Grammar: Clauses and Phrases

Grammar: Clauses and PhrasesIn generalClauses and phrases are the building blocks of sentences

Every sentence must have at least one clause to be considered grammatically correctClausesA clause is a subject and predicate working together.

Ex: I took the dog to the park. Ex: I love learning, so I spend a lot of time reading. Independent Clausea group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought.

An independent clause is a sentence.

Example:

Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz.

Dependent Clause a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thoughtA dependent clause cannot be a sentence.

Dependent Clause Example When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz.

Often but not always, a dependent clause starts with a common dependent marker: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

Phrases A phrase is a group of words related to the subject, predicate or object. Phrases do not contain a subject and a predicate Phrases provide additional information about subject/predicate and objects Phrases describes how something is done OR it describes somethingPhrase ExamplesAfter working late into the night, Jack fell asleep on his desk.

I left my keys inside of Whole Foods, my favorite grocery store.