UNDERSTANDING  
PHRASES  &  CLAUSES

If sentences are streams of thought, phrases and clauses
are the creeks and underground springs that feed them.
                                                        --Constance Hale in Sin and Syntax

A PHRASE is a group of related words that do not express a complete thought
because either the subject, predicate, or both subject and predicate, are missing.
There are several types:

Noun Phrase: a noun & the words that modify it (adjectives, participles, infinitives, prepositional phrases, etc)

Verb Phrase: a main verb & its helping verbs
(Example: had been running)

Appositive Phrase: a group of words that defines a noun in the sentence (a definition within a sentence).

Prepositional Phrase: a group of words that includes a preposition and its object
(Example: over the lazy dog).

Infinitive Phrase: a group of words that includes the “to” form of a verb, but acts like a noun, adjective or adverb
(Examples:  To err is human; to forgive is divine. John looks too tired to run)

Participial Phrase: the “ing” form of a verb acting like an adjective
(Example: Insisting he’d studied, the student was eager to start the test).

A CLAUSE is a group of words that has a subject and verb, 
although it may or may not be a complete thought.

There are two types:

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE can stand alone as a sentence. (It is a simple sentence)
Example: Kathy runs fast.

A DEPENDENT CLAUSE can not stand alone as a sentence. It needs to link to another clause.
(It is also called a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE: the information in the clause adds details to the main clause, but is not the main idea of the sentence).
Example: Although Kathy runs fast

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