will have extensively studied English grammar.

Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words. (Edgar Alan Poe)
Ruthless and heavy rain destroyed crops and roads in Brazilian southeast region.
capítulo 4 • 83
© HASLINDA | DREAMSTIME.COM
4.2.2 Predicate nominative
The predicate nominative is the noun following a linking verb that restates or
stands for the subject. It can be an adjective phrase, a noun phrase or a prep-
ositional phrase. It follows the verb and the direct object. There are two major
types of predicative:
Subject Predicative
They characterize or specify the subject noun phrase. It can also be called
subject complement.
My grandfather is a farmer.
Our favorite pets are dogs with short hair.
The woman whom you are looking for is she.
This kind of predicative immediately follows the verb phrase.
The main verb has to be a copular verb: be, seem, become, for example
4.2.3 Direct object
A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or shows
the result of the action. It answers the question “What?” or “Who?” after an
action verb. An action verb with a direct object is called a transitive verb. Nouns
have traditionally been defined as words for people, places, things, and ideas.
84 • capítulo 4
A direct object is a word, phrase, or clause that follows a transitive verb and
answers the question “who?” or “what?” receives the action of the verb.
A noun phrase consists of a noun plus any modifiers, complements, and

determiners that provides more information about the noun. In grammar, di-
rect object is a word, phrase, or clause that follows and receives the action of
a mono-transitive verb. Nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases most frequently
function as direct objects in English grammar. The first grammatical form that
can perform the grammatical function of direct object is the noun phrase.
The girl ate all the cookies.
© IODRAKON | DREAMSTIME.COM
The woman has always hated mice and rats.

A toddler is eating a banana
4.2.4 Object complement
Object complements are defined as nouns, pronouns, noun phrases, adjec-

tives, and adjective phrases that directly follow and modify the direct object.
One of the grammatical forms that can perform the grammatical function of
capítulo 4 • 85
object complement is the noun clause. Noun clauses are defined as subordi-
nate clauses formed by a clause preceded by a subordinating conjunction.
We consider our puppy our baby.

My aunt calls my uncle sweetheart.
America recently elected Barack Obama president.
© DANIEL RAUSTADT | DREAMSTIME.COM
John read books written by Mark Twain when he was a child.

What did John read in his childhood? John read books! What kind of books
did he read? He read books written by Mark Twain.
Note that in all the examples, the noun phrases are complementing the
meaning of the objects.
4.2.5 Indirect object
An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells to whom or for whom the
action of the verb is done and who is receiving the direct object. There must be
a direct object to have an indirect object.
86 • capítulo 4
Indirect objects are usually found with verbs of giving or communicating
like give, bring, tell, show, take, or offer. An indirect object is always a noun or
pronoun, which is not part of a prepositional phrase.
My husband bought me flowers.
© EUGENEPARTYZAN | DREAMSTIME.COM
The child drew his mother a picture.

The salesperson sold the company suffering from the scandal new computers.
4.2.6 Prepositional complement
Nouns clauses function as prepositional complements. Prepositional comple-

ments are words, phrases, and clauses that directly follow a preposition and
complete the meaning of a prepositional phrase.
Both finite and nonfinite noun clauses can function as prepositional com-
plements.
My husband bought flowers for me.
The students studied during their spring break.
Because of the lengthy delay, we missed our flight.
capítulo 4 • 87
4.2.7 Noun phrase modifier
We all know that a noun can have its meaning changed if some words are at-
tached to it.
For example:
Interesting Boring
Movie
Expensive Silent
The example above shows us words functioning as modifiers. Noun modi-

fiers can be:
o) Premodifiers = a beautiful girl
p) Post modifiers = the girl in the red dress.
The same can occur with a noun phrase. It can be modified by other noun
phrases.
The grammatical forms that can function as the noun phrase modifier in
English grammar are noun phrase, adjective phrase, prepositional phrase, verb
phrase, and adjective clause.
Noun phrase modifiers are constituents of the noun phrase.

The child actor won an award.
The carpenter fixed the broken table leg.
We reserved twenty hotel rooms.
88 • capítulo 4
© PAULO CRUZ | DREAMSTIME.COM
4.2.8 Possessive modifier or determinatives
A possessive modifier is a noun or a pronoun added to a noun to denote posses-

sion. Occasionally a noun that has the form of a possessive modifier is added to
another noun to express some other idea than possession. Determinatives pro-
vide information such as familiarity, location, quantity, and number. Posses-
sive nouns, which are a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase and the possessive clitic
(apostrophe s or s apostrophe), function as determinatives. Possessive nouns in-
dicate possession of or some other relationship to another noun or noun phrase.
My brother’s apartment is small.
I found everyone’s reports informative
© RIDO | DREAMSTIME.COM
capítulo 4 • 89
The man who stole my purse’s car has been towed.
Mark Twain’s novels are an accurate portrait of rural America.
In the cases above, it is more than correct to say that all the possessive cases
are specifying, modifying the meaning of apartment, reports, car and novels.
4.2.9 Appositive
Appositive means near. In English grammar, an appositive is a noun or pro-

noun placed near another noun or pronoun. The appositive enhances our un-
derstanding of the original noun or pronoun. In other words, a single noun,
a noun phrase or a series of nouns placed next to another word or phrase to
identify or rename it. Appositives are usually set off by punctuation marks such
as commas parentheses, or dashes. It is a handy way of adding details to a sen-
tence. The term comes from the Latin word for “placing close by,” and an ap-
positive usually appears right after the word or phrase that it renames.
My favorite teacher, a fine chess player in her own right, has won several
state-level tournaments.
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The insect, a small butterfly with many colors, is flying in the yard.
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Snoopy, Diane’s eleven-year-old beagle, chews holes in the garden as if he

