Phrases and Clauses

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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 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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Example of an independent clause?

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"She enjoys reading books." This clause can stand alone as a complete sentence.

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Example of a dependent clause?

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"Although she enjoys reading books," this clause cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.

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What is a noun clause?

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A noun clause is a dependent clause that acts as a noun in a sentence. For example, "What you said was surprising."

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What is an adjective clause?

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An adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun. For example, "The book that I borrowed was interesting."

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What is an adverb clause?

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An adverb clause is a dependent clause that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb. For example, "She sings beautifully because she practices daily."

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Identify the clause: "When the rain stops, we will go outside."

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"When the rain stops" is a dependent clause.

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Identify the phrase: "in the morning"

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"in the morning" is a prepositional phrase.

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What is a prepositional phrase?

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A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun. For example, "under the table."