CLAUSES AND PHRASES

The Building Blocks of Sophisticated Sentences

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? 

Definitions

A clause is defined as a group of related words that

contains a subject and predicate (verb).

e.g. he came.

 

A phrase is defined as a group of related words that does

not contain a subject and a verb. 

e.g. on the table. 

CONSIDER THIS EXAMPLE :

   He is laughing at a joker.The above sentence has two parts “he is laughing” and “at a joker”.

The first part of the sentence “he is laughing” is a clause because it has a

subject (he) and a predicate (is laughing).

The second part of the sentence “at a joker” is a phrase because it does not

contain subject and verb.

The difference  between a clause and a phrase is that a clause consists of both

subject and verb, but a phrase lacks a subject and verb.

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES

The underlined part of each of following sentences shows a clause,

while the rest part (non-underlined) of each sentence shows a

phrase.

He reached school in time.

         I was standing near a wall.

         They are singing in a loud voice.

         She made tea for the guests.

         He a bought a book for his friend.

         I will meet him in my office.

         You look handsome in this picture.

CLAUSES

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb (and

usually other components too). A clause may form part

of a sentence or it may be a complete sentence in itself

FOR EXAMPLE

He was eating a bacon sandwich.[clause]

She had a long careerbut she is remembered mainly for one early work.

[clause] [clause]

He was eating a bacon sandwich.[clause]

She had a long career but she is remembered mainly for one early work.

[clause] [clause]

MAIN CLAUSE

Every sentence contains at least one main clause. A main

clause may form part of a compound sentence or a

complex sentence, but it also makes sense on its own.

TYPES OF CLAUSES

The two main types of clauses are independent

and dependent. The following types of clauses

are used in constructing sentences:• Adverbial clauses• Defining and non-defining clauses

• also called adjective or relative clauses)• Independent and dependent clauses• Noun clauses

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

A subordinate clause depends on a main clause for its meaning.

Together with a main clause, a subordinate clause forms part of a

complex sentence. Examples:

A.) After we had had lunch, we went back to work.

[subordinate clause] {main clause}

B.) I first saw her in Paris, where I lived in the early nineties.

[main clause] [subordinate clause]

There are two main types of subordinate clause: conditional clauses

and relative clauses.

CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

A conditional clause is one that usually begins with if or unless

and describes something that is possible or probable:

Examples:

A.) If it looks like rain, a simple shelter can be made

out of a plastic sheet.

[conditional clause] [main clause]

B.) I'll be home tomorrow unless the plane's delayed for

hours.

[main clause] [conditional clause]

RELATIVE CLAUSES

A relative clause is one connected to a main clause by a word such as

which, that, whom, whose, when, where, or who:

Example A.) I first saw her in Paris, where I lived in the early nineties.

[main clause] [relative clause]

Example B.) She wants to be with Thomas, who is best suited to take care

of her.

[main clause] [relative clause]

Example C.) I was wearing the dress that I bought to wear to Jo's party.

[main clause] [relative clause]

USING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Have you ever wondered about when to use that and when to use which or

who in this type of sentence? In fact, for much of the time that is

interchangeable with either of these words. For example:

√ You’re the only person who has ever listened to me.

√ You’re the only person that has ever listened to me.

√ It’s a film that should be seen by everyone.

√ It’s a film which should be seen by everyone

NOUN CLAUSES

Noun clauses are not modifiers, so they are not subordinators like

adjectives and adverbs, and they cannot stand alone. They must function

within another sentence pattern, always as nouns. A noun clause

functions as a subject, subject complement, direct object, or object of a

preposition.

A noun clause usually begins with a relative pronoun like "that," "which,"

"who," "whoever," "whomever," "whose," "what," and "whatsoever." It can

also begin with the subordinating conjunctions "how," "when," "where,"

"whether," and "why."

Example:• Whoever wins the game will play in the tournament.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Adjective clauses modify nouns or pronouns. An adjective clause nearly always

appears immediately following the noun or pronoun.

To test for adjective clauses there are a couple of questions that you can ask.

Which one? What kind? Most adjective clauses begin with "who," "whom," "which,"

or "that." Sometimes the word may be understood. The words "that" or "who," for

example, might not specifically be in the sentence, but they could be implied. To

determine the subject of a clause ask "who?" or "what?" and then insert the verb.

Example:

•The book that is on the floor should be returned to the library.

