Phrases
Phrases
You have already learnt that a sentence is made of five elements-subject/verb/object/comple– ment/adverbial = SVOCA
তোমরা ইতিমধ্যে শিখেছ যে একটি বাক্য পাঁচটি উপাদান দিয়ে গঠিত subject/verb/object/complement/adverbial.
The Cricket Board makes Rohit the captain every year.
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Subject Verb Object Complement Adverbial = SVOCA
A sentence, of course, can be made of only three or four elements.
He plays football.
↓ ↓ ↓
Subject Verb Object. = SVO
Besides these basic five elements, we have more other words in a sentence-these additional words are of two kinds-either a phrase or a clause.
According to the function, a phrase takes different names-1. noun phrase, 2. adjective phrase, 3. adverb phrase, 4. verbal phrase, 5. prepositional phrase.
এই পাঁচটি মূল element-এর বাইরে যে word গুলি আছে তারা মোটামুটি দু‘ধরনের—হয় phrase না হয় clause. এক কথায় বলা যায় যে, বাক্যকে দীর্ঘ করতে বা টেনে বড়ো করতে phrase বা clause-এর সাহায্য নিতে হয়।
Read the following sentences below them.
Box A Box B
They are playing football in the playground. in the playground.
He lives in a hut made of wood. made of wood.
Ashima takes a cup of tea. a cup of tea.
Box-A এবং Box-B তে যে group of words আছে এদের তুলনা করলে নিম্নলিখিত পার্থক্যগুলি লক্ষ করিঃ
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Box-A (Sentence) |
Box-B (Phrase) |
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[1] Have finite verbs |
[1] No finite verbs |
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[2] Express a complete sense. |
[2] Have no definite meaning. নির্দিষ্ট কোনো অর্থ নেই। |
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[3] Have a subject and a predicate. |
[3] Have no subject and predicate. |
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A sentence is, therefore, a set or group of words which makes complete sense. |
A phrase is a group of words without a subject and a finite verb. It makes sense but not all complete sense. |
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কতকগুলি শব্দ যখন পাশাপাশি বসে সম্পূর্ণ মনের ভাব প্রকাশ করে বা পরিপূর্ণ অর্থ দেয় তাকে sentence বলে। |
Phrase হল একাধিক word-এর সমষ্টি যার মধ্যে কোনো finite verb থাকে না ; বা পরিপূর্ণ অর্থ দিতে পারে না। |
Kinds of Phrase
We have the following kinds of phrases.
আমরা নিম্নলিখিত phrase গুলি পাই—
Kinds of Phrases:
1. Adjective phrase acts as an adjective (Adjective-এর মত কাজ করে)
• Subhas Chandra is a man without fear.
• Mr. Sen is a teacher with experience.
2. Adverb phrase acts as an adverb. (Adverb–এর মত কাজ করে)
• She acted in a clever manner.
• Rahul does all his work with great care.
3. Noun phrase acts as a noun (Noun-এর মত কাজ করে)
• I love reading.
• Early to bed is a good habit.
4. Verb phrase acts as a verb (Verb-এর মত কাজ করে)
• You may have succeeded.
• He can walk fast.
5. Prepositional phrase acts as a preposition (Preposition- এর মত কাজ করে)
• He shouted at the top of his voice.
• The house stands by the side of the river.
ADJECTIVE PHRASE
A phrase which does the work of an adjective is an adjective phrase.
যে phrase adjective-এর মতো কাজ করে তাকে adjective phrase বলে।
In the following table compare the adjective and adjective phrase.
নীচের টেবিলে adjective এবং adjective phrase গুলির তুলনা লক্ষ করো:
|
Box A |
Box B |
|
Adjectives |
Adjective Phrases |
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(i) He is a wealthy man. |
(i) He is a man of wealth |
|
(ii) We purchased a steel almirah. |
(ii) We purchased an almirah made of steel |
In Box-A wealthy and steel are used as adjectives. The words qualify the nouns man and almirah respectively.
Box-A wealthy and steel adjective হয়ে ব্যবহৃত হয়ে man এবং almirah এর noun দুটিকে qualify করছে | In Box-B, the groups of words, i.e. phrases of wealth and made of steel qualify the nouns man and almirah respectively, just like adjectives. So they are called adjective phrases. Box-B তে কতকগুলি শব্দগুচ্ছ of wealth এবং made of steel—যথাক্রমে man এবং almirah—এই noun দু‘টিকে adjective-এর মতো qualify করছে। তাই এদেরকে adjective phrase বলে।
Position of adjective phrases
Adjective phrases must be placed close to the nouns they qualify. Otherwise, the sentences look absurd:
Adjective phrase অবশ্যই যে noun কে বিশেষিত করছে তার পাশে বসবে—তা না হলে বাক্যগুলি অর্থহীন বলে মনে হবে।
My father bought a chair from a shopkeeper with four legs.
