Phrases are different than clauses because phrases DO NOT include both a noun and a verb. We will describe five different types of phrases: prepositional, participle, gerund, infinitive, and appositive. (Participle, gerund, and infinitive are considered verbal phrases because they have a verb.) Then we will discuss independent and subordinate (dependent) clauses. At end, we will discuss the four sentence types: simple, complex, compound, and compound-complex.
Phrases
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Prepositional
Prepositional phrases have a preposition. (If you’re not sure what a preposition is, watch this School House Rock video.) If a prepositional phrase is taken out of the sentence, the sentence is still a complete sentence.
- The blue car with the owl logo is mine.
- In the afternoon I work with a tutor.
Adjective Prepositional
Adjective prepositional phrases begin with a preposition and describe noun or a pronoun.
- My friend makes films about school.
Adverb Prepositional
Adverb prepositional phrases begin with a preposition and describe a verb or an adverb.
- After the 1800s, they ruled Japan.
Online Quizzes
Prepositions of Time Online Test (in/on/at)
Prepositions of Place Test (in/on/at)
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Participle
Participle phrases have a word that ends with -ed or -ing. They function as an comma. If they are taken out of the sentence, the sentence is still a complete sentence.
- Encouraged by his family, he walked across the stage of his high school graduation.
- Listening to the teacher, Dillon wondered how she knew so much.
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Gerund
Gerund phrases are words that end with -ing. They function as nouns. If they are taken out of sentences, the sentence will no longer be complete.
- Swimming quickly is fun!
- He always loved studying.
- She has given camping a fair try.
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Infinitive
Infinitive phrases are made up of the word to followed by a verb. They are necessary to make sentence complete.
- To read was her goal as a child.
- To finish early is his goal.
- I love to do math!
- Do you find grammar difficult to understand?
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Appositive
Appositive phrases work like adjectives and have commas on either side of them. They usually begin with an article (a, an, the).
- One eighth grader, the tallest kid in school, was taller than his teacher.
- Shel Silverstein, a great poet, wrote books too.
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Phrases Summary
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Clauses
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Independent
Independent clauses have a subject and verb. They express a complete thought.
- Marci likes apples.
- Danny read the chapter.
- Grace accepted it.
- The test was on Monday.
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Subordinate
Subordinate clauses also have a subject and a verb, but they begin with a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun. They do not express a complete thought.
- because Marci likes apples
- after Danny read the chapter
- which Grace accepted
- that the test was on Monday
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Sentences
Simple
Simple sentences have one independent clause. They do not have any subordinate clauses.
- Marci likes apples.
- Danny read the chapter.
- Grace accepted it.
- The test was on Monday.
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Complex
Complex sentences have one independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
- Because she likes fruit, Marci likes apples.
- After Danny read the chapter, he did his math homework.
- There was a test on Monday, which Grace accepted.
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Compound
Compound sentences have two or more independent clauses. They are basically simple sentences put together. They do not have any subordinate clauses.
- Marci likes apples, or she likes pears.
- Danny read the chapter, but he forgot to take notes.
- There was a test on Monday, and Grace accepted it.
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Compound-Complex
Compound-complex sentences have two or more independent clauses and one or more subordinate clause.
- Because she likes all fruit, Marci likes apples, and she likes pears.
- After he went to school, Danny read the chapter, but he forgot to take notes.
- There was a test on Monday, which Grace accepted, but she did not like it.
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Sentence Type Summary & Quiz
| independent clauses | subordinate clauses | |
| simple | 1 | 0 |
| complex | 1 | 1 or more |
| compound | 2 or more | 0 |
| compound-complex | 2 or more | 1 or more |
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Ready to test what you just learned about sentence types? Click here for an online quiz.
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If you have any ideas on ways we can improve this page, please e-mail Marci@RegalLessons.com.
That’s it for Basic Phrases, Clauses, and Sentence Types.
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