Question

what is the simplest way to understand clauses and phrases? Im not understanding the topic.

Answer 1

Answer:

A clause contains only one subject and one verb.

I graduated last year. (One clause sentence)

When I came here, I saw him. (Two clause sentence)

When I came here, I saw him, and he greeted me. (Three clause sentence)

there are two types of clauses

independent and dependent

independent clause means the clause on their own can make sense but they can be joined to another clause using coordinators: and, but, so, or, nor etc

example: 'I want to buy a phone'- this clause makes sense own it's own

and 'I don’t have enough money.' this also makes sense on its own but if you would like they can be joined together like:

I want to buy a phone, but I don’t have enough money.

so basically the two clauses can exist on their own

dependent clause

A dependent clause cannot function on its own because it leaves an idea or thought unfinished speech or thought.

example:'When I was dating Daina' if you use this as an independent clause it would not make sense as there will still remain a thought in the readers minds 'what happened when you were dating Diana.' so this clause can't exist on its own you need to add another clause which will clear the reader question

'When I was dating Daina, I had an accident.'

A phrase does not contain a subject and verb and, consequently, cannot convey a complete thought.

My cousin Janet - was eating - cream cakes from the bakery - during the week.

these are phrases of a sentence it does not contain subjects and verbs together.

hopefully, this helps if not you can always find many videos online which you can refer to.