2. Phrases and Clauses
• Phrases are groups of words that include a noun but
no verb. They can act as nouns, adjectives, or
adverbs.
o Prepositional phrase: “I went from rags to riches.”
o Infinitive phrase: “To live well is my only goal.”
o Participle phrase: “Screaming wildly, the man fell off the mountain.”
• Clauses are groupings of words that include both a
noun and a verb.
3. Phrases and Clauses
• Independent clauses can stand alone. They act as
complete sentences.
• Dependent clauses cannot stand alone. They are
created by using relative pronouns or subordinating
conjunctions (i.e. while, since, after, although, until,
etc.)
4. Essential and Non-Essential
Phrases and Clauses
• Essential (or restrictive) dependent clauses and
phrases are those that are crucial to the overall
meaning of the sentence. You tend to use that for
essential clauses and phrases.
o “The books that I have read prepared me for the test.”
o We found the treasure in the woods near the barn.”
• Non-essential (or non-restrictive) dependent clauses
and phrases are those that are not crucial to the
overall meaning of the sentence. You tend to use
which for non-essential clauses and phrases.
o “The books, which contained some interesting data, prepared me for the
test.”
o “We found the treasure, which included three gold coins, in the woods
near the barn.”
5. Essential and Non-Essential
Phrases and Clauses
• “The hardware store that is around the corner will
have the hammer that I need.”
• “The hardware store, which is having a sale on
screwdrivers, will have the hammer that I need.
• The students who have band practice after school
will be late.
• The students, who have band practice after school,
will be late.
6. Sentence Types
• Simple sentences: a sentence with no dependent
clause or conjunction
o Jane bought a soda.
• Compound sentences: two independent clauses
joined by a conjunction
o Jane bought a soda, but Jerry dropped it. Both “Jane bought a soda”
and “Jerry dropped it” are independent clauses, as they can stand alone
as complete sentences. “But” serves as the conjunction.
7. Sentence Types
• Complex sentences: contains one independent
clause with at least one dependent clause. In this
case, the clauses are joined with conjunctions and
subordinators (terms that bring together the
clauses). Subordinators can refer to the
sequence/time (since, while), the subject (who,
which), or the causal elements (because, if) of the
independent clause.
o Note: I will use red to signify the independent clause and blue to signify
dependent clauses.
o Even though (subordinator) the weather is awful, and (conjunction) I am
beginning to feel sick, I am going to walk my dog with Jane.
8. Sentence Types
• Compound-complex sentences: contain at least
two independent clauses and at least one
subordinate clause (a dependent clause joined
with a subordinator). They will also include a
conjunction.
o Note: I will use red to signify the independent clause and blue to signify
dependent clauses.
o Because (subordinator) I forgot milk, Jack had to run back to the store
and (conjunction) he is rather upset about the whole ordeal.
9. Plurals/Possessives
• Plurals indicate more than one of something:
girls boys dogs men women
• Possessives indicate that one or more things belong
to someone or something else:
girl’s boy’s dog’s
• Plural Possessives indicate that one or more things
belong to a group of people or things:
girls’ boys’ dogs’ men’s women’s
10. Punctuation
• A semi-colon is used to join certain kinds of
independent clauses.
o closely related independent clauses (it acts like a “weak period”)
• “We stayed out; he went home.”
o Related independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb
• “I like you; however, I find your ideas to be repugnant.”
• You should never use a semi-colon to join a
dependent and an independent clause.
o “During the game; the umpire got hit by a pitch.”
11. Punctuation
• A colon is used to indicate additional information,
such as a list, result or illustration.
• “He wants three things out of a partner: trust, commitment, and
responsibility.”
• “You only have one problem: you don’t have any money.”
• A complete statement (i.e. an independent clause)
must precede a colon.
o NOT “During the meeting, we did things such as: yelled, screamed, and
punched.”
12. Common Sentence Errors
• Run-on sentences are those that try to fit multiple
independent ideas into a single sentence without
proper coordination or punctuation.
• “Every time we go to the store we buy chicken and fish because they
are good to eat when we spend too much money because food is
expensive and we don’t have any way to pay for it.”
• Sentence fragments cannot stand alone as full
sentences.
• “Meaning that we were the last ones in the room.”
13. Valuable Questions to Ask Regarding
Grammar, Syntax, and Punctuation
1. Who does what (and to whom)?
2. How many ideas are in this one sentence?
3. How does this idea connect with that one?
4. If we take this (word, phrase, clause) away, does
the sentence still make sense?
14. Conjunction, Etc.
• Coordinating Conjunctions join two or more words,
phrases, or clauses of equal value
o For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
• Subordinating Conjunctions join two or more words,
phrases, or clauses of unequal value
o After, Although, As, Because, Before, Since, Though, Unless, When, While,
etc.
• Relative Pronouns connect a noun to a dependent
clause providing information about that noun
o That, Which, Who, Whom, Whose
• Conjunctive Adverbs join two independent clauses
o However, Nevertheless, Therefore, Accordingly, Indeed, Moreover,
Consequently
15. Commas
• Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (for,
and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to join independent
clauses.
o “Before dinner, we went to the store together, and we went to see a
movie.”
• Use a comma to set apart non-essential phrases or
clauses.
o “That man, who can eat more than anyone else I know, is well-known
throughout town.”
• Omit commas with essential phrases and clauses.
o “The ice cream that I like is expensive.
• Use a comma to separate an introductory clause
from the independent clause that follows.
o First, we’ll eat dinner. Then, we’ll go to work.”
16. References
Lamos S. Clarity, Cohesion, Parallelism, and Precision. [Handout]. Program for Writing and Rhetoric,
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO.