were still a puppy.
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capítulo 4 • 91
Notice that in the sentences above each one of the appositives, consisting
of noun phrases, expands the meaning of the terms to which they bind. Thus
enrich the meaning of those while add some details to the given information.
Very Important:
Nonessential appositive, the ones that can be taken off the sentence without
any damage to its logics, is always separated from the rest of the sentence with
comma(s).
When the appositive begins the sentence, it looks like this:
A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire and tried to

crack the poor man’s skull with a racket.
When the appositive interrupts the sentence, it looks like this:
Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and tried to

crack the poor man’s skull with a racket.
And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:
Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie,

a hot-tempered tennis player who charged the umpire
and tried to crack the poor man’s
skull with a racket.
4.2.10 Adverbial
The part of the speech that is primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other
adverb are the adverbs. An adverb that modifies an adjective (“quite sad”) or
another adverb (“very carelessly”) appears immediately in front of the word it
92 • capítulo 4
modifies. An adverb that modifies a verb is generally more flexible: it may ap-
pear before or after the verb it modifies (“softly sang” or “sang softly”), or it may
appear at the beginning of the sentence (“Softly she sang to the baby”).
The position of the adverb may have an effect on the meaning of the sen-
tence. Many adverbs -especially adverbs of manner - are formed from adjectives
by the addition of the ending -ly (easily, dependably). However, many common
adverbs (just, still, almost, not) do not end in -ly, and not all words that end in
-ly (friendly, neighborly) are adverbs.
Today the children woke up early.

Yesterday the children slept in late.
We decided to go home.
Mary sings loudly!
There are many other ideas that an adverb can bring to the term it modifies
such as time, purpose, frequency among others.
4.3 Adjectives
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When we think about words performing various functions along the communi-
cative process, we tend to think that there should be a way to view the possibil-
ities of action and organization, and those possibilities should follow a pattern
that preserves the effectiveness of communication. Otherwise, understanding
between the individuals would not be a reality.
Adjectives, as part of available communication apparatus present in any id-
iom, follow a system of patterns and rules when used in the interlocutory pro-
cess. Adjectives belong to a class of words that are used to attribute notions of
quality and state to nouns to which they are usually connected to.
Adjectives describe the aspects of nouns. When an adjective is describing a
noun, we say it is “modifying” it.
Characteristics of adjectives:
a) Attributive
They can occur in ATTRIBUTIVE function. They can personify a noun, ap-
pearing between the determiner (including zero article) and the head of a noun
phrase:
An ugly painting, the round table, dirty linen.
b) Predicative
They can freely occur in PREDICATIVE function.
• They can function as subject complement
The painting is ugly.
• They can function as object complement
He bought the painting ugly.
94 • capítulo 4
c) Intensifier
• They can be modified by the intensifier VERY:
The children are very happy.
d) Comparative and superlative forms

They can take COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE forms.
• The comparison may be by means of inflections:
The children are happier now.

They are the happiest people I know.
• The comparison may be by the addiction of the premodifiers MORE

and MOST:
These students are more intelligent.

They are the most beautiful painting I have ever seen.
Not all words that are traditionally regarded as adjectives possess all these
four features. The last two features generally coincide for a particular word and
depend on a semantic feature, gradability.
Certain characteristics are typical of adjectives, although some escape this
pattern. Central adjectives have all the characteristics. The ones with fewer of
the characteristics are called peripheral adjectives.
capítulo 4 • 95
The characteristics mentioned above lead us to understand the morpholog-
ical, syntactic, and semantic aspects adjectives have:
• Morphological aspects – central adjectives can be inflected to show com-
parative and superlative degree: close, closer, closest.
• Syntactic aspects – central adjectives serve both as attributive and pred-
icative syntactic roles. In attributive position, adjective is part of a noun
phrase – it modifies the head noun. Predicative adjectives are not part of
a noun phrase.
• Semantic aspects – Central adjectives are descriptive. In addition, they
are gradable, being able to express different degrees of qualities.
4.3.1 Adjective order
Contrarily to what occurs in the Portuguese, in which adjectives may precede

or come after noun, in English this word group joins others to further qualify
them or change their meaning by being placed before them: ordinary day, for
example. In addition, in English, as in any other language, it is common to use
more than one adjective before a noun - for example, “He’s a silly young fool,”
or “she’s a smart, energetic woman.” When you use more than one adjective
you deal with a logical way to think and place adjectives: you have to put them in
the right order, according to type.
a) Opinion
An opinion adjective explains what you think about something.
Silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult.
b) Size
A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is
Large, tiny, enormous, little.
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c) Shape
A shape adjective describes the shape of something
Square, round, flat, rectangular.
d) Age
An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is
Ancient, new, young, old.
e) Material
A material adjective describes what something is made from
Wooden, metal, cotton, paper.
f) Purpose
A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives
often end with “-ing”.
Sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting tin”).
g) Color
A color adjective, of course, describes the color of something.
Blue, pink, reddish, grey.
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h) Origin
An origin adjective describes where something comes from.
French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek.
Let’s observe the example:
a SILLY SMALL OLD ROUND RED ENGLISH LEATHER

SLEEPING pillow
THE GENERAL ORDER OF ADJECTIVES IN FRONT OF NOUN

GENERAL ORIGIN NOUN
SIZE SHAPE CONDITION AGE COLOR
OPINION MATERIAL ADJUNCT
Base-
Nice big round broken old green French
ball
PLAS-
Pretty small square cracked young red winter.
TIC
Wood-
Bold large oblong fresh new blue Coffee.
en
Let’s see some more examples

• John´s brother is a famous young French baseball player.
• That ugly little broken green and blue coffee table should not be in this
room.
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4.3.2 Adjectives: Comparative and Superlative
Look at the pictures below:

© HECKE01 | DREAMSTIME.COM
© RHBABIAK13 | DREAMSTIME.COM
Both houses, certainly, share some qualities, equally or in different degrees.

