Peter Mangiaracina.

This presentation explains the difference between phrases, clauses, and sentences. It introduces prepositional, gerund, and infinitive phrases, then shows how main and subordinate clauses fit together. Examples progress from a sentence with one clause to sentences with several clauses.

The final diagrams break sentences into their grammatical parts. They show how phrases add information or act as a subject, and how a subordinate clause depends on a main clause. Recognizing these parts helps you understand how an English sentence is built.

Important points

• A phrase is a group of words without its own subject and finite verb combination.
• A basic clause normally contains a subject and a finite verb.
• A main or independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence.
• A subordinate or dependent clause needs a main clause.
• A sentence can contain one clause or several clauses, as well as phrases.
• A gerund phrase can act as the subject: in “Driving at night is dangerous,” “Driving at night” is the subject and “is dangerous” is the predicate.

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