Phrases & Clauses

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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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What is a clause?

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A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can express a complete thought (independent clause) or not (dependent clause).

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What is an independent clause?

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An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and 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 contains a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought.

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Example of an independent clause.

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I enjoy reading books.

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Example of a dependent clause.

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Although I enjoy reading books.

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What is a subordinate clause?

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A subordinate clause is another term for a dependent clause; it cannot stand alone as a sentence.

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What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

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A phrase does not have a subject-verb pair and does not express a complete thought, while a clause does have a subject-verb pair.

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What is a compound sentence?

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A compound sentence is a sentence that contains at least two independent clauses joined by a conjunction.

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What is a complex sentence?

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A complex sentence is a sentence that contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.