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    Writing Center: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

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    STANLEY RAYEN
    The document discusses the differences between phrases, clauses, and sentences. It defines phrases as groups of words without a subject and verb, and clauses as groups of words with a subject and verb. It identifies two types of clauses - dependent clauses which cannot stand alone and independent clauses which can. It also discusses the four criteria that define a sentence and the different types of sentences.

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    Writing Center: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

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    STANLEY RAYEN
    44 views2 pages
    The document discusses the differences between phrases, clauses, and sentences. It defines phrases as groups of words without a subject and verb, and clauses as groups of words with a subject and verb. It identifies two types of clauses - dependent clauses which cannot stand alone and independent clauses which can. It also discusses the four criteria that define a sentence and the different types of sentences.

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    The document discusses the differences between phrases, clauses, and sentences. It defines phrases as groups of words without a subject and verb, and clauses as groups of words with a subject and verb. It identifies two types of clauses - dependent clauses which cannot stand alone and independent clauses which can. It also discusses the four criteria that define a sentence and the different types of sentences.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    44 views2 pages

    Writing Center: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

    Uploaded by

    STANLEY RAYEN
    The document discusses the differences between phrases, clauses, and sentences. It defines phrases as groups of words without a subject and verb, and clauses as groups of words with a subject and verb. It identifies two types of clauses - dependent clauses which cannot stand alone and independent clauses which can. It also discusses the four criteria that define a sentence and the different types of sentences.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Writing Center

    Tidewater Community College


    Phone: 757-822-7170
    Fax: 757-427-0327
    http://www.tcc.edu/writing

    PHRASES, CLAUSES, AND SENTENCES


    In order to structure your sentences accurately, you should know the difference
    between phrases and clauses, and you should be able to recognize two types of clasues.

    Phrases

    A phrase is a group of related words without a subject or a verb or both. A


    phrase may be part of a sentence but may not be used as a whole sentence.

    Examples of Phrases
    walking to school
    eating pasta with marinara sauce
    will be found
    the old tennis shoe

    Clauses

    A clause is a group of related words with a subject-verb group. Every subject-


    verb group is a clause. There are two types of clauses.
    Dependent or Subordinate Clauses
    A Dependent (subordinate) clause is characterized by the presence of a
    dependent clause signal word known as a subordinator. The subordinator makes the
    clause unable to stand alone in meaning. A dependent clause by itself cannot be
    considered a sentence.
    Examples of Dependent (Subordinate) Clauses
    although cheese is his favorite food
    after she washed her hair
    because class was canceled
    which was a relief
    Independent or Main Clauses
    An Independent (main) clause is characterized by the absence of a dependent
    clause signal word. Every sentence must contain at least one independent clause.
    Sentences may contain more than one independent clause and may contain one or more
    dependent clause.
    Examples of Independent (main) clauses
    Bonnie is wearing a new red hat. (one independent clause)
    The puppy was cute, but we did not buy him. (two independent clauses)
    After the wreck, he bought a new car. (one dependent and one independent)

    Sentences

    Note that English sentences are characterized by four criteria:


    1. Capitalization of the first letter of the sentence
    2. Terminal punctuation at the end: period, exclamation point, or question mark
    3. At least one independent (main) clause
    4. Expression of a complete thought

    Types of Sentences

    Simple: one independent (main) clause


    The kitten was white.

    Compound: two or more independent (main) clauses


    The puppy was cute, but we did not buy it.
    The puppy was cute; we did not buy it.

    Complex: one independent (main) clause and one or more dependent


    (subordinate) clauses
    We did not buy the puppy because we had no money.
    Because we had no money, we did not buy the puppy that we saw in the
    pet shop.
    The puppy that we wanted was a Border terrier.

    Compound-complex: two or more independent (main) clauses and one or more


    dependent (subordinate) clauses
    The puppy was cute, but we did not buy it because we had no money;
    however, we could afford a less expensive kitten.

    Although everybody in the family wanted a pet, we could not afford to


    buy the cute puppy that we saw at the pet shop; we agreed, however, to
    buy a kitten.

    Copyright for this document is held by the Writing Center and Grammar Hotline of Tidewater Community College,
    Virginia Beach Campus. It has been written, revised, and/or edited by staff paid to perform that work for the college;
    therefore, the rights are retained by the college. 9/22/04

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