Differences between a phrase, clause and a sentence (1)

Today’s  topic is going to be a bit technical. Although it centres on three common grammatical elements, it involves some technicalities, the type we usually want to as much as possible play down in this class. By the way, what is a phrase? What is a clause? And what is a sentence? Understanding these and their characteristics will help improve your writing.

Apart from the fact that the three concepts work together, their meanings and functions are interwoven. As a result, they can be tricky to define and identify. For instance, a clause and a phrase often combine to form a sentence. Yet, they are distinct grammatical units.

A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a subject and a predicate, with ‘predicate’ referring to the part of a sentence that contains the verb and gives information about the subject. If it has one (subject or predicate), the other will not be present. Remember:  ‘subject’ is the performer of the action in a clause while ‘verb’ is the doing word. Examples of phrases are:

Akin and Gabriel (This is just a subject or object depending on use.)

One of them (A subject or an object)

Inside the house (An adverbial)

Making a chair with bamboo (A phrase with a gerund)

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On the other hand, a clause is an expression/a  group of words with a subject and a predicate. In other words, both must be present for the structure to be called a clause, thus suggesting that a clause has a higher grammatical status than a phrase. Examples are:

Because Akin and Gabriel went there

One of them has left.

They met inside the house.

Credit: Punch Newspapers