Phrases and clauses are two of the most important parts of English grammar. They can be confusing, though, so it’s important to understand the difference between them.
The first thing you need to know is that a phrase doesn’t have a subject and a verb. Rather, it only has words that act as different parts of speech.
Subject and Verb
Subjects are the words that identify the person or thing performing an action. They are often followed by a verb that describes their action.
There are many different types of subjects. Some of them are singular while others are plural.
The subject of a sentence must agree with the verb that describes it. This is called subject-verb agreement and is important for a good reading experience.
In addition, subjects must also agree with their direct or indirect object. This is a key part of writing, as it helps your reader understand what is happening in the sentence and makes it easier to read.
Certain subjects may appear to be singular, but they are really plural. This is especially true of indefinite pronouns like anyone, everyone, someone, nobody, etc.
Adjective and Noun
Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns. They name qualities of all kinds—for example, huge, red, angry, tremendous, unique, rare—and can come right before a noun or after it (but not always).
When an adjective comes directly before a noun, it’s called an attributive adjective. When it comes after a noun, it’s called a postpositive adjective.
Some adjectives also act as predicate adjectives, acting like subjective complements with the help of a linking verb like be or seem. These are usually used with pronouns or nouns that are a part of the subject.
When compound adjectives with numbers come before the noun they describe, use hyphens. This applies to fractions (quarter-mile jog), abbreviations of imperial measurements (50-lb. dumbbell), and the phrase #-year-old if it comes before the noun it describes (15-year-old teenager).
Conjunctive Adverbs
Conjunctive Adverbs are words that connect ideas together. They’re also called transitional phrases or bridges because they help you create smooth sentences that flow from one idea to the next.
They’re a great way to show off your skills as a writer, and they can really improve the quality of your writing. However, you should not overuse them.
They aren’t always used in the correct way, and they can also be confusing for readers. That’s why it’s important to learn the rules around them.
Modifiers
Modifiers provide extra information about a word, phrase, or clause. They can be adjectives or adverbs and are placed before (pre-modifiers) or after (post-modifiers) the information they modify.
They can help make a sentence more engaging, clearer, or specific. They may also add foreshadowing, clarification, distinction between this and another statement, or a hook to get your listener’s attention.
Misplaced modifiers create strange ambiguity in writing and should be avoided. Common errors include using a modifier in the wrong place, and creating two possible meanings for a word or group of words by using a squinting adverb.
To avoid these errors, be sure to place the modifiers near the words they modify. This helps to prevent dangling modifiers, which are words that appear to modify the same thing but do not.