A phrase is a group of words that does not have a subject and verb. A clause, on the other hand, has a subject and verb.
| Category | Example | Type | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phrase | under the fence | Prepositional | Adverbial (indicates location, e.g., “The dog crawled under the fence“) |
| Phrase | around the church | Prepositional | Adverbial (indicates location, e.g., “We walked around the church“) |
| Phrase | running to the store | Gerund | Substantival (acts as a noun, e.g., “Running to the store is tiring”) |
| Phrase | preaching Christ | Participial | Adjectival/Adverbial (e.g., “The pastor, preaching Christ, moved us”) |
| Clause | After we won the race | Dependent (Adverbial) | Modifies main clause (e.g., “After we won the race, we celebrated”) |
| Clause | Before Carl started preaching | Dependent (Adverbial) | Modifies main clause (e.g., “Before Carl started preaching, we prayed”) |
| Clause | I love fish. | Independent | Complete sentence (stands alone) |
Notes:
- Phrases: Groups of words without a subject-verb combination, functioning as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
- Clauses: Groups of words with a subject and verb, either independent(complete sentence) or dependent (modifies a main clause).
In English, there are four basic kinds of phrases;
- gerund (always substantival),
- participle (always adjectival),
- infinitive (can be substantival, adjectival, or adverbial), and
- prepositional phrase (can be adjectival, or adverbial).
The first three are called verbals.