CliffsQuickReview Writing
Chapter One
PHRASES, CLAUSES,
AND SENTENCES
Chapter Check-In
Recognizing phrases
Identifying independent and subordinate clauses
Understanding sentences
Clauses and phrases are the building blocks of sentences. A phrase is a
group of words that act as a part of speech but cannot stand alone as
a sentence. Clauses are groups of words that have a subject and a predicate.
Independent clauses express a complete thought and can stand alone
as a sentence but subordinate clauses depend on other parts of the sentence
to express a complete thought.
A sentence expresses a complete thought and contains a subject, a noun
or pronoun, and a predicate, a verb or verb phrase. The four basic types
of sentences-simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex-
use phrases and clauses in varying degrees of complexity.
The Phrase
A phrase is any group of related words that, unlike a sentence, has no
subject-predica ... read full excerpt from CliffsQuickReview Writing: Grammar, Usage, and Style ebook