In the above sentence with four legs is an adjective phrase. It qualifies the noun chair. But it is placed close to the word shopkeeper. The way this sentence is constructed, it implies that the shopkeeper had four legs, which is quite absurd. So this sentence should be written like this:
My father bought a chair with four legs from a shopkeeper.
ওপরের বাক্যটিকে with four legs-একটি adjective phrase যেটি chair নামক noun কে বিশেষিত করেছে। কিন্তু বাক্যটিকে লক্ষ করলে দেখা যায় যে adjective phrase টি shopkeeper-এর কাছে বসে shopkeeper কেই বিশেষিত করছে—এর ফলে shoopkeeper–এ চারটি পা আছে বোঝাচ্ছে—যা সম্পূর্ণ হাস্যকর।
A. Look at the adjectives and the adjective phrases:
|
Adjectives |
Adjective phrases |
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A cruel man |
a man of a cruel nature |
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an experienced teacher |
a teacher with experience |
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a fearless man |
a man without fear |
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Indian goods |
goods made in India |
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wealthy man |
a man of wealth |
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a red coat |
a coat of red colour |
Formation of adjective phrase
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A Present participle + preposition (i)Her voice is pleasing to the car. |
B. Past participle + preposition |
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(ii) Their eyes bleaming with joy expressed all. |
(ii)Confined in prison Arabindo’s spirituality developed. |
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(iii) A bird flying in the sky knows freedom. |
(iii)Involved in debt, Rahimbabu commits suicide. |
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C.Preposition + Noun |
D. Preposition + adjective + noun |
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(ii) Is there happiness in a life without health? |
(ii)They are children of tender years. |
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(iii) They cut the tree by the river. |
(iii)She is a woman with curly hair. |
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E. Adjective + Preposition |
E. As + Adjective + As |
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(ii)Dr. Mitra was proficient in mathematics. |
(ii)His eyes are as red as a rose. |
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(iii) All plants are sensitive to touch. |
(iii)He is as strong as a lion. |
Examples: worked out
(Textual)
■ In the following sentences, underlined the groups of words that do the work of an adjective.
(i) He was a man full of hope.
(ii) A necklace of great value was stolen.
(iii) This is a table made of wood.
ADVERB PHRASE
A phrase, which does the work of an adverb is an adverb phrase.
যে phrase adverb-এর মতো কাজ করে তাকে adverb phrase বলে।
In the following table compare the adverbs and the adverb phrases.
নীচের টেবিলে adjectives এবং adjective phase গুলির তুলনা লক্ষ করোঃ
|
Box A |
Box B |
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Adverbs |
Adverb Phrases |
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[i] He fought bravely. |
[i] He fought in a brave manner. |
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[ii] Rounak does all his work carefully. |
[ii] Rounak does all his work with great care. |
In Box-A bravely and carefully are used as adverbs.
The words modify the verbs fought and does respectively.
In Box-B the groups of words i.e. phrases in a brave manner and with great care modify the verbs fought and does respectively, just like adverbs. They are called adverb phrases.
Box-A তে bravely এবং carefully adverb হিসাবে ব্যবহৃত হয়ে fought এবং does-এর মতো verb কে modify
করছে।
Box-B তে কতকগুলি শব্দগুচ্ছ – in a brave manner এবং with great care এই শব্দগুচ্ছগুলি fought এবং does verb-কে adverb-এর মতো modify করছে। তাই এদেরকে adverb phrases বলা হয়।
In the following table compare the adverbs and Adverbs phrases that are equivalent to them. নীচের টেবিলটিতে adverb এবং adverb phrases-এর পার্থক্য লক্ষ করঃ
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Adverbs |
Adverb Phrases |
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Annually |
every year |
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Cleverly |
in a clever manner |
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Courageously |
with courage |
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Abroad |
in a foreign land |
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Then |
in those days |
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Hurriedly |
in a hurry |
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Early |
at an early hour. |
Look at the table:
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Adverbs |
Action is done |
Adverb phrases |
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He is living there. I searched for my book everywhere. |
Place – where? |
He is living at that place. |
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He woke up early. I was a student then. |
Time – when? |
He woke up in the morning. |
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He acted foolishly. He walked slowly. |
Manner – how? |
He acted in a foolish manner. |
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He could not go to school for his illness. The boy was punished for idleness. |
Reason – why? |
He could not go to school on account of illness. |
An adverb phrase gives answer to where, when, how, and why, like an adverb.
