Phrase vs Clause: What's the difference?

Every sentence is constructed of clauses and/or phrases, but sometimes it can be tricky
to tell the difference between a phrase and a clause.

Both phrases and clauses contain groups of two or more words and help us to make
sentences, but they both have different roles. To help us understand the difference
between them, we should define them both individually first.

 A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.

 A phrase is a group of words, but it doesn't contain a subject and a verb.

A sentence can exist as a single clause, but a single phrase can't make up a sentence.
Phrases add meaning to sentences but they can't create a sentence on their own.

Clauses, on the other hand, are necessary. Removing a clause from a sentence may
affect the understanding.

Phrase, Clause, Sentence: Differences Between Them

Along with phrases and clauses, the meaning of a 'sentence' can also be confused.
They all work together to create meaning, but identifying the individual components is
what's difficult.

An easy way to remember the difference between a phrase and a clause is to

remember the building blocks of a sentence. A clause contains phrases and a sentence
contains clauses. So, to make a sentence, the building blocks would go in this order:

phrase → clause → sentence.

The big clock → The big clock chimed → The big clock chimed when the hand struck
midnight.

A phrase is a group of words that can't stand alone as a sentence. It's a key part of the
clause and the overall sentence (it's the subject of it) but it can't make sense as it is.

Things get a little confusing with a main (or independent) clause. In this example, 'The
big clock chimed' is both a clause and a sentence in its own right. It contains a subject
and a verb.

The final, extended sentence contains phrases and clauses. This is what makes it a
sentence.

There are four main types of sentence which each contain a varying number of clauses
and phrases: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences.
 Remember that a sentence (no matter whether it's simple or compound-complex) is a
complete thought that has been fully punctuated. It should start with a capital letter and
end with some type of punctuation, whether that's a full stop, exclamation mark,
question mark or ellipses.

How to Identify a Phrase or a Clause

The quickest way to identify whether a group of words is a phrase or a clause is to look
for both a subject and a verb. If you can find both, then it's a clause. If you can only find
one or the other, then it's a phrase. Here's a simple example to analyse:

 White and raspberry chocolate is delicious.

The whole sentence itself is a clause (a main clause to be exact), but a part of the
clause is a phrase.

'White and raspberry chocolate' doesn't contain a verb - it's just the subject. That means
it's a phrase. However, there are many types of phrases and clauses, which is what
makes telling the difference difficult.

Learning how to know if it's a phrase or a clause takes practice. The best way to learn is
to practise looking at groups of words and analysing the different parts to find out
whether it's a phrase or a clause.

How do you turn phrases into clauses?

Turning phrases into clauses is the first step for making a full sentence.

To turn phrases into clauses, you need to add a subject and a verb to the phrase to give
it meaning.

Let's start with a phrase - a group of words that lacks a subject and a verb.

The phrase 'in the forest' doesn't contain a subject or a verb. This means it's a phrase.

Now, we need a subject to be the main focus of the clause. Subjects of a sentence will
be something such as a person, place, animal or thing. Let's say the subject of this
clause will be 'a group of deer'.

Finally, we need to add a verb - an action that the 'group of deer' will carry out. The verb
we'll use for this clause is 'live'.

Let's put them all together:

 'A group of deer live in the forest.'

 This has created a main (or independent) clause.

Once your clause is created, you should decide whether it's a main clause or a
subordinate clause - do you need to add a second clause for it to make sense?

So, to turn phrases into clauses, remember this simple method:

 Phrase → add subject → add verb.

Types of Clauses
Clauses are the main part of a sentence. Without a clause, a sentence is just a group of
words which don't have any meaning on their own. In other words, it would just be a
phrase.

There are, however, some clauses that can't stand on their own as sentences. This is
why it can sometimes be difficult to understand phrases vs clauses.

Here are the main types of clauses:

Independent Clause / Main Clause

An independent clause is a complete sentence - it's a complete thought that makes
sense on its own. It can also be called a main clause because it makes up the main part
of a sentence.

 I love chocolate chip cookies.

Dependent Clause
Dependent clauses are often the reason why phrases and clauses get confused.

Dependent clauses, also known as subordinate clauses, depend on the independent

clause to make sense. While they have a subject and a verb, they don't express a
complete thought. They need to be connected to the independent clause with a
subordinating or coordinating conjunction.

There are various types of dependent clauses, including:

Relative
A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, which, that).

 He knew instantly whose voice had called out to him.

Noun
A noun clause acts like a noun within a sentence. Unlike a noun phrase, it includes a
subject and a verb.
 She was deeply moved by what she had watched.

Adjective
An adjective clause acts like an adjective - it describes a noun by using a subject and a
verb.

 The dress that you bought for me fits perfectly.

Adverbial
An adverbial clause modifies the verb in a sentence and acts like an adverb. They
always start with a subordinating conjunction.

 I walk my dog until she gets tired.