Two experiments were conducted to examine the ability of left- (LHD) and right-hemisphere-damaged (RHD) patients to use temporal cues in rendering phrase grouping decisions. The phrase "pink and black and green" was manipulated to signal a boundary after "pink" or after "black" by altering pre-boundary word durations and pause durations. Results revealed that LHD patients required longer than normal pause durations to consistently identify the intended grouping, suggesting a higher than normal threshold for perception. Surprisingly, the RHD patients exhibited great difficulty with the task, perhaps due to the limited acoustic cues available in the stimuli.