A phrase has a subject and a verb, so it can stand alone as an independent unit.

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or a pronoun.

The italic portion of the following sentence is a prepositional phrase: Frisky, my loyal Irish setter, can always sense when I’m upset.

An adjectival phrase describes a noun or a pronoun.

To find out if a prepositional phrase serves as an adjectival phrase, see if it answers these questions: “In what manner?” or “To what extent?”

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as an adjective phrase: The fireworks continued late into the night.

Adverbial phrases describe a verb, an adjective, or adverb.

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as an adverbial phrase: The Little League team competed in the local arena.

A clause is a noun or a pronoun that renames another noun or pronoun.

A verbal is a verb form used as another part of speech.

Verbals are the same as appositives.

The italic phrase in the following sentence is an infinitive: Why did the chicken cross the road? To Ernest Hemingway: To die. In the rain.

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as an adjectival clause: I met a woman who works with your uncle.

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as an adjectival clause: Whenever he travels, Steve collects souvenirs.

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as an adverbial clause: He ran as if he had a torn ligament.

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as an adverbial clause: Whomever you hire must speak Spanish.

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as a noun clause: The big question is whether she will be able to attend the meeting.

The italic portion of the following sentence is functioning as an independent clause: Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?

There are two types of clauses: independent clauses and verbal clauses.

Independent clauses are also called relative clauses.

All dependent clauses are subordinate clauses.

The following word group is a (dependent, independent) clause: If the no. 2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still no. 2?

The following italic word group is a (dependent, independent) clause: If most car accidents occur within 5 miles of home, why doesn’t everyone just move 10 miles away?

As with adverbs, an adverb clause answers these questions: Where? Why? When? (In what manner? What kind?).