Phrases and clauses - Graduate Writing Center

Nested Applications
Phrases and Clauses

Phrases and Clauses


Phrases and clauses are the major units of sentence construction. Both are multi-word strings, but the nature of the words determines if that string is a phrase or a clause:

  • A phrase is a group of words that work together but do not contain both a subject and a verb—e.g.,
     
    • commercial off-the-shelf biosensors
    • layer 2 of the ad hoc network
    • after the fall of the Berlin Wall
    • by performing a regression analysis on this second set of variables
       
  • By contrast, a clause includes both a subject and a verb—a noun or noun phrase and the action it is performing (subjects are underlined, verbs are in italics):
     
    • Chapter II describes the commercial off-the-shelf biosensors that form the basis of this research.
    • Layer 2 of the ad hoc network contains the protocols used to transmit data between nodes.
    • After the Berlin Wall fell,
    • Bishop et al. isolated the effect of socioeconomic status by performing a regression analysis on this second set of variables.

Types of Clauses

Clauses themselves fall into two types—independent (main) and dependent (subordinate):

  • Independent (main) clauses express a complete thought; they can stand on their own as sentences:
     
    • Chapter II describes the commercial off-the-shelf biosensors that form the basis of this research.

To be complete, a sentence must contain at least one independent clause; a sentence without at least one independent clause is an incomplete sentence, also known as a sentence fragment

  • Dependent (subordinate) clauses are incomplete thoughts; they need—depend on—an independent clause to form a complete thought and therefore a complete sentence:
    • After the Berlin Wall fell.
      • Note the feeling of dissatisfaction this incomplete “sentence” creates: after the Berlin Wall fell . . . then what?
    • After the Berlin Wall fell, Leonard Bernstein conducted a celebratory concert at the Berlin Schauspielhaus.

The defining feature of dependent clauses is their subordinating conjunctions, also known as “dependent marker words,” which are the words that lend dependent clauses their sense of incompleteness. There are numerous subordinating conjunctions, including “whereas,” “although,” “because,” “after,” and many others; you might recognize them as words often used to transition between thoughts. A list of subordinating conjunctions can be found in the links.

Finally, be aware that the boundaries between clauses are punctuated differently depending on what kinds of clauses a sentence contains and how the clauses are positioned in the sentence; for more information, see the pages on introductory commas, FANBOYS commas, and semicolons and colons.

Further Information on Phrases and Clauses

A–Z content heading

Writing Topics A–Z


This index links to the most relevant page for each item. Please email us at writingcenter@nps.edu if we're missing something!

A–Z content menu

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

A

abbreviations

abstracts

academic writing

acronyms

active voice

adjectives, compound

advisor, selecting and working with

AI

apostrophes

appointment with GWC coaches, how to schedule

argument

article usage

artificial intelligence

assignments, understanding them

audience

return to top

B

body paragraphs

booking an appointment with a GWC coach

brackets, square

brainstorming

return to top

C

capitalization

citations

charts

ChatGPT

citation software

citation styles

clauses

clarity

clustering

coaching, about

coaching, how to schedule

colons

comma splices

commas, FANBOYS

commas, introductory

commas, list

commas, nonessential / nonrestrictive information

commas, Oxford

commas, serial

common knowledge

commonly confused words

compare-and-contrast papers

compound adjectives / modifiers

concision

conclusions

conference presentations

conjunctive adverbs

coordinating conjunctions

copyright and fair use

critical thinking

return to top

D

dangling modifiers

dashes

dependent clauses

dependent marker words

display equations

distance learning

double submission of coursework

drafting

Dudley Knox Library

return to top

E

editing your own work

editing: outside editors

em dash

en dash

equations

exclamation points

executive summary

return to top

F

FANBOYS

FAQs

figures

first person, use of in academic writing

footnotes

fragments

free-writing

return to top

G

generative artificial intelligence (AI)

gerunds

grammar

graphics

graphs

group writing

GWC appointment, how to schedule

return to top

H

homophones

Honor Code, NPS

human subjects research

hyphens

return to top

I

ibid.

incomplete sentences

independent clauses

Institutional Review Board

interviews, conducting

introductions

IRB

iThenticate

return to top

J

Joining the Academic Conversation

return to top

L

LaTeX

library liaisons

lists, syntax of

literature reviews

logic and analysis

return to top

M

M dash

making a GWC appointment

mathematics

memos

methodology

modifiers, compound

modifiers, misplaced

return to top

N

N dash

nominalizations

note-taking

noun clusters

numbers

return to top

O

organization

outlining

Oxford comma

return to top

P

paragraph development

parallelism

paraphrasing

parentheses

parts of speech

passive voice

periods

persuasion

phrases vs. clauses

plagiarism, how to avoid

plagiarism-detection software

plain language

polishing

prepositional phrases

prepositions

pronouns, clarity with

pronouns, grammar of

proofreading

publishing

punctuation

return to top

Q

questionnaires, administering

questions

quotation marks

quoting

return to top

R

Reading with Intent I

Reading with Intent II

redundancies

reference software

reflection papers

research

research guides, discipline-specific

research questions

restrictive vs. nonrestrictive information

reusing papers

reverse outlining

revision

roadmaps

run-on sentences

return to top

S

scheduling a GWC appointment

self-citing

semicolons

sentence fragments

serial comma

signal phrases

significance

so what?

source blending

sources, engaging with / critiquing

sources, evaluating the reliability of

sources, citing

spelling

standard essay structure

STEM / technical writing

Strategic Reading I

Strategic Reading II

style

subject–verb agreement

subjects, grammatical

subordinating conjunctions

summarizing

surveys, administering

return to top

T

tables

teams, writing in

technical writing

tense

that vs. which

thesis advisor, selecting and working with

thesis process overview

Thesis Processing Office (TPO)

thesis proposals: common elements

thesis statements

thesis writing

this, that, these, those

tone, professional

topic sentences

transitions

types of papers

return to top

U

United States or U.S.?

return to top

V

verbs and verb tense

return to top

W

which vs. that

why write?

writer’s block

writing in groups / teams

writing process

return to top

Z

Zotero

return to top