Phrase and Clause

In English grammar, there are five main types of phrases. They are,

• Noun phrase
• Adjective phrase
• Adverb phrase
• Verb phrase
• Prepositional phrase

Other types of phrases include gerund phrase, appositive phrase, participle phrase and infinitive phrase.

A noun phrase is a group of words that have a noun or pronoun. It is used to modify the noun. In other words, it can be said that a noun phrase can function as a subject, an object or a complement in a sentence.

যে সকল phrase, noun এর কাজ করে এবং অন্যান্য noun কে modify করে অথবা নিজেই modified হয় তাদেরকে  noun phrase বলে।

For example:

• My brother’s friend had come to visit him. (Used as a subject)
• Scented candles are my favourite. (Used as a subject)
• The students were asked to find the buried treasure. (Used as an object)

The three types of noun phrase are:

i. Appositive phrase:

It renames another noun in the sentence.

যে noun phrase অন্য একটি noun সম্মন্ধে comma ব্যবহার করে নতুন তথ্য যোগ করে তাকে appositive বলে।

Example:

• Nurul Islam, my favorite English teacher, is doing this assignment for me.

ii. Gerund phrase:

Gerund phrase starts with a gerund.

Gerund (verb + ing) দিয়ে শুরু হওয়া phrase কে gerund phrase বলে।  

Example:

• The ringing of the phone during the prayers in the mosque disturbs me much.

ii. Infinitive phrase:

It has an infinitive (to +the present form of the verb) and modifiers linked to the infinitive.

Infinitive (to+verb) দিয়ে শুরু হওয়া phrase কে infinitive phrase বলে।  

Example:

• I like to take a cup of tea in the morning.

An adjective phrase or an adjectival phrase is a group of words that consists of an adjective. It can be used to complement it. It provides more information about the noun or pronoun in a sentence. In other words, it can be said that it functions just like an adjective in a sentence.

যেসকল phrase বাক্যে adjective এর মত কাজ করে তাদেরকে adjective phrase বলে।

For example:

• Annu has silky, smooth hair.
• People, living in large cities, often find it difficult to reach in time.
• The team that made it to the final was congratulated in front of the whole school.

An adverb phrase or an adverbial phrase is a group of words that includes an adverb and other modifiers. It performs all the functions of an adverb. It can be placed in any part of the sentence, with respect to the part of speech they modify.

যেসকল phrase বাক্যে adverb এর মতো কাজ করে তাদেরকে adverb phrase বলে।

For example:

• We are planning to finish our group project by the end of May.
• Later this evening, my cousins and I have planned to go to the park.
• They saw some abandoned puppies at the corner of the street.

A verb phrase can be used just like a verb. It consists of a main verb and an auxiliary verb.

Verb Phrase বাক্যে finite verb এর কাজ করে। সাধারণত দুই/তিন শব্দ বিশিষ্ট verb কে verb phrase বলা হয়, কিন্তু তারা আসলে verb ই।

For example:

• Students are practising hard in order to participate in the state tournament.
• Aaron has been writing multiplication tables for three hours.
• The dogs have been barking continuously.

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and an object. It works just like an adjective or an adverb. It relates the subject and the verb in a sentence. It is used to modify the nouns and verbs in a particular sentence.

Preposition দিয়ে শুরু হওয়া সব phrase কেই prepositional phrase বলা হয়।

For example:

• It was too hard for me to concentrate with the kids jumping around.
• The jewellery boxes were kept inside the cupboard.
• On the way to New York, we caught sight of the famous Niagara falls.

Conjunctional phrase acts as a conjunction in the sentence. 

বাক্যে conjunction এর কাজ করে যেসকল শব্দসমষ্টি তাদেরকে Conjunctional Phrase বলে।

Example:

• Come here as early as you can.
• He is not only good looking but also smart.

যে phrase বাক্যে interjection এর মত কাজ করে তাকে interjectional phrase বলে।

The phrase that acts like an interjection is called an interjectional phrase.

Example:

• Alas! he died.
• Ah! what a beautiful scenery!

একটি present বা past participle দিয়ে শুরু হওয়া phrase কে Participial Phrase বলে।

The participial phrase has a present or past participle as a headword.

Example:

• Coming to the school, I came to know the matter.

