Monday 2 September 2013

Phrase and Clause Comparison

Phrase and Clause


Comparison

 

Definitions

A clause is defined as a group of related words that contains a subject and predicate (verb).
e.g. he came.

A phrase is defined as a group of related words that does not contain a subject and a verb.
e.g. on the table.

Consider the following example.
                He is laughing at a joker.

The above sentence has two parts “he is laughing” and “at a joker”.

The first part of the sentence “he is laughing” is a clause because it has a subject (he) and a predicate (is laughing).
The second part of the sentence “at a joker” is a phrase because it does not contain subject and verb.
The difference  between a clause and a phrase is that a clause consists of both subject and verb, but a phrase lacks a subject and verb.

Examples.
The underlined part of each of following sentences shows a clause, while the rest part (non-underlined) of each sentence shows a phrase.
         He reached school in time.
         I was standing near a wall.
         They are singing in a loud voice.
         She made tea for the guests.
         He a bought a book for his friend.
         I will meet him in my office.
         You look handsome in this picture.

See “Clause” in detail
See “Phrase” in detail

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