Clauses, Phrase Sentence Structures Flashcards
What is a clause?
A group of words that contains a subject and a verb. It can be independent (a complete sentence) or dependent (incomplete on its own).
What is an independent clause?
A clause that can stand alone as a sentence because it expresses a complete thought (e.g., “She went to the store.”).
What is a dependent (subordinate) clause?
A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence and depends on an independent clause to make sense (e.g., “Because she was tired”).
What is a noun clause?
A dependent clause that acts as a noun in a sentence (e.g., “What she said was surprising”).
What is an adjective (relative) clause?
A dependent clause that describes a noun, often starting with a relative pronoun like “who,” “which,” or “that” (e.g., “The book that I read was amazing”).
What is an adverb clause?
A dependent clause that functions as an adverb, modifying a verb, adjective, or another adverb, usually starting with subordinating conjunctions like “because,” “if,” or “when” (e.g., “We left early because it started to rain”).
What is a phrase?
A group of words that work together but do not contain both a subject and a verb, so they cannot stand alone as a sentence (e.g., “In the morning”).
What is a prepositional phrase?
A phrase that begins with a preposition and functions as an adjective or adverb (e.g., “In the park,” “On the table”).
What is a participial phrase?
A phrase that begins with a present or past participle and acts as an adjective (e.g., “Running through the park, she tripped”).
What is an infinitive phrase?
A phrase that begins with “to” followed by a verb and can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb (e.g., “To win the race was his goal”).
What is an appositive phrase?
A phrase that renames or identifies a noun, typically placed next to the noun it describes (e.g., “My friend, a talented musician, played at the concert”).
What is a compound sentence?
A sentence with two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or semicolon (e.g., “I went to the store, and she stayed home”).
What is a complex sentence?
A sentence that contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause (e.g., “Because it was raining, we stayed inside”).
What is a compound-complex sentence?
A sentence that has two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause (e.g., “I went to the store, and she stayed home because she was tired”).
What is a relative pronoun?
A word like “who,” “whom,” “which,” or “that” used to introduce an adjective (relative) clause (e.g., “The person who called is my friend”).
What is a subordinating conjunction?
A word or phrase like “because,” “since,” “if,” or “although” that introduces a dependent clause (e.g., “I stayed home because it was raining”).
What is a coordinating conjunction?
A word like “for,” “and,” “nor,” “but,” “or,” “yet,” and “so” (FANBOYS) that joins two independent clauses (e.g., “She was tired, so she went to bed”).
What is a run-on sentence?
A sentence that incorrectly joins two or more independent clauses without proper punctuation or conjunctions (e.g., “I went to the store I bought some milk”).
What is a comma splice?
The error of using a comma to join two independent clauses without a conjunction (e.g., “It’s late, we should go home”).
What is an ellipsis (in clauses)?
The omission of words from a clause that are implied by context (e.g., “He can play the guitar, and she [can play] the piano”).
