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How
to tell the difference between
a sentence,
a clause,
and a phrase
A
sentence
must have a subject (expressed or not), a verb, and a complete thought (or
"predicate") supplied by a variety of constructions.
The
boy strikes. |
Puer
pulsat. |
The
boy strikes the rock. |
Puer
saxum pulsat. |
The
boy strikes with a sharp word. |
Puer
pulsat cum acro verbo. |
A
clause
contains a subject and a verb, but can or cannot contain a complete thought.
Clauses that can stand on their own two feet as sentences are called either
"independent" or "main"; clauses that lack a complete
thought are termed either "dependent" or "subordinate".
A
phrase
is a collection of words without a subject/verb or complete thought. Latin
examples coming soon....
prepositional
phrases |
"over
the river,"
"through
the woods,"
to
grandmother's house..." |
infinitive
phrases |
"To
respect criticism
is a sign of maturity." |
participial
phrases |
"Biting
my nails,
I waited anxiously..." |
gerund
phrases |
"I
saw the running
of the bulls" |
appositive
phrases |
"My
father, the
doctor,
gave me drugs. |
copyright
2001 Janice
Siegel,
All Rights Reserved
send comments to: Janice Siegel (jfsiege@ilstu.edu)
date this page was edited last:
06/29/2005
the URL
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