Phrase and Clause

PHRASE

A phrase is a unit of grammar. A phrase may consist of one word or more than one word.

There are 5 kinds of phrase in English

1. Noun phrase

Noun phrase generally has a noun (or pronoun) as its main word.

e.g.: My new car near the door is cost a lot.

2. Verb phrase

Verb phrase generally has a main verb as its main word.

e.g. : The store has been closed

3. Prepositional phrase

Prepositional phrase is a phrase which has a preposition as its first word.

e.g. Betty put the gadget on her desk last time.

4. Adjective phrase

Adjective phrase is a phrase which has an adjective as its first main word.

e.g. The girl with long hair is my friend

5. Adverb phrase

Adverb phrase is a phrase which has an adverb as its main word

e.g. He comes here as quickly as possible

CLAUSE

Clause is a building of words which consist of subject and predicate. Usually a sentence contains at least one main clause or it may also contain subordinate clause.

Main clauses are divided into these types:

1. Statements

e.g. We are unlucky

2. Questions

e.g. Where have you been?

3. Imperatives

e.g. Don’t be shy

4. Exclamations

e.g. What a naïve guy he is!

Subordinate clauses

1. Adverbial clause is a subordinate clause which explains the verb.

e.g. He came here when the bell rang

2. Comment clause is a small clause which adds a comment to what is said in the MAIN CLAUSE or in the rest of the sentence

e.g. She will not come back, I guess

3. Noun clause is a clause which is used as noun. There are 4 kinds of noun clause in English:

a. That-clause. E.g. no one says that you are ugly

b. 5W 1H-clause. E.g. What I know is she is going out with him

c. infinitive clause. E.g. Our mission is to catch the thief as soon as possible

d. –ing clause. E.g. They must be in trouble of reading that forbidden book.

4. Relative clause is same as like adjective clause which is used relative pronoun

e.g. the man who calls me is my former husband