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Contributor: Suzanne Riordan. Lesson ID: 14007
They look so much alike; it's easy to be fooled. Often mistaken for each other, there is one big difference that sets them apart. Learn the secret of their difference here!
Clauses and phrases are like twins.
When you first meet a set of twins, you may have a hard time telling them apart. But, as you get to know them, you discover subtle differences in their looks, height, weight, manners, personality, or way of speaking.
Watch the video below to see two toddlers find out what it means to be twins.
Clauses and phrases are like twins because they are both short parts of sentences.
Watch the following video for a brief introduction.
You can use a memory trick to recall the difference between phrases and clauses.
Phrases are partial thoughts.
Clauses are complete thoughts.
Phrases and clauses can be inserted into simple sentences to add detail and interest.
Here is a simple sentence.
Dark clouds gathered.
You could take that simple sentence and add the phrase rolling over the wildly tossing sea.
The new sentence follows.
Dark clouds gathered, rolling over the wildly tossing sea.
The phrase rolling over the wildly tossing sea is not a complete thought because it doesn't contain a subject.
You can also add a clause such as the sailboat struggled to reach the shore to the sentence to give it more interesting details.
Dark clouds gathered, rolling over the wildly tossing sea, and the sailboat struggled to reach the shore.
The clause the ship struggled to reach the shore is a complete thought because it contains both a subject and a predicate.
Move to the Got It? section now!
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