Probably, one of the houses presents other characteristics in a more prominent
and decisive way.
When we deal with the necessity to establish comparison between elements
and qualify them we deal with the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
capítulo 4 • 99
One way of describing a person or thing is by saying that they have more of a
particular quality than someone or something else. To do this, we use compara-
tive adjectives, which are formed either by adding ER at the end of the adjective,
or placing MORE before it.
• My father is taller than I am. © ANDRES RODRIGUEZ | DREAMSTIME.COM
• Cats are nicer than dogs.

© ADOGSLIFEPHOTO | DREAMSTIME.COM
100 • capítulo 4
It is also possible to describe someone or something by saying that they
have more of a particular quality than any other of their kind does. We do this by
using superlative adjectives, which are formed by adding EST at the end of the
adjective and placing the before it, or placing the MOST before the adjective.
• My sister is the most intelligent person I have ever met.
• Cats are the funniest animals in the word.
Next chapter we are going to study more about the adjectives, especially
about the rules on how to form comparative and superlative.
ACTIVITIES
1. Fill in the correct form of the words in brackets (comparative or superlative).
a) My house is (big) bigger than yours.
b) This flower is (beautiful) _________than that one.
c) This is the (interesting) __________book I have ever read.
d) Non-smokers usually live (long) __________than smokers.
e) Which is the (dangerous) __________animal in the world?
f) A holiday by the sea is (good) __________than a holiday in the mountains.
g) Who is the (rich) __________woman on earth?
h) The weather this summer is even (bad) __________than last summer.
i) He was the (clever) __________ student of all.
j) The plane is (fast) __________ than a train.
2. Put in the adjective in bold from the first sentence into the second sentence in its correct
form (comparative or superlative).
Example: I have a fast car, but my friend has a ______ car.
Answer: I have a fast car, but my friend has a faster car.
a) Skateboarding is a dangerous hobby. Bungee jumping is ________ than skateboarding.
b) Here is Emily. She’s six years old. Her brother is nine, so he is __________.
c) He has an interesting hobby, but my sister has the __________ hobby in the world.
d) This magazine is cheap, but that one is ___________.
e) We live in a small house, but my grandparents’ house is even ________than ours.
f) Lucy is clever, but Carol is _________than Lucy.
g) This is a difficult exercise. But the one that Mrs. Wilson gave us is the __________ex-
ercise of this book.
capítulo 4 • 101
h) In the last holidays I read a good book, but father gave me an even __________one
last weekend.
i) Yesterday John told me a funny joke. This joke was the _________ joke I’ve ever
heard.
j) This is a bad dog. It’s much __________than my mother’s dog.
REFLECTION
In this chapter, you have studied the functions of the Nouns Phrases and understood the
language as a complex system in which the terms vary in functions and words and phrases
can behave similarly. You also saw the different functions of the noun phrases. You also
studied the Adjective phrase, the adjectives in English, and have discussed the perspective
and the impact that adjectives produce in language both syntactically and semantically. The
most important about everything you have studied is to comprehend how to use nouns and
adjectives in communicative situations.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
For further reading, I recommend:
CRYSTAL, David. English as a global language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 1997.
CRYSTAL, David. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge, UK:
To practice a little bit more on grammatical functions you can visit the site:
http://www.linguisticsgirl.com/grammatical-functions-of-english-nouns-and-noun-phras-
es/#88k28p8fGldx0fiJ.99
102 • capítulo 4
REFERENCES
BALTIN, Mark & Chris COLLINS (eds). The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory. Mal-
den: Blackwell Publishers, 2001.
BIBER, D. CONRAD, S. and LEECH, G. Student grammar of spoken and written English. 10th Ed.
BROWN, Keith & Jim MILLER (eds). Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories. Cambridge:
CRYSTAL, David. English as a global language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
1997.
GREENBAUM, S. and QUIRCK, R. A student’s grammar of the English language. 8th Ed. Essex:
Longman, 2006.
NEXT CHAPTER
Next chapter, you are going to review Adjective and other parts of speech in order to perceive
the syntactic function of adjectives and discuss the perspective and the impact adjectives
produce in the syntactic relation between words. Finally, you are going to study and under-
stand the structure of adjective phrases.
capítulo 4 • 103
5
Adjective Phrase:
Structure and
Function
5 Adjective Phrase: Structure and Function
In this chapter, we are going to review Adjective and other parts of speech in or-
der to perceive the syntactic function of adjectives and discuss the perspective
and the impact adjectives produce in the syntactic relation between words. Fi-
nally, you are going to study and understand the structure of adjective phrases.
OBJECTIVES
• Study Adjectives and other Parts of the Speech;
• Perceive the Syntactic function of adjectives;
• Discuss the perspective and the impact that adjectives produce the syntactic relation be-
tween words.
• Perceive the Syntactic function of adjective phrases;
• Understand the structure of adverbial phrases; .
REFLECTION
Can you make a list of adjectives to describe you and your best friends? What characteristics
do they have in common? How about you? What adjectives best describe you? If you have
more than one adjective to describe someone or something, do you know which one comes
first? We are going to check how much do you remember about this and see some of the
rules in details.
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5.1 Characteristics of adjectives: comparative and superlative forms
In chapter 4 we have studied about adjectives and its characteristics. Let’s re-
view some of them in order to study the comparative and superlative forms.
Among them, we saw:
• Attributive
• Predicative
• Intensifier and,
• Comparative and superlative.
Now, we are going to study more about the adjectives, especially about the
rules on how to form comparative and superlative.
5.1.1 Some rules about forming comparatives and superlative
A AnB B
Look at the figure above. We see that group A share element with group B. But
there are aspects that belong to each group separately. B has elements that A
doesn’t and vice-versa. This knowledge can be applied to adjective when we
deal with comparative and superlative.
People, things, animals, for instance may share the same features. They can
equally share them, they can be compared when they have the same character-
istics or some can present a certain feature in an undoubtedly superior way if
compared with others. There are different ways to express these situations us-
ing adjectives.
capítulo 5 • 107
One-syllable adjectives:
The comparative and superlative forms of a one-syllable adjective by adding
ER for the comparative form and EST for the superlative.
ONE-SYLLABLE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE FORM

