Phrases Page 2

The Basic Structure of a Phrase

PHRASES PAGE 2/5

Phrases consist minimally of a Head. This means that in a one-word phrase like [children], the Head is children. In longer phrases, a string of elements may appear before the Head:

[the small children]

For now, we will refer to this string simply as the pre-Head string.

A string of elements may also appear after the Head, and we will call this the post-Head string:

[the small children in class 5]

So we have a basic three-part structure:

pre-Head string	Head	post-Head string
[the small	*children*	in class 5]

Of these three parts, only the Head is obligatory. It is the only part which cannot be omitted from the phrase. To illustrate this, let's omit each part in turn:

pre-Head string	Head	post-Head string
[--	*children*	in class 5]
[the small*	--	in class 5]
[the small	*children*	--]

Pre-Head and post-Head strings can be omitted, while leaving a complete noun phrase. We can even omit the pre- and post-Head strings at the same time, leaving only the Head:

pre-Head string	Head	post-Head string
[--	*children*	--]

This is still a complete noun phrase.

However, when the Head is omitted, we're left with an incomplete phrase (*the small in class five). This provides a useful method of identifying the Head of a phrase. In general, the Head is the only obligatory part of a phrase.

Identify the Head in each of the following bracketed noun phrases:

Click on all the words that you think are phrase heads: the answers you choose for each sentence will appear in the box underneath it. You don't have to type anything, but you can click in the box to edit your answers if you need to.

1. [ Cats] make very affectionate pets

2. [ The editor] rejected the manuscript

3. We drove through [an enormous forest] in Germany

4. [People who cycle] get very wet

5. We really enjoy [the funny stories he tells]