What is the nucleus of the verbal phrase

The nucleus of the verbal phrase is the verb and it performs the predicate function in the sentence. An example is "Carla buys a new table for her house." In this case the nucleus of the verbal phrase is the verb "buy." The verb phrase is a fundamental piece to understand the structure and dynamics of sentences. Correctly understanding the core of the verbal phrase will allow you to discover how the predicate is organized and the way we construct the language in the Spanish language.

In this lesson from a TEACHER, we are going to explain in detail what is the nucleus of the verbal phrase and why it is so important.

A phrase is a part of speech that has a syntactic unit. That is, it performs a specific function within the sentence. The verbal phrase is one of the most important phrases that exist, since it carries out the predicate function in the sentence. All phrases have a central word that functions as a nucleus and in the case of the verbal phrase it is the verb.

The verbal phrase, therefore, is a grammatical unit that is

composed of a verb and all its complements. This structure expresses action and can include elements such as the Direct Complement, the Indirect Complement, the Circumstantial Complement, etc.

• For example: Juan studies for the math exam.

In this example we can see that "study for the math test" is the verb phrase of the sentence and "studies" is the verb that functions as the nucleus of the verbal phrase.

As we have mentioned, the verbal phrase has a verb as its core, but this can be accompanied by other complements that modify it. The verb is the obligatory component in a verbal phrase and the accompanying accessories They are dispensable:

Direct complement

He Direct complement It can be a prepositional phrase or a noun phrase. It can be replaced by the pronouns LO, LA, LOS, LAS.

• For example: The girl found a hidden letter

Indirect compliment

He Indirect compliment It is always constructed with the preposition A and can be replaced by LE or LES.

• For example: The policeman gave a fine to the driver.

Circumstantial Complement

He Circumstantial Complement It is constructed in different ways and can give us information about place, manner, time, instrument, cause, purpose, company, etc.

• For example: The teacher ran towards her class.

Attribute

He Attribute only appears after copulative verbs (ser, estar or seem) and can be replaced by the pronoun LO.

• For example: The dog is highly strung.

Verbal Regime Complement

He Verbal Regime Complement It is only found when there is a prepositional phrase required by the verb.

• For example: She never put a hand on the girl.

Agent Plugin

He Agent Plugin appears only in passive sentences and is introduced by the preposition BY.

• For example: The cars were parked by the mechanic.

predicative complement

He predicative complement expresses a property, quality or state of the Subject or the Direct Complement. It must agree with them in gender and number.

• For example: Lucía found the boat full when he opened it.

Here you can learn about this other lesson from a TEACHER about the Verbal complements.

The best way to understand a lesson is to see some examples, so we suggest that you carefully read this list of sentences in which we have marked the verb phrase in bold. Remember that its nucleus is the verb:

• The crowd He went to the airport to cheer his idol on his arrival in the country.
• The cat He meows non-stop because he is hungry.
• The chef He prepared the most delicious delicacies for the guests at the banquet.
• Heavy rain last night They have flooded the entire region.
• The phone decomposed.
• The architect will make the plans of the building.
• Let's get out of here immediately!
• A person He never knows what fate will bring him.
• The poet He wrote a long poem dedicated to friendship.
• The corridor She won the race without any major difficulties.
• The patient It will improve when you come out of the postoperative period.
• The fire in the fireplace It heated the entire room.
• Caring for water It is the responsibility of all the inhabitants of the planet.
• Mother He got angry with his children because they don't obey him.
• The passengers They emerged unharmed from the accident.
• The postal worker He handed her the letter without looking up.
• The thief He was captured by police forces.
• Her friend she is going to her house to accompany her right now.
• Empathy He has saved more than one person.
• The writer He published eight novels during his lifetime.
• The man He heard them calling him from the mountain.

In the video below you can see the syntactic analysis of a sentence to understand more about the verb phrase.

The time has come for you to put into practice the theory you have learned so far. In this exercise, we propose that find the verb phrase of each of the sentences and that indicate what its core is. Good luck!

• The young man performed well on his final exam.
• The climbers will run out of supplies at any moment.
• The collective effort has borne fruit.
• The night turned out better than he expected.
• The national team players had a day of rest.
• The street is deserted.

In this section you will find the solutions to the previous exercise on the core of the noun phrase. If you have done everything well, you can now consider this lesson learned; but if you have failed in any of the sentences, we recommend that you read the theory and examples carefully again:

• The young man He performed well on his final exam. - GIVEN UP
• The mountaineers They will run out of supplies at any moment. - THEY WILL STAY
• The collective effort has brought its fruits. - HAS BROUGHT
• The night It turned out better than he expected. - TURNED OUT
• The national team players They had a day of rest. - THEY HAD
• The street It is deserted. - THIS

We hope that this lesson has helped you better understand what the core of the verb phrase is and how it works in sentences. If you want to continue delving deeper into this topic and learn about the phrases that exist in the Spanish language, do not hesitate to consult our grammar and linguistics section.

González Calvo, J. M. (2004). The syntactic functions in the verbal phrase. Cauce, 2004,(27): 187-207.

Jaume, M. (2016). Verb Phrase. in Encyclopedia of Hispanic Linguistics (pp. v2-51). Routledge.