ADJECTIVE FORM
Tall Long Tallest
Old Older Oldest
Long Longer Longest

k) John is taller than his brother. Actually, he is the tallest in his family
If the one-syllable adjective ends with an E, just add R for the comparative
form and ST for the superlative form.
l) Parents are wiser than their sons.

m) Old people, due to their age and life experience, are the wisest.
If the one-syllable adjective ends with a single consonant with a vowel

before it, double the consonant and add ER for the comparative form; and
double the consonant and add EST for the superlative form.
n) Whippets are thinner than Chihuahuas. Actually, they are the thinnest
dogs in the world.
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Two-syllable adjectives.
With most two-syllable adjectives, you form the comparative with MORE
and the superlative with MOST.
TWO-SYLLABLE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE FORM

ADJECTIVE FORM
Peaceful More peaceful Most peaceful
Pleasant More pleasant Most pleasant
Careful More careful Most careful

a) Country is more peaceful than beaches.
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capítulo 5 • 109
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b) Firefighters are the most careful professionals I know.

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• If the two-syllable adjectives ends with Y, change the Y to I and add ER

for the comparative form. For the superlative form change the Y to I
and add EST.
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TWO-SYLLABLE COMPARATIVE
ADJECTIVE ENDING SUPERLATIVE FORM
FORM
IN Y
Happy Happier Happiest
Angry Angrier Angriest
Busy Busier Busiest

a) The children are happier than the adults sometimes.
b) This is the happiest person I have ever met
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capítulo 5 • 111
• Two-syllable adjectives ending in ER, LE, or OW take ER and EST to
form the comparative and superlative forms.
TWO-SYLLABLE COMPARATIVE
ADJECTIVE ENDING SUPERLATIVE FORM
FORM
IN ER LE OW
Narrow Narrower Narrowest
Gentle Gentler Gentlest

a) The roads in this town are narrower than the roads in the city.
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© ROBERT PAUL VAN BEETS | DREAMSTIME.COM
b) This road is the narrowest of all roads in Brazil.
Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules.

These adjectives can be used with ER and EST and with MORE and MOST
TWO-SYLLABLE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE FORM

ADJECTIVE FORM
Clever Cleverer Cleverest
Clever More clever Most clever
Gentle Gentler Gentlest
Gentle More gentle Most gentle
Friendly Friendlier Friendliest

a) Big dogs are gentler than small dogs.
b) Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiff are the gentlest.
c) Big dogs are more gentle than small dogs.
d) Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the most gentle.
capítulo 5 • 113
On the other hand, when we want to say that, in comparative situations,
different elements present a quality in the same degree we use the follow-
ing structure:
The Empire States Building is as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

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The formula is as + adjective + as. It works to any adjective no matter what!
To conclude, although adjectives are significative linguistic instruments we

use in a daily bases, they are more words that are more complex than it seems
to be. We have seen a lot, so far. Therefore, there is still a bit more to study until
we get to adjective phrases.
5.2 Adjectives ending in ED and ING
5.2.1 Adjectives that end ED describe emotions; they tell us how people feel
about something.
a) I was very bored in the math’s lesson. I almost fell asleep.

b) He was surprised to see Helen. She’d told him she was going to Australia.
c) Feeling tired and depressed, he went to bed.
5.2.2 Adjectives ending in ING
Adjectives that end ING describe the thing that causes the emotion: a boring
lesson makes you feel bored.
a) Have you seen that film? It’s absolutely terrifying.
b) I could listen to him for hours. He’s one of the most interesting people
I’ve ever met.
c) I can’t eat this! It’s disgusting! What is it?
Remember that people can be boring but only if they make other people
feel bored.
He talks about the weather for hours. He’s so boring.
NOT
I was very boring at the party so I went home.
Here are some more adjectives that can have both an ED and an ING form
capítulo 5 • 115
AMUSED AMUSING
ANNOYED ANNOYING
CONFUSED CONFUSING
DISAPPOINTED DISAPPOINTING
EXCITED EXCITING
EXHAUSTED EXHAUSTING
FRIGHTENED FRIGHTENING
SATISFIED SATISFYING
SHOCKED SHOCKING
5.2.3 Impressions, feelings and reactions.
Emotion and Logic

