Clause, Phrase, Sentence - Learn The Difference: What Is A Phrase?

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Clause, Phrase,

Sentence – Learn
the Difference
These three structures are a common part of English, and are all composed of
groups of words. Clauses, phrases and sentences are very similar, but they do have
different roles. Learning the difference between them will help you make a lot more
sense of English grammar, and will be very useful to improve your written English.

What is a phrase?
Words can be grouped together, but without a subject or a verb. This is called a
phrase.

Because a phrase has neither subject nor verb, it can’t form a ‘predicate’. This is a
structure that must contain a verb, and it tells you something about what the
subject is doing.

Phrases can be very short – or quite long. Two examples of phrases are:

“After dinner”

“Waiting for the rain to stop”.

Phrases can’t be used alone, but you can use them as part of a sentence, where
they are used as parts of speech.

What is a clause?
Clauses are groups of words that have both subjects and predicates. Unlike
phrases, a clause can sometimes act as a sentence – this type of clause is called
an independent clause. This isn’t always the case, and some clauses can’t be used
on their own – these are called subordinate clauses, and need to be used with an
independent clause to complete their meaning.
An example of a subordinate clause is “When the man broke into the house”

An example of an independent clause is “the dog barked at him”

While the independent clause could be used by itself as a complete sentence, the
subordinate clause could not. For it to be correct, it would need to be paired with
another clause: “When the man broke into the house, the dog barked at him.”

What is a sentence?
A complete sentence has a subject and predicate, and can often be composed of
more than one clause. As long as it has a subject and a predicate, a group of words
can form a sentence, no matter how short.

E.g. “You ate fish.”

More complex sentences can combine multiple clauses or phrases to add


additional information about what is described. Clauses may be combined using
conjunctions – such as “and”, “but” and “or”.

E.g. “He went out to dinner but didn’t enjoy the meal.”

This example is composed of two independent clauses, “he went out to


dinner” and “he didn’t enjoy the meal”, combined with a conjunction- “but”.

Your turn
While clauses, phrases and sentences might seem very similar at first, on closer
look you can start to see how they function very differently. To make sure you use
them correctly, it’s important to practice identifying them.

Try reading different materials, and spotting the phrases, clauses and complete
sentences in a piece of text. Then try to write your own examples of them! And if
you would like to learn English with people from all over the world - check out our
range of language courses abroad at Eurocentres.com
Kinds of Sentences and Their Punctuation
A sentence may be one of four kinds, depending upon the number and type(s) of clauses it
contains.

Review:

An independent clause contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought.

A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb, but no complete thought.

1. A SIMPLE SENTENCE has one independent clause.

Punctuation note: NO commas separate two compound elements (subject, verb,


direct object, indirect object, subjective complement, etc.) in a simple sentence.
2. A COMPOUND SENTENCE has two independent clauses joined by

A. a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so),

B. a conjunctive adverb (e.g. however, therefore), or

C. a semicolon alone.

Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, and C above):

A. Independent clause, coordinating conjunction independent clause.

B. Independent clause; conjunctive adverb, independent clause.

C. Independent clause; independent clause.

3. A COMPLEX SENTENCE has one dependent clause (headed by a subordinating


conjunction or a relative pronoun ) joined to an independent clause.

Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, C and D above):

A. Dependent clause, independent clause

B. Independent clause dependent clause


C. Independent, nonessential dependent clause, clause.

D. Independent essential dependent clause clause.

4. A COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE has two independent clauses joined to


one or more dependent clauses.

Punctuation patterns:

Follow the rules given above for compound and complex sentences.
A compound-complex sentence is merely a combination of the two.

CONNECTORS--COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

Two independent clauses may be joined by


1. Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS) Ic, and ic

2. Conjunctive adverbs Ic; therefore, ic.

A dependent (subordinate) clause may be introduced by

1. Subordinating conjunctions (ADVERB CLAUSE) Dc, ic. or Ic dc.

2. Relative pronouns (ADJECTIVE CLAUSE) I, dc, c. or I dc c.

3. Relative pronoun, subordinating conjunctions, or adverbs (NOUN CLAUSE)

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