Phrase and Clause Comparison

 Difference between Phrase and Clause 

Clause and phrase are two important terms in English grammar. Clause and phrase are parts of a sentence. 

A clause is a group of words that consists of a subject and a verb. 

Examples: 

■ He laughed. 

■ The guests arrived. 

A phrase is a group of words that does not consist of a subject and a verb.

Examples: on a table, under the tree, near the wall, on the roof, at the door. 

Both the clause and the phrase may exist within a sentence. For instance. read the following sentence: 

Example: He is sleeping on the bed. 

The first part of the sentence 'He is sleeping" is a clause because it has a subject and a verb. On the other hand. the remaining part of the sentence, 'on the bed' is a phrase because it lacks both the subject and the verb. 

Read the following examples. The underlined part of each sentence is a phrase. The non-underlined part of each sentence is a clause: 

■ She is standing on the roof.  

■ The cat is sleeping under the table. 

■ She is drawing a map on the wall.  

■ She is waiting at the door.  

Understanding the conceptual difference in clause and phrase 

A clause has both subject and object. It can stand alone as a complete sentence because it gives a complete meaning. For instance in the above example the clause 'He is sleeping' can alone stand as a sentence as it gives a complete meaning to the reader. 

On the other hand, a phrase cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not give a complete meaning. For instance, in the above sentence 'on the bed' cannot stand as alone sentence as it does not give a complete meaning. Each word of phrase has a meaning but the phrase collectively does not make complete sense like a sentence. The purpose of the phrase is to complement the overall structure of a sentence. 

A simple sentence can also be called one clause. For instance. 'He laughed' is a sentence. but it is also one clause. Some sentences may have more than one clause. read the following example: 

■ I waited for him but he didn't come. (two clauses) 

■  I like Biology but my brother likes Physics because he wants to become an engineer. (three clauses)