Some things in life cause people to feel, these are called emotional reactions.
Some things in life cause people to think, these are sometimes called logical
or intellectual reactions. Thus life is divided between things that make you feel
and things that make you think. The question is, if someone is feeling, does
that mean that they are thinking less? It probably does. If part of your brain is
being occupied by feeling, then it makes sense that you have less capacity for
thought. That is obvious if you take emotional extremes, such as crying, where
people can barely think at all. This does not mean that emotional people are not
intelligent; it just means that they might be dumber during the times in which
they are emotional. Emotion goes on and off for everyone, sometimes people
cry, and sometimes they are completely serious.
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Some things in life can identifiably cause more emotion than other things.
3. Color causes more emotion than black and white. So anything with
more color in it is going to be more emotional to look at, whether it is
the difference between a gold or silver sword, or a gold or silver comput-
er. In both cases the gold is going to be more emotional.
4. Things that are personal are emotional, personal things that people like
and that they feel are “close” to them. Things like home or anything
someone likes actually. That is a definition of emotion after all, some-
thing that causes feeling. So if you like it, it is probably going to cause
more feeling. Other things aside from liking something could cause
emotions from it, such as curiosity, but usually like is one of the stron-
ger emotions. You could say that the two are directly proportional, the
more you like something, the more it is going to cause feeling.
5.2.4 List of Adjectives to Describe Tone and Feelings and Emotions
When you are writing a story, essay, critical analysis, poem, or any other sort of
paper, you might start to look for a list of adjectives to describe tone and feel-
ings and emotions.
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capítulo 5 • 117
Adjectives for Tone, Feelings and Emotions
Many times the same adjectives are used to express tone, feelings and emo-
tions are the same.
• A tone is an overall sense that you get from some sort of event, work, sit-
uation etc.
Feelings and emotions are very similar; however, emotions tend to refer to
that which is not tangible, while feelings tend to be more tangible.
Describing a Tone
Positive Tones
• Fresh
• Bold
• Happy
• Devoted
• Loving
• Sympathetic
• Believing
• Supportive
• Enlightened
• Clever
• Involved
• Intent
Negative Tones
• Sarcastic
• Narcissistic
• Sardonic
• Mysterious
• Obnoxious
• Foolish
• Disgruntled
• Hurtful
118 • capítulo 5
• Hating
• Irritated
• Outraged
• Alarmed
• Startled
• Horrified
• Annoyed
• Secretive
• Quizzical
• Guilty
• Disbelieving
• Not supportive
• Cautious
• Calculated
• Purposeful
• Sad
• Bitter
• Angry
• Resentful
• Remorseful
• Dull
• Dreary
• Other Tones
• Light
• Heavy
• Intelligent
• Religious
• Political
• Secular
• Social
• Democratic
• Republican
• Liberal
• Conservative
capítulo 5 • 119
Describing a Feeling
Positive Feelings
• Happy
• Well
• OK
• Very well
• Clean
• Strong
• Beautiful
• Excited
• Attracted
• Handsome
• Gorgeous
• Attractive
• Empowered
• Intelligent
• Smart
• Better
• Agreeable
• Brave
• Calm
• Delightful
• Eager
• Gentle
• Jolly
• Joyful
• Kind
• Nice
• Sweet
• Proud
• Relieved
• Hope
• Faith
• Optimistic
• Loving
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• Open
• Understanding
• Reliable
• Amazed
• Great
• Lucky
• Fortunate
• Festive
• Cheerful
• Moody
• Playful
• Animated
• Wonderful
• Thrilled
• Supportive
• Serene
• Free
• Engrossed
• Involved
Negative Feelings
• Angry
• Sad
• Hungry
• Cold
• Hot
• Warm
• Chilly
• Thirsty
• Sick
• Tired
• Weak
• Disgruntled
• Terrible
• Dreadful
• Dirty
capítulo 5 • 121
• Ugly
• Defeated
• Embarrassed
• Stupid
• Dumb
• Foolish
• Silly
Describing An Emotion
Positive Emotions
• Happy
• Joyful
• Loving
• Liking
• Lusting
• Sweet
• Pride
• Appreciative
• Hope
• Faith
• Thrilled
• Overcome
• Overjoyed
• Respectful
• Supportive
• Serene
Negative Emotions
• Sad
• Angry
• Mad
• Grumpy
• Tearful
• Devastated
• Horrified
122 • capítulo 5
• Disgruntled
• Hurt
• Annoyed
• Aggravated
• Hating
• Despise
• Sour
• Depressed
• Sick
• Fear
• Guilt
• Jealousy
• Self-pity
• Anxiety
• Frustration
• Envy
• Longing
• Shame
Many of these words could fit in more than one category.
CONNECTION
To learn about how to describe feelings, emotions, please access this link:
http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/adjectives/list-of-adjectives-to-de-
scribe-tone-feelings-emotions.html
capítulo 5 • 123
5.3 Adjective Phrases: Structure and function
1. This is the end of a very long road.

In the first example – This is the end of a very long road. – it is quite easy to
guess what is the adjective phrase since we clearly notice the presence of a typ-
ical adjective long.
2. Did you see the man leaving the shop?

On the other hand, the following example - Did you see the man leaving the
shop? – may seem rather tricky. Where is the adjective that should denote the
occurrence of an adjective phrase? Think a little. What man is being referred
to in the example? Does the content of the sentence is related to any man? No.
It refers to the man leaving the shop. Doesn’t it specify the man we are talking
about? Doesn’t it, somehow, function as an adjective?
Most people know what an adjective is, but when it comes to describing an
adjective phrase, they get confused. Some are mistaken and think that this type
of phrase is a group of words that has an adjective in it. Although this may be true,
this is not an effective phrase. This type of phrase is actually a group of words that
serves to describe a noun in a sentence, thus functioning as an adjective.
You do not have to be and English teacher or grammar buff to understand
what an adjective phrase is or how it works: in fact, we use these phrases all of
the time in writing and in spoken English without thinking about them. Read
on to learn more about how these handy phrases operate grammatically within
the English language.
Many people wonder how to pick out adjective phrases within sentences.
The trick to identifying one in a sentence is to look at the first word of the group
of words. If the first word is an adverb or preposition, there is a good chance
that the phrase is an adjective phrase.
Ask yourself, what is this phrase modifying? Is it describing the noun? If the
group of words does in fact modify the noun or subject of the clause or sen-
tence, then the phrase is in fact an adjective phrase.
Adjective phrases modify nouns. They may be attributive (appearing before
the noun) or predicative (appearing after a linking verb), but not all adjectives
can be used in both positions.
124 • capítulo 5
An adjective phrase is formed out of either an intensifier and an adjective,
or alternatively, more than one adjective in a row. In the first case, an example
might be “very beautiful” in the sentence, “The very beautiful woman walked
down the street.”
“An adjective phrase consists of an adjective which may be preceded and/
or followed by other words. The premodifier is always an adverb phrase, but
the post-modifiers can be an adverb phrase, a prepositional phrase, or even a
clause. It is also possible to have a modifier that is partly in front and partly
behind the head, called a discontinuous modifier, abbreviated as disc-mod.”
(Marjolijn Verspoor and Kim Sauter, English Sentence Analysis: An Intro-
ductory Course. John Benjamins, 2000).
Also, “adjective phrases have an adjective as head, and optional modifiers
that can precede or follow the adjective. (...) Modifiers typically answer a ques-
tion about the degree of a quality. Adjective heads can also take complements.”
(BIBER, CONRAD and LEECH, 2011, p. 43).
Take a look at the examples below:
So lucky
Good enough
Desperately poor
Reading the given examples, we perceive that the adjectives - lucky, good,
poor – have their intensity gradually changed by the presence of another words
– so, enough, desperately.
Guilty of a serious crime

