Elements of a Sentence : Phrases and Clauses

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What is a clause?

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A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can be independent (able to stand alone) or dependent (cannot stand alone).

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What is an independent clause?

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An independent clause is a group of words that can stand alone as a sentence. It expresses a complete thought.

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What is a dependent clause?

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A dependent clause is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a sentence. It does not express a complete thought and usually begins with a subordinating conjunction.

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What is a phrase?

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

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Identify the predicate in the sentence: 'The dog barks loudly.'

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The predicate is 'barks loudly.' It tells what the subject (the dog) does.

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Identify the subject in the sentence: 'The cat chased the mouse.'

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The subject is 'The cat.' It tells who or what the sentence is about.

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What is the function of a subject in a sentence?

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The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something.

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What is the function of a predicate in a sentence?

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The predicate of a sentence tells what the subject does or is. It includes the verb and any objects or modifiers.

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What is an example of a dependent clause?

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An example of a dependent clause is 'because I was tired.' It cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.

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What is an example of an independent clause?

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An example of an independent clause is 'I went to the store.' It can stand alone as a complete sentence.