ADVERB CLAUSES

Adverb clauses usually modify verbs, in which case they may appear

anywhere in a sentence. They tell why, where, under what conditions,

or to what degree the action occurred or situation existed. Unlike

adjective clauses, they are frequently movable within the sentence.

Example:• When the timer rings, we know the cake is done. OR• We know the cake is done when the timer rings.

Adverb clauses always begin with a subordinating conjunction.

Subordinating conjunctions introduce clauses and express their relation

to the rest of the sentence.

REVIEW: UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE

It is vital to understand the main differences between clauses and

phrases to ensure your writing is clear in both construction and context.

If you are unsure whether a group of words is a clause or phrase,

break down the words into the parts of speech to help you decide.

If there is a subject and a verb with a predicate, it is a clause. If there

is a noun but no verb or a verb but no noun and does not have a

predicate, it is a phrase.

Always keep in mind that sometimes phrases are built into clauses.

TYPES OF PHRASES

.

 

PhrasesA phrase is a small group of words that forms a meaningful unit within a clause. There are several different types of phrases.

NOUN PHRASES

Phrases

A phrase is a small group of words that forms a meaningful unit

within a clause. There are several different types, as follows.

A noun phrase is built around a single noun, for example:

A vase of roses stood on the table.

She was reading a book about the emancipation of women.

 

VERB PHRASE

A verb phrase is the verbal part of a clause, for

example:

She had been living in London.

I will be going to college next year.

 

ADJECTIVE PHRASE

An adjective phrase is built around an adjective,

for example:

He’s led a very interesting life.

A lot of the kids are really keen on football.

 

ADVERBIAL PHRASE

An adverbial phrase is built round an adverb by

adding words before and/or after it, for

example:

The economy recovered very slowly.

They wanted to leave the country as fast as

possible.

MODELING: NOUN PHRASES

Fill-in-the-blanks to create a sentence about Act I

from Romeo & Juliet correctly using a noun phrase

Every year Lord Capulet holds a(n) ____ _______

_______ for which Romeo and his friends plan on

attending, although they were not invited guests.

WED. 05/14 BELL-RINGER: PHRASE PRACTICE (5 MINS)

You try! Write a sentence using a verb

phrase about Act I from Romeo & Juliet.

ADDITIONAL PRACTICE ( 5 M I N U T E S )

With your partner, practice writing sentences using each of the

remaining TWO types of phrases listed on your sheet (adjectival and

adverbial)

Use either the notes you took on Shakespeare or your

understanding of Act I (choose any of the scenes 1-5) of Romeo &

Juliet, to write TWO (2) more sentence.

Note: You will have FOUR (4) samples total, one for each of the

different types of phrases listed on this handout

LEARNING GROUPS

Get back into your Learning Groups• (5 mins.)Take turns sharing out the phrases you

just wrote– make any revisions as necessary • (25 mins) Continue working on completing the

characterization chart for Act I in Romeo & Juliet• While there are SEVEN additional characters

listed for you to analyze, I expect your group to be able to get through at least THREE (3) more characters today

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

In a prepositional phrase the preposition always comes

at the beginning, for example:

I longed to live near the sea.

The dog was hiding under the kitchen table.

• Of course, we also use the word phrase to refer to a short group of words that have a particular meaning when they are used together, such as rain cats and dogs, play for time, or a square meal. This type of phrase is often referred to as an idiom.

APPOSITIVE PHRASES

An appositive is a word placed after another word to explain or identify it.

The appositive always appears after the word it explains or identifies. It is

always a noun or a pronoun, and the word it explains is also a noun or

pronoun.

ex. My uncle, a lawyer, is visiting us.

My teacher, Miss Marshall, is very strict.

An appositive phrase consists of the appositive and its modifiers which may

themselves be phrases.

ex. My radio, an old portable, is in the repair shop.

The boys climbed the mountain, one of the highest in the West.

APPOSITIVE PRACTICE

Identifying Appositive Phrases. Underline the

appositive phrase in each of the following sentences.

1. Our house, a brick bungalow, is on Oak Street.

2. Queen Victoria, one of England's greatest

monarchs, ruled for sixty-three years.

3. Jane made the salad, a tossed one with French

dressing.

YOU TRY!

Write a sentence using an appositive phrase to

describe one of the characters from Shakespeare’s

Romeo & Juliet.