The adverb and adjective phrases have the following structures:
ADVERB PHRASE
(premodifiers) adverb (head) (postmodifiers)
more closely
ADJECTIVE PHRASE
(premodifiers) adjective (head) (postmodifiers)
quite close
Examples: worked out
(Textual)
In the following sentences, underline the groups of words that do the work of an adverb.
(i) The bird stood in the corner of the cage.
(ii) His spoke in a confident manner.
(iii) It is raining at this moment.
NOUN PHRASE (An expansion of a noun word)
A phrase, which does the work of a noun is a noun phrase. যে phrase noun-এর মতো কাজ করে তাকে noun phrase বলে।
Study the following pairs of sentences: নীচের জোড়া বাকগুলি পড়ো:
|
Box A |
Box B |
|
Nouns |
Noun Phrases |
|
[i] I love books. |
[i]I love reading books. |
|
[ii] Forgiveness is a noble virtue. |
[ii] To forgive one’s enemies is a noble virtue. |
In Box-A, books and forgiveness are used as nouns; in (1) books is the object of the verb love, and in (ii) forgiveness is the subject of the verb is.
In Box-B the group of words i.e. phrases ‘reading books’ and ‘to forgive one’s enemies’ are used like nouns; in (1) as the object of the verb love and in (ii) as the subject of the verb is. Thus they are called noun phrases.
Box-A তে books’ and forgiveness noun হিসেবে ব্যবহৃত হয়েছে— (1) বাক্যে verb–‘love’–এর object হিসেবে (ii) বাকে verb-is-এর subject হিসেবে।
Box-B তে কতকগুলি শব্দগুচ্ছ – reading books, এবং to forgive one’s enemies noun-এর মত (i) বাক্যে Verb Iove-এর object হিসেবে এবং (ii) বাক্যে verb is –এর subject রূপে ব্যবহৃত হয়েছে। এই শব্দগুচ্ছগুলি noun-এর মতো ব্যবহৃত হয় বলে এদের noun phrase বলে।
Noun phrase নিম্নলিখিতভাবে ব্যবহার হতে পারে—
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(i) as a subject to the verb |
A flock of sheep was grazing in the field. |
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(ii) as the object to the verb |
I bought a pair of shoes yesterday. |
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(ii) as the complement to the be’ verb |
Life is not a bed of roses. |
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(iv) as the object to the preposition |
He is in terrible danger. The phrase – terrible danger’ is used as an object to the preposition in’. |
Formation of Noun phrase
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A. Noun + and + Noun |
B. Noun + Preposition + Noun |
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(i) This project has both merits and demerits. |
(i) A voice from heaven was heard. |
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(ii) Stars and planets constitute the galaxy. |
(ii)His presence of mind saved him ultimately |
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(iii)He works day and night. |
(iii) An ocean is a mass of salt water. |
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C. Noun + Noun |
D. Adjective/Participle + Noun |
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(i) How have you spent your summer vacation? |
(i) The pond was the breeding place of mosquitoes |
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(ii) War causes bloodshed. |
(ii)His untimely death has upset everything. |
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(iii) What is your mother-tongue? |
(iii) We found her in the dancing hall. |
Examples: worked out
(Textual)
In the following sentences, underline the groups of words that do the work of a noun.
(i) Travelling by train gives us great pleasure.
(ii) The child refused to answer any question.
(iii) He wanted to go home.
VERB PHRASE
A verb phrase is a group of words consisting of a verb (auxiliary or main) and other words that occupy the same position in a sentence as a single verb. The verb phrase is named after the head of the phrase.
In a verb phrase, there is always an ordinary verb (go, look, take etc.). There can be one auxiliary (will, shall, has, have, was, were, etc.) or more auxiliaries (have, have been, should, is being, must have been etc) in front of it:
Example: You may have succeeded.
In the above example, the group of words: ‘may have succeeded’ acts as a verb phrase as it occupies the position of the verb.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that does the work of a preposition.
Examples: Rahima was standing in front of her friend. (= before)
There is a garden at the back of our house. (= behind)
The phrases typed in colour (in front of, at the back of) have been used in place of prepositions (before, behind). These phrases work as prepositions. So they are known as prepositional phrases.
Remember:
All prepositional phrases must start with a preposition.
Some prepositional phrases
in quest of
at the top of
in honor of
in the wake of (পরে)
on the eve of (প্রাক্কালে)
in memory of
in search of
by the side of
