In the following sentence, what is the head of the underlined phrase?

Barry became very proud of his brother that day.

Question

In the following sentence, what is the head of the underlined phrase?

Barry became very proud of his brother that day.

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

First, identify the likely target of the question: the head of the underlined phrase in the sentence. In the phrase Barry became very proud of his brother that day, the word that determines the core meaning of the phrase is the main lexical unit around which the rest of the phrase is built.

Option 1: "very" — This word is an adverb (a degree modifier) that modifies the adjective that follows. It does not serve as the head of the phrase; rather, it modifies the head (proud). So this is not the head.

Option 2: "proud" — This is an adjective that functions as the predicative adjective describing Barry’s emotional state. In the phrase very proud, the main descriptor is the adjective proud, with very as a degree modifier. Here, proud is the head of the adjective phrase, with very as its modifier. This is the strongest candidate for the head.

Option 3: "of" — This is a preposition introducing the prepositional phrase of his brother. It does create a phrase (of his brother), but the head of that prepositional phrase is the noun inside it (brother), not the preposition itself. Since the question asks for the head of the underlined phrase, not the head of the prepositional phrase, this is not correct as the head of the overall phrase in question.

Option 4: "his" — This is a possessive determiner (a determiner) modifying brother within the prepositional phrase. It does not act as the head of the main phrase; it only modifies the noun within the object of the preposition. Thus, this cannot be the head.

Option 5: "brother" — This is a noun and the object of the preposition of; within the inner structure of the prepositional phrase, brother is the head of that noun phrase, but the overall question about the head of the underlined phrase in the larger structure (very proud of his brother) is generally taken to be the adjective proud, which carries the main property being described. Therefore, brother is not the head of the full underlined phrase in this context.

Putting the pieces together, the head of the underlined phrase is the adjective proud, with very acting as a modifier and the rest of the phrase expanding on what is being described. The remaining options either function as modifiers (very), function words (of, his), or the noun within a prepositional object (brother) rather than serving as the head of the phrase in question.

LINB18H3 S LEC01 Quiz 2

In the following sentence, what is the head of the underlined phrase? Barry became very proud of his brother that day.

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