When describing a noun, you must use adjectives, relative clauses or adjectival phrases. The latter ones are phrases whose main word is an adjective. There can be three types of adjectival phrases. Those that use a present participle, a preposition and a noun, or a past participle plus an agent. Marc explains in detail these three types of phrases by giving examples. At the end of the lesson, he lists other types of phrases used to describe a noun. This lesson is designed for intermediate students who wish to improve their English grammar and those above levels who wish to clarify doubts about this topic.
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Mr. P. is a Canadian English Teacher/Coach from Toronto, Canada, who has been teaching English since 1997. He taught English to adults in Rome for 20 years. He was an Honorary Fellow in the English Language at UNITELMA La Sapienza University in Rome in 2014 and 2015. In the past, he was also a Language Monitor at the University of Toronto. He also taught English to many important politicians and celebrities in Italy. He is a certified English Teacher specializing in TEFL, TESL, TESOL (Arizona State University) & TOEFL. In 2018, he started a BA in English at Queen's University, Canada. Marc's channel aims to make his lessons concise and effective for everyone. Subscribe for weekly updates, and please make comments and requests.
Hello everyone. How are you today?
I'm Marc.
The lady wearing a brown hat
is my grandmother.
The News on TV announced a general strike
for Thursday.
The Mona Lisa, painted by
Leonardo da Vinci, is displayed
in the Louvre.
In this lesson, we're going to take a look
at adjectival phrases.
So stay tuned.
That's right. Adjectival phrases.
How can we describe a noun?
Well, a noun can be described
using an adjective,
obviously. So like
in white house
or tall boy
or wooden shack.
If you want to watch a lesson on
adjectives, you may click here.
So, we can also
describe a noun using
relative clauses. For example,
the man who called
me, etc, etc.
So, relative clauses. What are they?
If you want to watch a lesson
on relative clauses, you may
click here. And to describe
a noun, we can also use
adjectival phrases. And
adjectival phrases are phrases
whose main word
is an adjective, obviously.
So, the first group. So,
adjectival phrases, using the present
participle, plus
an object or adverbial.
If you don't know what
a present participle is, you
may click here to watch that lesson.
So, let's take a look at my
introductory example.
The lady wearing a brown
hat is my grandmother.
Which lady?
The lady wearing the brown hat.
So, wearing the brown
hat describes the lady.
Let's take a look at
another example.
In my dream,
I entered a
restroom smelling of
jasmine. Which restroom?
The one
smelling of jasmine.
Jasmine is a flower.
So, smelling of jasmine
is the
adjectival phrase.
Now, the second group.
Adjectival phrases with a
preposition, plus
a noun. If you wish to watch
a lesson on prepositional phrases,
you may click here. So, let's take a look
at my examples then.
The news on TV announced
a general strike for Thursday.
So,
which news?
The ones on TV.
So, on TV is the
prepositional phrase that
describes the news, right?
The noun. So,
another example.
A dog with a shaggy tail
approached me
to sniff my pants.
Which dog?
The one with a shaggy tail.
So, it describes
the dog. So, with a shaggy
tail is a prepositional phrase
that describes
the dog, right?
So, let's take a look at my third group.
Adjectival phrases
with a past participle,
plus agent or adverbial.
Like in my example
then. The Mona Lisa
painted by
Leonardo da Vinci is
displayed in the Louvre.
So, we have
painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
Painted is
the past participle of paint
and it describes
the Mona Lisa. It's more
information about a noun,
about the Mona Lisa.
Let's take a look at another example then.
The tomb
discovered
last week became
of relevance after
its official announcing.
So, we have discovered
which is a past participle
and then plus agent or adverbial
last week.
So, it describes
the tomb.
So, the tomb discovered
last week became of relevance
after its official announcing.
Now, we have other types
of examples also. For example,
the final exams
were
unbelievably difficult.
So, the final exams
were unbelievably
difficult. So, we have
an adverb, unbelievably
and then an adjective.
Then, let's take a look
at another example.
I was extremely delighted
to see you making
progress in English.
So, extremely here
is the adverb
and delighted is the
adjective, right?
We can also use superlative or comparative
adjectives in
adjectival phrases.
So, let's take a look at my example.
This stone
is the heaviest of all.
This stone
is the heaviest of all.
So, the stone, which one?
The heaviest of all.
So, a superlative adjective
with comparative adjectives
then. A person
smarter than me needs to
understand this issue and explain it
to me. So, a person
who is smarter
than me
needs to understand this issue
and explain it to me.
Can you rewrite these two sentences
in just one?
The boy must have seen it.
He was playing basketball
with his friend.
So, once Mahatma Gandhi said
be the change that you want to see
in the world. If you have any questions
comments or if you want to type
your own example of
adjectival phrases
you may do so under this video.
If you haven't subscribed to my channel
please do so.
If you want to share the lesson
I would really appreciate it.
Having said that, thank you very much for watching.
Have a great day and see you next week
with a new English lesson.
Take care. Bye-bye.
