Review of the linguistic literature on the problems of Phrase Theory in Modern Linguistics

Table 2.
Statistical analysis of the phrases used in K. Macleod’s “The Wrock and Rune”

№	Types of Phrases	Frequency of usage	Probabilities of usage
1.	Simple Noun Phrases	0,304	0,078
2.	Complex Noun Phrases	0,2	0,051
3.	Participle Phrases	0,004	0,001
4.	Gerund Phrases	0,003	0,0007
5.	Prepositional Phrases	0,133	0,034
6.	Verbal Phrases	0,356	0.091

Hogging the middle of the bed – gerund phrase (subject complement of the linking verb is).

Last night I had to sleep on the couch because I found Floyd, my dog, hogging the middle of the bed. K. Macleod’s “The Wrock and Rune”
Hogging the middle of the bed = present participle phrase describing Floyd.
A gerund phrase contains the gerund and all the words after it which go with it. The words that come after the gerund usually answer questions such as what? , When?, why?, where?, how? For how long? And for what purpose?
Running for 5k every other day helps many people to strengthen their heart. K. Macleod’s “The Wrock and Rune”
(The gerung “running” is the subject of this sentence. “Running for 5k every other day” is a complete gerund phrase. Do not cross out (A gerund phrase that comes at the beginning of the sentences; the first word in the phrase (the “-ing” word) is the subject of the sentence.)
Note: 1) “Ing” words that begin a phrase that is surrounded by commas, and “ing” words that begin a phrase at the beginning of a sentence followed by a comma, are being used to begin present participial phrases.
2)An “ing” word that is the FIRST word in the sentence and has no commas between it and the verb is a gerund; that gerund is, the subject of the sentence.
2.4. Contextual features of Infinitive Phrases used in K. Macleod’s “The Wrock and Rune”

Infinitive phrases are one of the three verbals. That is, a verb that functions as another part of speech. We have already covered participles, which are verbs acting as adjectives and gerunds, which are verbs acting as nouns. Infinitive phrases can function, depending on the context, as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns. The infinitive phrase, like all verbals, retains a verb traits and can, therefore, have a complement. In other words, the infinitive phrase can contain a direct object, or a predicative adjective.