Subject to approval by
Slow to respond
More blatant than any thing they had done in the past
So obnoxious that she had to be expelled
capítulo 5 • 125
Complements often answer the questions – In what respect is the adjectival
quality to be interpreted? For example: guilty/slow in what respect?
However, some adjectives can occupy crucial position in noun phrases.
They can function in a quite peculiar way, so that it may cause some confusion
in our minds.
Equally, adjective phrases may structurally be very similar to a noun phrase:

“There may be very little difference between a noun phrase and an adjec-
tive phrase in structures where the adjectives occur before the word it qualifies.
Most noun phrases consist of a head noun plus one or more adjectives, or in-
deed an adjective phrase itself. Consider the examples in a, below.
[Adjective Phrase]
‘It was cold, bleak, biting weather.’
‘He’s an extraordinary looking man, and yet I can really name nothing out
of the way.’
‘In Beijing these days, one of the fastest-growing fortunes the world has ever
seen is managed by fewer than two-dozen traders.’
‘This was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of

hair prematurely white, and a boisterous and decided manner.’
In each of these examples, if we include the italicized head nouns, we have
noun phrases with embedded adjective phrases; without the head nouns, we
have adjective phrases. The focus is always on the head word (HW).”
(Bernard O’Dwyer, Modern English Structures: Form, Function, and Posi-
tion. Broadview, 2006)
Adjective Phrase – Structure

Phrase – Structure is a way to describe a given language’s syntax. They are used
to break down a natural language sentence into its constituent parts (also known
as syntactic categories) namely phrasal categories and lexical categories – parts
of the speech. Phrase structure rules as the are commonly employed operate ac-
cording to the constituency relation and a grammar that employs phrase struc-
tures rules is therefore a constituency grammar and as such, it stands in contrast
to dependency grammars, which are based on the dependency relation.
126 • capítulo 5
IP
NP I
Det N I VP
ADJ N V
Deg Adj V
The very old man dances
When a phrase or a sentence is broken into pieces, we see that these pieces
match each one of them, to a certain morphological group that perform dif-
ferent syntactic functions. Some, such as articles are modifiers; others such as
nouns are subjects.
However, let’s focus a bit more. Inside the example exposed in the diagram
below, an AP (adjective phrase) is found. Take a look at the diagram below to
visualize the structure of a adjective phrase. In the following example, X’ is the
adjective phrase that is formed by an adjective (head) + a complement. The
presence of a complement is not always required.
capítulo 5 • 127
XP
Specifier X1
Det N Head Complement

x
An adverb phrase may, also, be part of a AP. Its occurrence is optional, though.
When an adverb is part of an AP, the structure will be the following:
AP (AdvP) +Adj I126/127/ I128
See the examples below:

The fat dog chased a girl. The very fat dog chased a girl.
In this case, the structure should be the following:
AP
AdvP A
DEG
VERY DOG
128 • capítulo 5
In the English language, four grammatical forms can appear within an ad-
jective phrase:
• - Adverb phrases
• - Prepositional phrases
• - Verb phrases
• - Noun clauses
The most important roles of adjective phrases are as modifiers and subject
predicative:
As a modifier before a noun, where the adjective is called an attributive ad-
jective. See the example:
Mother Theresa was a very generous woman.