সাধারনত absolute phrase এর একটি subject থাকে কিন্তু কোন finite verb থাকে না। এটি সম্পূর্ণ sentence টিকে মূল্যায়ন করে, শুধু  একটি noun কে নয়।

Absolute Phrase has a subject having no acting verb and modifies the whole sentence, not just the noun.

Example:

• Her arrival for the first time, we all became very happy.

There are some things that you have to remember when using phrases.

• Phrases are just a part of the sentence and cannot stand alone.
• They do not give complete meaning if taken out of context.
• They are mostly used to provide extra information about the subject, object or other components in a sentence.
• There can be more than one phrase in a sentence.
• Make sure that the phrase gives your sentence clarity and does not simply accumulate the sentence with information.

There are two types of Clauses:

1. Independent Clause:
   It is also called a principal clause. It has both a subject and a verb, it can also act as a sentence. These cannot be simply used as nouns, adverbs or adjectives as they act as a sentence.
   Example: She is intelligent.

2. Dependent Clause:
   It is also known as a subordinate clause, it requires an independent clause to provide the complete meaning of the sentence. This dependent clause consists of a verb, subject and a predicate but they cannot act as a sentence instead they need the support of an independent clause.
   Example: He cried because he fell down the stairs.

These can be used as Noun, Adverb, and Adjective as well.

• Noun Clause:
  If a dependent clause acts as a noun then it is known as a noun clause. These can act as subject or verb of the object.
  Example: I think she likes that chocolate cake.

• Adverb Clause:
  If a dependent clause acts as an adverb it is known as an adverb clause. It performs the action of an adverb that modifies the verb or another adverb or adjective.
  Example: I might leave early as I have an important task.

• Adjective Clause:
  If a dependent clause acts as an adjective it is known as an adjective clause. It can qualify a noun or pronoun that is available in the sentence.
  Example: I have borrowed that pen which has blue ink.

Dependent Clause: Types of Clauses with Examples

1. Conditional Clause:
   The clause helps to describe something that is probable or possible. It begins with “if or unless”.
   Example: I will be back home in one hour unless there is heavy traffic.

2. Relative Clauses:
   The relative clause is connected to the main clause by some of the words such as which, that, who, whose, whom, when, or where.
   Example: I visited this place when I was traveling to Switzerland.
   The Relative Clause is further divided into Two Types:
   These are divided based on the usage of the word “that” while introducing the relative clause.

• Restrictive Relative Clauses: It is also called a defining relative clause. It provides required information about the noun which comes before it. In the absence of this clause, the meaning of the sentence is not completed. One should not place a comma before the restrictive clause. Which, whose, that, whom, or who comes under this clause.
  For example, She held the leg which was hurt.

Example: Whom professor John hit in the hand with chalk.

Here ‘whom’ acts as a relative pronoun, professor John acts as the subject and hit acts as a verb. Same as that of the subordinate clause, the adjective clause cannot alone, cannot act as a complete thought, so along with that, the main clause has to be added to provide complete meaning. Adding an adjective clause is a bit tricky, before the usage one must decide if it is essential or nonessential and add the commas as required. The essential adjective clause does not require a comma whereas the nonessential adjective clauses need it.

• A noun clause does not have any particular pattern instead it just acts as a noun.
  Example: I really want to know the ingredients in the cake prepared by your aunt.
  Here the ‘ingredients’ acts as a noun, so here in place of “ingredients” if we add a clause to expand the sentence meaningfully it acts as a noun clause.
  Example: I really want to know what your aunt adds to the cake.

A main clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. A main clause can form a complete sentence all on its own. Main clauses are also often referred to as independent clauses because they don’t need any additional information to make sense. They can stand alone perfectly fine without the support of another clause. They express a complete thought.

Sentences can consist of two main clauses or a main clause and another type of clause. When there is only one main clause and another different type of clause, the second clause depends on the main clause to make sense.

Examples of main clauses include:

• The cat mewed.
• His car broke down at the station.
• The girl laughed loudly.

Another important clause is subordinate (or dependent) clause!

Unlike main clauses, subordinate clauses need a little help to make sense, and they are also often referred to as dependent clauses. A subordinate clause is a clause that can’t stand alone as a complete sentence, even though it contains a subject and a verb. It doesn’t contain a complete thought as a main clause does. It has to be linked to the main clause using a subordinating conjunction.

