Phrase
A phrase is a term used in grammar to refer to a single part of a structure normally consisting of more than one word and does not have a typical clause subject-predicate structure. Commonly, the term is seen as part of a structural hierarchy, being between clause and word.
Various types of phrases can be distinguished:
1. Adverb phrase (e.g., very slowly)
2. Adjectival phrase (e.g., the old car)
3. Prepositional phrase (e.g., in the evening) [Crystal, 367].
A phrase is a grammatical item smaller than a clause. This is the old term that has long been used to denote a grammatical item which normally (though not always) contains two or more words but does not contain all the things the clause contains [Trask, 157].
A phrase is a group of two or more words that function as a meaningful unit in a clause or sentence. A phrase consists of a headword and one or more optional modifiers. There may be other phrases inside the phrase. Common types of phrases involve noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, and prepositional phrases [3].
⠀ 1. David Crystal. (2008). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6th Edition. New-Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell
⠀ 2. R.L.Trask. (1999). Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. London: Routledge.
⠀ 3. Retrieved from: ThoughtCo [https://www.thoughtco.com/phrase-grammar-1691625].