Source:
Parts of Speech
i Verb He is ill. She left early. We want to help.
ii Noun The dog barked. Sue won easily. I love you.
iii Adjective He’s very young. I’ve got a sore knee. It looks easy.
iv Adverb She spoke clearly. You’re extremely fit. He works very hard
v Determinative The dog barked. I’ve got a sore knee. We need some milk.
vi Preposition He’s in the garden. It’s from your uncle. We went to Paris.
vii Coordinator We saw Kim and Pat. Hurry or we’ll be late. It’s cheap but good.
viii Subordinator I know that it’s true. Ask whether it’s true. I wonder if it’s true.
4 PHRASES
For each of the first six of the word classes in [3] there is a corresponding class of phrases whose Head belongs to that class. In the following examples, the phrase is enclosed in brackets and the Head underlined:
[4] i Verb phrase She [wrote some letters]. He [is still in London].
ii Noun phrase [The new lodger] is here. [The boss] wants to see [you].
iii Adjective phrase It’s getting [rather late]. I’m [glad you could come].
iv Adverb phrase I spoke [too soon]. It’s [quite extraordinarily] good.
v Determinative phrase I saw [almost every] card. We’ve [very little] money left.
vi Preposition phrase They’re [in the garden]. He wrote a book [on sharks].
CANONICAL CLAUSES
Subject and Predicate
A canonical clause consists of a Subject followed by a Predicate. The Predicate is realised by a verb phrase; the Subject is mostly realised by a noun phrase, but there are other possibilities too, most importantly a subordinate clause:
[5] Subject Predicate
i One of his friends | called a doctor. [noun phrase as Subject]
ii That he was lying | was obvious. [subordinate clause as Subject]
English Grammar and Language Use 