Examples of subordinate clause include:

• Sitting happily, the chicken laid eggs.
• The chicken, who was busy laying eggs, sat happily.
• Looking over the hill, she sighed wistfully.
• She sighed wistfully, looking over the hill.
• The girl, who was looking over the hill, sighed wistfully.

‘Sitting happily’ is a subordinate clause because it’s not a complete thought. It needs the main clause, ‘the chicken laid eggs’, to make any sense to the reader.

A coordinate clause is made when you connect two independent clauses that are of equal importance. These clauses are connected by coordinating conjunctions. Similar to subordinate clauses, coordinate clauses also combine two sentences, so it can be difficult to get the difference between them right.

A good way to remember the difference between the two is to first think of the meaning of ‘coordinate’. To coordinate means to work together on equal standing. A coordinate clause contains two sentences with equal importance. So, just remember that in a coordinate clause, the two sentences are working together as a team to make one coordinate clause.

Examples of coordinate clauses include:

• He wanted to go to the beach, but it started raining.
• You can feed the dog, or you can wash the dishes.
• They have homework to do, yet they keep putting it off.

These two clauses are connected by a coordinating conjunction.

• I like chocolate and I like sweets.

Both ‘I like chocolate’ and ‘I like sweets’ are main clauses that can make sense independently. They’ve been joined together by the coordinating conjunction, ‘and’, to make coordinate clauses.

An adjective clause begins with a relative pronoun (such as whom, whose, which, or that) or a relative adverb (when, where, or why). This type of clause includes a relative pronoun or adverb alongside a subject and / or a verb. Similar to a subordinate clause, an adjective clause is a dependent clause because it relies on the rest of the sentence to make sense.

A good tip for remembering how to spot an adjective clause is to watch out for certain words. The only words that can be used to introduce an adjective clause are relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, which or that) and subordinating conjunctions (when and where).

Examples of adjective clauses include:

• The girl who has short hair is laughing.
• The book which has the dragon on the cover is my favourite.
• The stray cat that I pet sometimes is friendly.
• Those people whose names are on the list will go to camp.

Similar to a subordinate clause, an adjective clause is a dependent clause because it relies on the rest of the sentence to make sense. The phrase ‘whose names are on the list’ isn’t a complete thought, so it wouldn’t make sense all on its own.

A noun clause is any clause that works in the same way as a noun. In other words, you could replace the clause with a noun, and it would still make sense. Noun clauses act in the same way as a noun or pronoun. It contains a subject and a verb, but not a complete thought, so it can’t stand as its own sentence. A noun clause starts with a pronoun or a subordinating conjunction.

Here are some examples of noun clauses.

• Do you know what you’re going to wear?
• Do you know what dress to wear?
• Do you know where the café is?
• The café where I work is just over there.

An adverb clause is a dependent clause that doesn’t make sense on its own. It relies on an independent clause to make sense. This is why they’re sometimes called dependent adverb clauses. An adverb clause offers a description and modifies the sentence, similar to how an adverb does. It contains a subject and a verb, but it doesn’t express a complete thought.

Examples of adverb clauses include:

• She walked slowly.
• She walked like an old lady.
• She walked as if she were heading to the gallows.

We’ve learned ‘what is a clause’ and we’ve discovered some of the different types of clause.

Now we will learn how to actually identify the clause in a sentence.

There are many simple ways that you can identify different types of clause in a sentence through its structure and choice of nouns, adjectives and connectives. Read this simple breakdown how to identify a clause.

• Noun clause: To identify whether a dependent clause is a noun clause, see if you can replace the clause with a pronoun (he/she/it/them) or noun.
• Adjective clause/relative clause: An adjective clause takes the place of an adjective in a clause or phrase. It acts just like an adjective by describing a noun or pronoun. It’s also known as a relative clause.
• Adverb clause: An adverb clause is a dependent clause that doesn’t make sense on its own. It relies on another, independent clause to make sense. This is why they’re sometimes called dependent adverb clauses, too. You can spot an adverb clause as it answers the question of how, when, where and why something happened. It gives an explanation for the independent clause and provides more detail and information.