Phrases and Clauses

Front

What is a phrase?

Back

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

Front

What is a clause?

Back

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can be independent (expresses a complete thought) or dependent (does not express a complete thought).

Front

What is an independent clause?

Back

An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.

Front

What is a dependent clause?

Back

A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought.

Front

Example of a phrase:

Back

"under the bed" is a phrase because it does not have a subject-verb pair.

Front

Example of an independent clause:

Back

"She loves to read" is an independent clause because it has a subject (She) and a verb (loves) and expresses a complete thought.

Front

Example of a dependent clause:

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"Although it was raining" is a dependent clause because it has a subject (it) and a verb (was) but does not express a complete thought.

Front

What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

Back

A phrase does not have a subject-verb pair and does not express a complete thought, while a clause has a subject and a verb and can express a complete thought (independent clause) or not (dependent clause).

Front

Identify the type of the following: "When we lost the game"

Back

This is a dependent clause.

Front

Identify the type of the following: "I study hard"

Back

This is an independent clause.