Phrases and Clauses

A clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb and can act as a sentence on their own.

Example: He sang the song.

This contains a subject (he) and a verb (sang)

He laughed.

The guests arrived.

A phrase is a group of words that form part of a sentence. It does not contain a subject and a verb.

Example: With joy and happiness, he sand the song.

This does not contain a verb

on the table

under the tree

The big boy

The man at the door

Note that both the clause and the phrase may exist in the same sentence.

Example:

He is sleeping on the bed.

He is sleeping is a clause because it contains a subject (he) and a verb (sleeping)

on the bed is a phrase because it does not contain a subject and a verb.

Look at the sentence below.

Ramesh fell into the pool, with his ice cream in his hands.

Which part is the clause and why?

Identify the subject and the verb in the clause.

Ramesh fell into the pool, with his ice cream in his hands.

Ramesh fell into the pool is the clause.

This is because it contains a subject (Ramesh) and a verb (fell)

Look at the sentence below:

The boy crept down the stairs as quietly as possible.

Is the underlined part a clause or a phrase and why?

as quietly as possible.

This is a phrase because it does not contain a subject and a verb.

The boy crept down the stairs as quietly as possible.

The underline part of the sentence, tells us how the boy crept.

This means it is modifying or describing the verb crept. Any word that describes a verb is an adverb.

However, in this case we have a group of words (phrase) that is describing or modifying the verb.

We call this an adverbial phrase.

Consider the following:

Hiding under the table, the cat surprised the mouse.

The king looked so calm and quiet at the festival grounds.

The underlined part is phrase because it does not contain a subject and a verb.

It is playing the role of an adjective because it is describing the noun - King.

This means it is a adjective phrase or an adjectival phrase.