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Phrases, Clauses and Sentences

This document discusses phrases, clauses, and sentences. [1] Phrases contain words that have meaning together but lack a subject and verb. There are several types of phrases including prepositional, noun, verb, adjective, and adverb phrases. [2] Clauses contain both a subject and a verb and can either be independent main clauses that stand alone, or subordinate dependent clauses that need another clause. [3] Sentences are groups of words that express a complete thought with at least one main clause and can be simple with one clause, compound with multiple main clauses, or complex with main and subordinate clauses.

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Valeria Alvarez
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3K views5 pages

Phrases, Clauses and Sentences

This document discusses phrases, clauses, and sentences. [1] Phrases contain words that have meaning together but lack a subject and verb. There are several types of phrases including prepositional, noun, verb, adjective, and adverb phrases. [2] Clauses contain both a subject and a verb and can either be independent main clauses that stand alone, or subordinate dependent clauses that need another clause. [3] Sentences are groups of words that express a complete thought with at least one main clause and can be simple with one clause, compound with multiple main clauses, or complex with main and subordinate clauses.

Uploaded by

Valeria Alvarez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SENTENCES, PHRASES, AND CLAUSES

In this document, we are going to learn about phrases, clauses and sentences,
their definition, characteristics and uses, but most importantly, we are going to use
everyday examples to understand the difference between these three.

 PHRASES

Phrases are a group of words that are put together and have a meaning, but these
don’t have subject or verb, and this is one of their main characteristics. This
phrases function as a unit, working as a one part of speech. Phrases cannot stand
on its own, that means that they need more information to make sense. In English
grammar there are different types of phrases:

1. Prepositional phrase: They begin with a preposition and precedes a noun


or a pronoun or something which acts as a noun or a pronoun. Some
examples that we tend to use a lot are: at the moment, in fact, at least, as
soon as possible.
2. Noun phrase: This is a phrase that acts as a noun in a sentence and they
are built around a single noun. Some examples are: a nice day, my
personal computer, your young sister.
3. Verb phrase: This phrase will contain a main verb and one or more helping
verb. Here we have some examples: have been chosen, will be going, might
have stayed.
4. Adjective phrase: A group of words built around a single adjective, for
example we have: incredibly beautiful, super amazing, the most intelligent.
5. Adverb phrase: This consists of a group of words built around a single
adverb, for example: right now, super quickly, inside the room.

We also can find phrases with verbals, which are gerunds, participial and
infinitives:

6. Gerund phrases: These are formed from verbs, but function as nouns.
They end in –ing. Here we have some examples: swimming in the pool it’s
the only activity I can do, flying high must be really scary.

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7. Participial phrases: They act as adjectives, and they end in -ing, -d, -t, or –
n. Some examples are: I have a broken glass inside my bedroom. Outside
it’s super cold because of the freezing air.
8. Infinitive phrases: Finally, infinitives act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
They begin with to + a verb. Some examples: If you want to see your friends
again you have to stay inside your house. Please, they need to give me
back my money.

 CLAUSES
A clause is also a group of words but this group must contain the subject and a
predicate. A clause is that part of a sentence that contains the subject and the
predicate, a clause creates a complete thought and sometimes can stand alone
(independent clause). In English grammar there are two types of clauses.
1. Main or Independent Clause: The main clause is that part of a sentence
that not only contains the subject and the predicate but also makes perfect
sense if we take it out of the sentence. In other words this sentence can
stand on its own doesn’t need another clause to make sense. Here we have
some examples.
 My dog is eating his food.
 My sister isn’t coming this weekend.
 The neighbor has only one car.
2. Subordinate or Dependent Clause: A subordinate or a dependent clause
must also contain the subject and the predicate. The only condition is that
these kinds of clauses won’t make proper sense without another clause.
That means that they need another clause to complete its meaning. For
example.
 When I arrived home, my dog was eating his food.
 My sister isn’t coming this weekend because of the coronavirus outbreak
happening all around the world.
 If I finish my homework today, I will have more free time this week.

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 SENTENCE

A sentence is made of a group of words and expresses a complete thought. A


sentence consists of a subject, a verb and a predicate. Generally, sentences begin
with a capital letter and end with a full stop, an exclamation mark or a question
mark. In English grammar, a sentence must contain at least one main clause. Now
let’s look at the classification of sentences based on their structure:

1. Simple sentences: These have only one main clause. (One clause)
Examples:
 I slept at 4 am last night.
 My mom made the breakfast today.
 My dad has to go to work.

2. Compound sentences: these have two or more main clauses, joined by a


coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). (Two or more main clauses)
Examples:
 Ana left her dog inside her bedroom, so he doesn’t break something.
 Today I woke up early, but I really want to take a nap.
 The kid doesn’t like to drink milk, nor does she like water.

3. Complex sentences: these sentences have a main clause and one or more
subordinate clauses, introduced by a subordinating conjunction. (two or
more main and sub clauses)
Examples:
 I have been working really hard on my classes, so I’ll get paid if I
keep with the job.
 They told me to let you know that if you have any questions, you can
ask me anytime.
 My best friend and I are going to have an online conversation, since
we can’t meet in person if this pandemic continues.

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Finally, I found online a nice illustrative picture about the difference between
phrase, clause and sentence, and the hierarchy they have in order to have a better
understanding about them. I annex the picture down below.

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References

 Brien, E. O'. (s.f.). English Phrases: Everything You Need to Know. Retrieved April 27th 2020,
from https://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/english-phrases.html
 Cambridge Dictionary. (2020). Sentences - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary.
Retrieved April, 27th, 2020 from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/es-LA/grammar/british-
grammar/sentences
 Mack, E. (2015, September 30). Identifying Phrases and Clauses. Retrieved from
https://writingcenterunderground.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/identifying-phrases-and-
clauses/
 Toppr. (2019, November 22). Phrases, Clauses and Sentence Structure: Definition,
Concepts, Examples. Retrieved from https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-
correspondence-and-reporting/sentence-types-and-word-power/phrases-clauses-
sentences/

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