Welcome to your interactive map of English grammar! 🗺️ Phrases are the building blocks of sentences—groups of words acting together like a team. Explore below to see how they work, what they do, and why we need them.
Before diving into specifics, look at the big picture. Not all phrases appear with the same frequency. Noun Phrases (the "Things") and Verb Phrases (the "Actions") make up the core structure of almost every sentence.
A Phrase is a group of related words that does not have both a subject and a verb. If it had both, it would be a clause!
Click on a phrase type below to analyze its DNA. See its formula, an analogy to help you remember it, and visualize its "Grammar Superpowers."
How many different "jobs" (Subject, Object, Modifier) can this phrase do?
Phrases aren't just for show—they have jobs! Explore the matrix below to see how different phrases function within a sentence structure.
| Phrase Type | As a Subject 👑 | As an Object 🎒 | As a Modifier 🎨 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noun Phrase | Yes! "The cat sleeps." | Yes! "I saw the cat." | Rarely (Appositives) |
| Verb Phrase | No | No | Acts as the Predicate |
| Adjective Phrase | No | No | Yes! "The car is very fast." |
| Prepositional Phrase | No | No | Yes! "The man in the hat." |
| Gerund Phrase | Yes! "Running fast is fun." | Yes! "I love running fast." | No |