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IDIOMS, PHRASES, CLAUSES & PROVERBS
IDIOMS: Idioms are expression (phrase) peculiar to a language, which cannot be understood simply by looking at the meaning of the individual words in the phrase.Many verbs, when followed by various prepositions, or adverbs acquires idiomatic sense.
Example:
- Break down
- In black & white
- An apple of one's eye
- A red letter day etc.
PHRASE: Phrase is a group of words or a word without a subject or predicate. It is a grammatical unit and it adds meaning to a sentence.
Types Of Phrases:
There are five main types of phrases:
-
Noun Phrase: A Noun phrase is a group of words that does work of a noun.
E.g.
* Early to bed
* Playing cricket
* To go home
* A big red balloon etc. - Adjective Phrase: An adjective phrase is a group of words that does work of an adjective.
E.g.
* Made of gold
* In need
* Of purple
* With a white skin etc. - Adverb Phrase: An adverb phrase is a group of words that does work of an adverb.
E.g.
* On the whole
* In a former time
* Run quickly
* All my heart etc. - Verb Phrase: A verb phrase is a group of words that does work of a verb. They are combination of auxiliary verb (helping verb) and the main verb.
E.g.
* Are working
* Have eaten
* Can smell
* Will have been studying etc. - Prepositional Phrase: A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.
E.g.
* At a glance
* In a hurry
* On the table
* For a reason etc.
CLAUSE:
Such a group of words that forms part of a sentence and has a Subject and Predicate of its own is called a clause.
E.g.
- They rested when evening come.
In above sentence,'when evening come' is a clause' as it is a part of sentence. Here evening is noun (subject) and when come is predicate.
There are some common type of clauses are:
- Independent Clause: is a group of words that can stand alone to make a simple meaningful sentence as a regular sentence. It contains a subject and predicate. It is also called a principal clause.
Independent clauses can be connected by using a semicolon or comma the followed by a coordinators such as and, but, so, or, nor, for, yet.
Example:
* I will call you when I reach home.
* John is a very successful doctor.
* Can you do it?
* I want to buy a phone, but I don’t have enough money. (Two independent clauses). - Dependent Clause: is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not give complete idea or thought but help the independent clauses to complete the sentence. It contains subject and predicate. It is also called a subordinate clause or subclause or embedded clause.
In each of the dependent clauses, the first word is a subordinator. Subordinators include relative pronouns, subordinating conjunctions, and noun clause markers.
Example:
* When the sunset the stars come out.
* Caesar couldn't catch the train because he was late.
* If you don’t eat, I won’t go.
* After the storm, we went outside to access the damage.
Types Of Dependent Clauses:
They are divided into three types:
i) Adjective Clause: An adjective clause is a Dependent Clause that modifies a Noun. It is a group of words which contains a subject and predicate of its own and does the work of an Adjective. These are also called Relative Clauses and they usually come right after the Nouns they modify.
Examples:
* The umbrella which has broken handle is mine.
* He met a girl whose eyes are blue.
* A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
ii) Noun Clause: A noun clause is a Dependent Clause. It is a group of words which contains a subject and predicate of its own and does the work of a Noun.
They are called Nominal Clauses. These clauses often start with “how,” “that,” or other WH-words (What, Who, Where, When, Why, Which, Whose and Whom), if, whether etc.
Examples:
* I expect that I shall get a prize.
* I don't know what he wants.
* He knows how things work around here.
iii) Adverbial Clause: An adverb clause is a Dependent Clauses. It is a group of words which contains a subject and predicate of its own and does the work of an Adverbs. It means that these clauses have the power to modify Verbs, Adjectives and other Adverbs.
Example:
* Alice is not playing with us because he injured his knees last night.
* I went through the book at a lightning speed.
* They rested when evening come. - Coordinate Clause: A coordinate clauses are two or more independent clauses in a sentence that are joined by one or more Coordinating Conjunctions (and, or, but etc.) in terms of Compound Sentences are called Coordinate Clauses. It is a group of words containing a subject and predicate.
Examples:
* Andrew prefers flying but his wife always wants to take a bus.
* The students finished class so they went to lunch.
* The rain ended and the sun came out. - Non-finite Clause: Non-finite clause does not have a finite verb. It does not show tense or time of verb and does not contain subject.
There are three types of non-finite clause.
(i) The word ending in -ing is used.
Examples:
* The stars shone brightly, dancing around the moon last night.
* Hearing the fireworks, the children jumped up.
(ii) The verb come after the word to
* He gave up his job to travel the world.
* He was the last person to talked to me.
(iii) The past particle form of the verb is used.
* Disappointed with his quality the boss decided to fire him.
* All children gathered in the group, were ready to perform a traditional dance.
PROVERBS: A proverb is a brief and wise saying that shares practical advice or general truth about life. In simple words proverb is a short saying or statement that usually offers life advice, wisdom, or a truth.
Example:
- Honesty is the best policy.
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away
- Don’t judge a book by its cover
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