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Why must we learn about phrases and clauses?

Not only does awareness of phrases and clauses allow us to write and edit our writing more efficiently, but knowing about phrases and clauses and how they are used in sentences can allow us to create unique works of writing that keep readers' attentions.

How do phrases and clauses help us create unique and more interesting writing?

In our next lesson for this standard, we will discuss how we can combine phrases and clauses into our writing to create different types of sentences - simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. Instead of writing the same repetitive, boring sentence style over and over again, we can use our knowledge of grammar rules and phrases and clauses to make a variety of sentences with a variety of lengths that have a unique and free-flowing feel.

In conclusion, this lesson on phrases and clauses is just a building block in the construction of our individual voices in our writing. Using this grammar knowledge and the rules that come with them will allow us to incorporate our own personal preferences and writing styles into legitimate and serious work both right now, and later on, in a professional setting, for whatever reason we may need - whether that be writing a letter to a politician about reforms, creating an application for jobs, writing novels to be published, writing essays for college and in a career, or even just posting a nice update on social media.

Keep the knowledge you learned from this lesson on-hand so we can build on that knowledge in our next lesson! Watch the videos and visit the weblinks throughout this lesson to ensure you understand the material for our next lesson!

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Looking at these examples, note that dependent and independent clauses can be combined in different ways. "Main clause" refers to independent clauses. 

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CLAUSE vs PHRASE 🤔 | What's the difference? | Learn with examples & quiz! - YouTube
Watch this video for some review over the lesson!

Phrases and Clauses Examples (softschools.com)
Visit this weblink and read through some of the examples given.

Use these resources to further your understanding of the lesson.

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Types of Clauses | Two Main Types | Three Dependent Types | What is Clause? - YouTube

What are CLAUSES, exactly? - YouTube

Watch these videos for more about clauses!

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As seen in Clauses - Part 2 and in the videos above, there is not just one way to combine dependent and independent clauses. Because there are various ways of doing this, writers are given more freedom to create their own unique works, combining dependent clauses and independent clauses and phrases in different ways throughout our writing in ways that captivate readers and keep them from becoming bored with our writing or becoming confused.

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Types of Clauses | Two Main Types | Three Dependent Types | What is Clause?

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There are two types of clauses - independent clauses and dependent clauses.

Independent clauses can stand alone as a sentence.

Dependent clauses, also called "subordinate clauses," cannot stand alone as a sentence.

In order to make a dependent clause into a complete sentence, you must attach it to an independent clause using the proper punctuation.

You can usually identify an independent clause immediately because it does not express a complete thought, but it is also easily noticed because dependent clauses often begin with a subordinating conjunction.

Subordinating conjunctions are words like for, as, since, though, because, while, whenever, before, and after. These words show a cause and effect relationship between the dependent clause and the independent clause.

Take a look at the examples in the image.

"When [our] school celebrates Earth Day" is obviously not a complete sentence - it is a dependent clause. The clause opens with a subordinating conjunction (when). Now, take a look at the punctuation within the sentence - notice the comma that separates the dependent clause from the rest of the sentence? This comma is necessary to combine the independent and dependent clauses into a complete sentence.

Now, look at the second example in the image. It has no comma separating the clauses. Because the dependent clause comes at the end of the sentence, it does not need any punctuation present.

Read about the grammar rules for combining clauses here:
Combining Independent and Dependent Clauses — Savvy Strategies (savvy-strategies.com)

For more information on subordinating conjunctions, visit this weblink:
Subordinating Conjunctions—Learn Them Easily | Grammarly

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Phrases can be easily confused with clauses because some clauses begin with similar words as phrases.

You can differentiate between clauses and phrases just as easily, though, because all clauses have something that phrases do not - a subject and a verb.

Although all clauses have a subject and a verb present, this does not mean that all clauses can be considered a complete sentence.

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Phrases are groups of words that DO NOT contain a subject-verb component, but are used as a single part of speech.

There are numerous types of phrases, including noun phrases, verb phrases, prepositional phrases, and many more!

For this lesson, however, we will only be focusing on the basics of phrases so we can compare and contrast them to clauses.

Phrases | English Grammar & Composition Grade 5 | Periwinkle - YouTube
Watch this quick video to learn more about phrases!

Phrase: Definition and Examples (grammar-monster.com)
Visit this weblink to read more about phrases!

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0:00 / 4:59•Watch full video

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Phrases | English Grammar & Composition Grade 5 | Periwinkle

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Like the image shows, a complete sentence comes with two simple parts: a subject and a verb (predicate).

However, there are other characteristics of sentences which we must know in order to write efficiently and understandably.

Going back to the point made in "Words Within Sentences," if you have ever noticed your writing doesn't make sense, it may be because you didn't write a complete sentence - instead, you wrote a phrase or clause.

Phrases and clauses are both groups of words that can make up a sentence, but they are very different.

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We already know that there are many different types of sentences and various ways to combine words into sentences.

Have you ever found yourself reading over your own written work and wondering, "What was I trying to say here?"

Usually, when you ask yourself that question, it is because of one of two reasons:

1. Your writing is unclear and messy,

OR

2. You didn't write in complete sentences!

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Here is a quick image to summarize some key points in today's lesson. 

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6.L.C SE.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage. a. When reading or listening, explain the function of pronouns (pronoun case, intensive pronouns, pronoun-antecedent agreement). b. When writing or speaking, use pronouns (pronoun case, intensive pronouns, pronoun- antecedent agreement) effectively. c. When reading and listening, explain the function of phrases and clauses. d. When writing or speaking, use simple, compound, and complex sentences.

This lesson will focus on Part C. When reading and listening, explain the function of phrases and clauses.