Phrases and Clauses

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What is a phrase?

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A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a subject-verb pair and does not express a complete thought.

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What is a clause?

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A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can express a complete thought (independent clause) or an incomplete thought (dependent clause).

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What is an independent clause?

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An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence because it expresses a complete thought.

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What is a dependent clause?

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A dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not express a complete thought.

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Can a phrase contain a subject and a verb?

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No, a phrase cannot contain both a subject and a verb that work together to express a complete thought.

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What is an example of a phrase?

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An example of a phrase is 'the emergency drill yesterday'.

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What is an example of an independent clause?

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An example of an independent clause is 'the boys participated in the mindfulness exercise'.

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What is an example of a dependent clause?

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An example of a dependent clause is 'because classes were suspended for a week'.

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How can you identify a dependent clause?

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A dependent clause often begins with a subordinating conjunction (e.g., because, although, since) and cannot stand alone.

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How can you identify an independent clause?

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An independent clause has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought, allowing it to stand alone.