Unit 4: Reading

Clauses, Phrases & Sentence Types

In this unit, you will study clauses and phrases. Even though they are distinctly different, both clauses and phrases will improve your sentences by adding detail or further information. Also in this unit, you will learn about the four sentence types, which will empower you to write more confident sentences and think about your writing style.

At a minimum, a clause contains a subject and verb, whereas a phrase can be even only one word. What you need to think about and learn is how each functions in your sentences. Knowing the distinction between the two will help you to decide how to use these powerful tools for building sentences.

In short, here is the difference between clauses and phrases:

ClauseA group of related words containing a subject and verb.Phrase:A word or group of related words lacking a subject and verb.