Portuguese laws are slightly different from Brazilians.
As a subject predicative, often following the verb be:
The witness was afraid to say anything more.
When modifying nouns, adjective phrases can be split into two parts by the
noun head. Check the examples:
You couldn’t have made a better choice than that better than that
(adj. phrase)
Ronaldo is a really tough player to beat. really tough to beat (adj. phrase)
ATIVIDADE
a) My house is (big) ________than yours.
b) This flower is (beautiful) _________________than that one.
c) This is the (interesting) ____________________book I have ever read.
d) Non-smokers usually live (long) ___________________than smokers.
e) Which is the (dangerous) ______________animal in the world?
capítulo 5 • 129
f) A holiday by the sea is (good) _________________than a holiday in the mountains.
g) It is strange but often a coke is (expensive) __________________than a beer.
h) Who is the (rich) _____________________woman on earth?
i) The weather this summer is even (bad) _____________than last summer.
j) He was the (clever) ______________________________thief of all.
2. Complete each of the sentences below with the correct form of the adjective
a) Jeremy is 10 years old. Jenny is 8 years old. Jeremy is (old) ____________ ______
Jenny.
b) The Alps are very high. They are (high) _____ _______________ mountains in Europe.
c) An ocean is (large) ____________ _______ a sea.
d) A Rolls Royce costs a lot of money. A Twingo costs less.
e) A Rolls Royce is (expensive) _______ ________________ _____ a Twingo.
f) John’s results were bad. Fred’s were very poor. Fred’s results were (bad) __________
_____ John’s.
g) This exercise is not very difficult. It’s ____________ ______ I expected.
h) The weather is not good today. It’s raining. I hope the weather will be (good)
_____________ next week.
i) People are not very friendly in big cities. They are usually (friendly) ________________
in small towns.
j) In the government of a country, the President is (important) _____ ______
_______________ person.
k) People say that Chinese is (difficult) ______ ____________ to learn than English.
REFLECTION
In this chapter, you have reviewed Adjective and other parts of speech in order to perceive the
syntactic function of adjectives and discuss the perspective and the impact adjectives pro-
duce in the syntactic relation between words. Finally, you are going to study and understand
the structure of adjective phrases.
130 • capítulo 5
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
For further reading, I recommend:
Press, 1997.
CRYSTAL, David. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge, UK: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1999.
REFERENCES
BROWN, Keith & Jim MILLER (eds). Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Press, 1997.
Essex: Longman, 2006..
capítulo 5 • 131
EXERCÍCIO RESOLVIDO
Capítulo 1
What is the importance of English and what role can you play as an English teacher?
Learning a language is important, and it does not matter where in the world you are. English
has become the language that is the “international business language”. As you are studying
to be an English language teacher, the challenge is to develop language study in such a way
that it supports both language learning and decision-making in language teaching. We, as
teachers, need to know the language and about the language, we are going to teach. Thus, by
learning and improving English language skills, a teacher not only becomes a better educator,
equipping students to face current competitive world, but also better human beings.
Moreover, about the role a teacher can play, I believe that it is impossible to have only one
particular role when you are a teacher. We face many different and difficult tasks when we
teach English. If we face many tasks, we should perform different roles, which correspond to
this or that situation.
A teacher needs to build skills and transfer knowledge, in order to stimulate students to learn
English; to help them to overcome difficulties, which are connected with the learning process;
to give them opportunities to express themselves in the context of the lesson.
1. Define:
a) Morpheme
Morphemes are the most basic elements of meaning.
b) Word
Words can be made up of several morphemes and may include several other words.
A word, in any language, is the smallest free form that may be pronounced in iso-
lation with semantic (in relation to its meaning) or pragmatic content (with literal or
practical meaning).
c) Phrase
A phrase may refer to any group of words, or one word. In linguistics analysis, a
phrase is a group of words or a single word that forms a constituent- and by which
it functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. In grammatical hierarchy the
phrase is lower than the clause. It is a collection of words that may have nouns or
verbal, but it does not have a subject doing a verb.
132 • capítulo 5
d) Clause
A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb.
e) Sentence
A sentence is the written expression of a complete thought. In most sentences, the
reader is given one complete piece of information. A sentence needs to contain a
capital letter at the beginning and a full stop at the end; a subject (person / people
or thing(s)) that is / are doing something); a verb (action or doing word).
Capítulo 2
1. Identify the verbs and classify if the sentences are Simple or complex?
a) John has finally found the love of her life. SIMPLE
b) Customers may withdraw their purchases on the counter. COMPLEX
c) Children must be respected as if they were adults. COMPLEX
d) Friends respect each other. SIMPLE
e) Felines hunt at night. SIMPLE
f) The government announced new fiscal adjustment measures yesterday. SIMPLE
g) Shut up! SIMPLE
2. Match the concepts and the definitions

(G) Phonetics
(B) Phonology
(C) Morphology
(D) Syntax
(E) Semantics
(F) Pragmatics
(A) Discourse analysis
a) The analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed).

b) The study of sounds (or signs) as discrete, abstract elements in the speaker’s mind
that distinguish meaning;
c) The study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified;
d) The study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences;
capítulo 5 • 133
e) The study of the meaning of words and fixed word combinations, and how these com-
bine to form the logical, meaningful sentences;
f) The study of how utterances are used in communicative acts, and the role played by
context and nonlinguistic knowledge in the transmission of meaning;
g) The study of the physical properties of speech (or signed) production and perception;
3. What is the time and what is the tense expressed in the sentences below?
a) I hope it rains tomorrow.
b) The tense is present and the time is future.
c) If I had some money now, I could buy it.
d) The tense is past and the time is present.
4. Write the example in a phrase structure tree.

a) The girl loves her cat.
NP VP
Det N V NP
Det N
The girl loves her cat
134 • capítulo 5
Capítulo 3
1. Complete the sentences with’ or ’s:

a) Billy blue‘s car is in the garage.
b) Mr. John’s secretary is here.
c) They sell ladies’ clothes in this store.
d) The doctor’s kids are very nice.
e) The women’s boyfriends are late.
f) My friends’ cousins are beautiful.
g) Bring the baby’s toys.
2. Rewrite the sentences using genitive case:

h) The skirts of the women are white.
The women’s skirt are white.
i) The tail of the horse is not short.
The horse’s tail is not short.
j) The books of the students are new.
The students’ book are new.
k) The toys of the babies are funny.
The babies ‘toys are funny.
l) The hat of Mrs. Sally is red.
Mrs. Sally’s hat is red.
3. Choose the right answer:

1. Whose coat is this? It’s my _____________________________
a) brother-in-law’s
b) brother’s-in law
c) brother-in’s-law
d) brother-in-law
e) all the above are correct
capítulo 5 • 135
2. She bought the ______________ food.
a) dog’s
b) dog
c) of dog’s
d) of the dog
e) dogs’s
4. Put an N next to the noncount nouns and a C next to the count nouns. If the noun can
be either
Noncount or count depending on the context, put a D next to it.
a) World C
b) Textbook C
c) Acid D
d) Smoking N
e) Poetry N
f) Applause N
g) Thought D
h) Banana C
i) Conduct N
j) Progress N
k) Biology N
l) Essay C
136 • capítulo 5
Crystal D
m)
n) Shopping N
Capítulo 4
a) My house is (big) bigger than yours.
b) This flower is (beautiful) MORE BEAUTIFUL than that one.
c) This is the (interesting) MOST INTERESTING book I have ever read.
d) Non-smokers usually live (long) LONGER than smokers.
e) Which is the (dangerous) MOST DANGEROUS animal in the world?
f) A holiday by the sea is (good) BETTER than a holiday in the mountains.
g) Who is the (rich) RICHEST woman on earth?
h) The weather this summer is even (bad) WORSE than last summer.
i) He was the (clever) CLEVEREST student of all.
j) The plane is (fast) FASTER than a train.
2. Put in the adjective in bold from the first sentence into the second sentence in its correct
form (comparative or superlative).
Example: I have a fast car, but my friend has a ______ car.
Answer: I have a fast car, but my friend has a faster car.
a) Skateboarding is a dangerous hobby. Bungee jumping is MORE DANGEROUS than

