Phrases & Clauses

A phrase is a group of words that is missing a subject, a verb, or both. Phrases add extra information to sentences, but they cannot stand alone as complete thoughts. "On the dusty shelf" is a phrase. It paints a picture, but it does not tell you who did what.

A clause is a group of words that has both a subject and a verb. There are two main kinds. An independent clause is a complete thought that can stand alone as a sentence, like "the cat slept all afternoon". A dependent clause also has a subject and a verb, but it cannot stand alone. "Because the cat was tired" leaves you hanging. Because the cat was tired, what happened? It needs to join an independent clause to finish the idea.

Find the subject and the verb first. If a group of words has both and makes sense alone, it is an independent clause. If it has both but starts with a word like because, although, or when, it is a dependent clause. If it is missing a subject or a verb, it is a phrase.

A phrase is a group of words that works together as one part of speech. A phrase cannot stand alone as a sentence, but inside a sentence it does a real job.

Every phrase has a head, which is the main word it is built around. All the other words in the phrase give more information about that head word. The head tells you what kind of phrase you have. The head of a noun phrase is a noun, like "the old bridge". The head of a verb phrase is a verb.

Phrases can also act like adjectives or adverbs. An adjective phrase describes a noun. In "the house on the hill", the phrase "on the hill" acts like an adjective because it tells you more about the house. An adverb phrase describes a verb. In "she ran across the field", the phrase "across the field" acts like an adverb because it tells you more about the running.

So when you meet a phrase, ask two questions. What is its head word? And what word in the sentence is it describing? Those two answers tell you exactly how the phrase is working.

A phrase is a group of words that works together as a single part of speech. Unlike a clause, a phrase does not have both a subject and a verb. Two very useful kinds of phrase are adjectival phrases and adverbial phrases.

An adjectival phrase does the job of an adjective: it describes a noun. It answers questions like "which one?" or "what kind?". In "the house on the hill is for sale", the phrase "on the hill" describes the noun "house". It tells you which house. Prepositional phrases often work this way when they sit right after a noun.

An adverbial phrase does the job of an adverb: it describes a verb. It answers questions like "where?", "when?", or "how?". In "she ran across the field", the phrase "across the field" describes the verb "ran". It tells you where she ran.

The same kind of phrase can switch jobs depending on the sentence. The trick is to look at what it describes. Describing a noun means adjectival. Describing a verb means adverbial. Once you spot what the phrase is talking about, you will always know which job it is doing.

A dependent clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb that cannot stand alone as a sentence. To make a complete sentence, it must attach to an independent clause, which is a complete thought that can stand alone.

Three useful types of dependent clause are noun clauses, relative clauses, and adverbial clauses. A noun clause does the job of a noun. In "What you said surprised me", the clause "what you said" is the thing doing the surprising. A relative clause describes a noun and usually starts with a relative pronoun like who, which, or that. In "the dog that lives next door", the clause "that lives next door" tells you which dog. An adverbial clause describes a verb and answers when, where, why, or how. In "we cheered when the race began", the clause "when the race began" tells you when we cheered.

To tell these apart, find the clause first, then ask what job it does for the rest of the sentence. Naming something, describing a noun, or describing a verb: that job gives the clause its name.

A modifier is a word or phrase that gives more information about a noun. Adjectives are simple modifiers, but phrases and clauses can be modifiers too.

Two rules keep modifiers well behaved. A modifier must describe a specific noun in the sentence, and it should sit as close as possible to that noun. When a modifier drifts too far away, the sentence can say something silly by accident. Look at this: "Running down the street, the backpack bounced on my shoulders." The modifier "running down the street" sits next to "the backpack", so it sounds like the backpack was running. The modifier is dangling because the person it should describe, "I", is missing from the sentence.

Fix it by putting the right noun next to the modifier: "Running down the street, I felt the backpack bounce on my shoulders." Now the modifier describes "I", and the meaning is clear. Always ask: who or what is this phrase really describing, and is that noun right beside it?