Clauses And Phrases

Clauses and phrases

1.ANN AND HER WALKING COMPANION FROM CALIFORNIA   

2.WHEN ANN WAS WALKING 3. ANN WAS WALKING 4. A WALKING STICK 5. ANN IS WALKING 6. ANN IS TAKING A WALK 7. HER WALKING 8. BECAUSE ANN WALKS 9. LET'S JAM THEIR RADIO TRANSMISSIONS 10. IN A JAM 11. SHE WAS IN A JAM 12. IF IT JAMS 13. JAM ON THE BRAKES HARD 14. A HEAVY, STICKY, OVERLY SWEET JAM

Use a comma before and when it connects two independent clauses but not when it connects two phrases or subordinate clauses.

A good rule of thumb is that all statements, questions, and commands are clauses, but there are also incomplete sentences that are clauses ("before I wake"), so the only sure way to identify clauses is to find a subject and a predicate.

•Marley was dead: to begin with. •There is no doubt whatever about that. •The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. •Scrooge signed it. •The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.

•The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating

This is a simple sentence because, although it has a number of verbs, it has only one subject.

In writing, simple sentences can be very effective for grabbing a reader's attention or for summing up an argument, but too many simple sentences can make your writing seem immature.

A phrase is a collection of words that may have nouns or verbals, but it does not have a subject doing a verb. The following are examples of phrases:

1.leaving behind the dog 2.smashing into a fence 3.before the first test 4.after the devastation 5.between ignorance and intelligence 6.broken into thousands of pieces 7.because of her glittering smile

A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb. The following are examples of clauses:

1.since she laughs at diffident men 2.I despise individuals of low character 3.when the saints go marching in 4.Obediah Simpson is uglier than a rabid racoon 5.because she smiled at him.

If the clause could stand by itself, and form a complete sentence with punctuation, we call the clause an independent

Dependent clauses have a subject doing a verb, but they have a subordinate conjunction placed in front of the clause. That subordinate conjunction means that the clause can't stand independently by itself and become a complete sentence. Instead, the dependent clause is dependent upon another clause--it can't make a complete sentence by itself, even though it has a subject doing a verb.

1.since she laughs at diffident men. 2.when the saints go marching in 3.because she smiled at him.

These clauses simply do not form complete thoughts or sentences by themselves. Those subordinate conjunctions--since, when, and because--cause the listener to expect some extra material. The thought is incomplete. If you walked up to a friend in the dorms and said, "since she laughs at diffident men," and then walked away without adding an independent clause, the friend would be completely baffled.