skateboarding.
b) Here is Emily. She’s six years old. Her brother is nine, so he is OLDER.
c) He has an interesting hobby, but my sister has the MOST INTERESTING hobby in
the world.
d) This magazine is cheap, but that one is CHEAPER.
e) We live in a small house, but my grandparents’ house is even SMALLER than ours.
f) Lucy is clever, but Carol is CLEVERER than Lucy.
capítulo 5 • 137
g) This is a difficult exercise. But the one that Mrs. Wilson gave us is the MOST DIFFI-
CULT exercise of this book.
h) In the last holidays I read a good book, but father gave me an even BETTER one last
weekend.
i) Yesterday John told me a funny joke. This joke was the FUNNIEST joke I’ve ever
heard.
j) This is a bad dog. It’s much WORSE than my mother’s dog.
Capítulo 5
a) My house is (big) BIGGER than yours.
b) This flower is (beautiful) MORE BEAUTIFUL than that one.
c) This is the (interesting) MOST INTERESTING book I have ever read.
d) Non-smokers usually live (long) LONGER than smokers.
e) Which is the (dangerous) MOST DANGEROUS animal in the world?
f) A holiday by the sea is (good) BETTER than a holiday in the mountains.
g) It is strange but often a coke is (expensive) MORE EXPENSIVE than a beer.
h) Who is the (rich) RICHEST woman on earth?
i) The weather this summer is even (bad) WORSE than last summer.
j) He was the (clever) CLEVEREST thief of all.
2. Complete each of the sentences below with the correct form of the adjective
a) Jeremy is 10 years old. Jenny is 8 years old. Jeremy is (old) OLDER THAN Jenny.
b) The Alps are very high. They are (high) THE HIGHEST mountains in Europe.
c) An ocean is (large) AS LARGE AS a sea.
d) A Rolls Royce costs a lot of money. A Twingo costs less.
e) A Rolls Royce is (expensive) MORE EXPENSIVE THAN a Twingo.
f) John’s results were bad. Fred’s were very poor. Fred’s results were (bad) WORSE
THAN John’s.
g) This exercise is not very difficult. It’s EASIER THAN I expected.
h) The weather is not good today. It’s raining. I hope the weather will be (good) BETTER
next week.
138 • capítulo 5
i) People are not very friendly in big cities. They are usually (friendly) MORE FRIENDLY
in small towns.
j) In the government of a country, the President is (important) THE MOST IMPORTANT
person.
k) People say that Chinese is (difficult) MORE DIFFICULT to learn than English.
capítulo 5 • 139

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LÍNGUA INGLESA -

Autor do original Amir Abdala

Projeto editorial roberto paes

Coordenação de produção rodrigo azevedo de oliveira

Projeto gráfico paulo vitor bastos

Revisão linguística aderbal torres bezerra

Imagem de capa nome do autor — shutterstock

Dados Internacionais de Catalogação na Publicação (cip)

M827l Moraes, Rozângela

1. Morfologia. 2. Sintaxe. 3. Sintagma verbal e nominal. 4. Linguística.

Diretoria de Ensino — Fábrica de Conhecimento

1. The role of the English Teacher –

The role of the English teacher 11

2. Phrases in the English Language - Verb Phrases 32

The concepts of Linguistics 33

3. Tense and Aspect: Present and Past -

Tense and Aspect: present and past 55

The functions of the Noun Phrases 81

5. Adjective Phrase: Structure and Function 106

Characteristics of adjectives: comparative and superlative forms 107

CHAPTER 1 The role of the English Teacher – Studies of Syntax

CHAPTER 2 Phrases in the English Language - Verb Phrases

The functions of the Nouns Phrases - Adjective Phrase. The Adjec-

CHAPTER 5 The adjective in English - Adjective Phrase. Structure and Function

Enjoy your studies!

Rozangela Nogueira de Moraes

According to Littlewood2 (1981), the teacher is the “facilitator of learning” which

1 Dörneyi, Z. & Murphey, T. (2003). Group dynamics in the language classroom.

Nowadays the understanding of this role has changed. A teacher can be a

© MONKEY BUSINESS IMAGES | DREAMSTIME.COM

Now, it’s your turn. Your choice has been made!

To begin our discussions, let us focus on ourselves as teachers.

Let’s see some definitions to Morphology7 in Linguistics:

What Are Morphemes?

1.3.2 Basic Concept of Word Structure

rewrite # write-re, walks # s-walk.

The number, order of and type of morphemes used to make up a particular

Free and Bound Morphemes

a) prefixes: un-happy, re-write, pre-view

• Bound morphemes may be derivational or inflectional

• There are only eight inflectional morphemes:

-s, -ed, -ing, - en, -s, -’s, -er, -est

• They do not change meaning or part of speech:

Cat - cats - cat’s ! Nouns

• They are required by the syntax

• Content morphemes carry some semantic content as opposed to per-

In everyday speech an expression, or phrase, may refer to any group of words, or

Dog, fence, test, devastation, ignorance, intelligence, thousands, pieces.

However, in no case the noun is functioning as a subject doing a predicate

In the examples above, we find either a noun or a pronoun that is a subject

These clauses simply do not form complete thoughts or sentences by them-

A sentence is the written expression of a complete thought. In most sentences,

Let’s see some examples:

1.4 Syntactic Basics – Subject and Predicate

See the example below:

In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs

Look at the following example:

See the examples to understand better:

a) Brad Pity breaks my heart.

In this sentence the verb break takes a direct object = my heart.

b) When I hear your voice, my heart breaks.

In this sentence the verb breaks doesn’t take an object.

He gave her the letter

Ditransitive verb Indirect Object Direct Object