× PREFACE
  CHAPTER 1
What is Academic English?
  CHAPTER 2
Academic Vocabulary
  CHAPTER 3
Useful Sentence Structures and Language for Academic Writing
  CHAPTER 4
Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting
  CHAPTER 5
Paragraph Structure
  CHAPTER 6
Common Academic Text Structures




PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6
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Home > Chapter 3: Useful Sentence Structures and Language for Academic Writing

Chapter 3: Useful Sentence Structures and Language for Academic Writing

3d: Adjective Phrases and Clauses

Sentences in academic texts tend to be dense. They contain lots of grammatically complex sentences which are composed of phrases and clauses of different purposes. Some common examples are adjective phrases and clauses, which are used to provide additional information and descriptions to nouns.

Adjective phrases

An adjective phrase is a group of words that describes a noun or pronoun. It provides further details and specifies the features/characteristics of an object, a person or a place. An adjective phrase is usually placed before or after the noun or pronoun in a sentence. There are different kinds of phrases that can act as adjectives. Below are some examples:


a. Prepositional phrases Growing tomatoes with a longer shelf life can reduce fruit loss.
b. Present participle phrases (-ing phrase) Nowadays, those (employees) working from home can still communicate with colleagues using information and communication technology.
c. Past participle phrases Most of the squatter settlements built in the 1940s were destroyed during World War II.



  3a  3b3c3d

  Activity 8

Read the following sentences and decide which type of adjective phrase is used for the underlined parts.

  • e.g. Compulsory education is adopted in many places of the world and in general, children between 6 and 15 years old have to attend school.
    • A prepositional phrase
    • A present participle phrase
    • A past participle phrase
  • The skyline along the coast of Victoria Harbour is a famous tourist attraction in Hong Kong.
    • A prepositional phrase
    • A present participle phrase
    • A past participle phrase

  • In Hong Kong, the first housing estate built by a private developer is Mei Foo Sun Chuen.
    • A prepositional phrase
    • A present participle phrase
    • A past participle phrase

  • The film featuring the iconic locations in Hong Kong was well received globally.
    • A prepositional phrase
    • A present participle phrase
    • A past participle phrase