Phrase – syntagme
Let's Define It!
What's a *phrase*?
A phrase, (also known in French as un syntagme or un groupe or again une locution) is a word or group of words forming an entity, a grammatical unity.
There are 5 types of phrases in French:
- nominal phrase
- adjectival phrase
- adverbial phrase
- verbal phrase
- prepositional phrase
A phrase has a head (un noyau) around which revolves other satellites.
A syntagme can be made of several other sous-syntagmes (sub-phrases). Consider the following nominal phrase (syntagme nominal) (underlined for your convenience):
La soeur de mon nouveau voisin est belle. / My new neighbor's sister is beautiful.
Within that nominal phrase, there are sub-phrases. For example, de mon nouveau voisin is a sub-phrase whose head is voisin linked to the sattelites de, mon, and nouveau.
Let's Pronounce It!
What does it sound like in French?
Let's Have an Example or Two!
Can a little reinforcement do the trick?
We are listing below a few phrases for your convenience:
Quel beau spectacle! What a great show! (syntagme nominal) head = spectacle
Lucie a visité un musée. Lucie has visited a museum. (syntagme verbal) --> head= a visité
Je viendrai à cinq heures. I will arrive at 5 o'clock. (syntagme prepositionnel) --> head = heures. Despite being a prepositional phrase, it is a noun that gets to be the head of the phrase, not the preposition à.
J'ai vu des maisons toutes remplies de trésor. I've seen houses totally filled with treasure. (syntagme adjectival) --> head= remplies
Lucien court très vite. Lucien runs very fast. (syntagme adverbial) --> head= vite