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Sat 20 May, 2017 02:02 pm
Jimmy
May 20, 2017 - 7:05PM
Quote Reply Phrases and Clauses
Could someone explain the difference between a phrase ( doesn't contain a verb and subject?) and a clause ( contains a tensed verb and a subject?).
When do phrases end and begin? I can't for the life of me figure this out.
Example: the sentence contains marking for Prepositional phrase=PP, RRC= restrive relative clause, & an Appostive
Hillary Clinton went through 15 years [of this stuff]-PP [before becoming, [under Obama]-PP, [the woman everyone loves]-Appositive, a woman [whom Chris Cillizza just dubbed "the new Teflon Clinton."]-RRC]-PP
I don't understand why before becoming is a large prepositional phrase compared to the other markings.
I took out the markings to show that the entire sentence is marked as a prepositional phrase.
[before becoming, under Obama, the woman everyone loves, a woman whom Chris Cillizza just dubbed "the new Teflon Clinton."]-PP
@Grammarishard12,
Grammarishard12 wrote:
Jimmy
May 20, 2017 - 7:05PM
Quote Reply Phrases and Clauses
Could someone explain the difference between a phrase ( doesn't contain a verb and subject?) and a clause ( contains a tensed verb and a subject?).
When do phrases end and begin? I can't for the life of me figure this out
I'm no expert on the topic by any means, but you can often tell by looking at the commas which may set the phrase off.
Technically speaking, I think any combination of words (which don't constitute a clause) can be called a "phrase," so obviously not every phrase is set off by commas. And, for that same reason, there is no real way to say where a "phrase" begins and ends. "Phrases" can be arbitrarily selected by any one, for any reason, for emphasis, for discussion, or whatever.
Here's how I see this:
Hillary Clinton went through 15 years before becoming the woman everyone loves - a woman whom Chris Cillizza just dubbed "the new Teflon Clinton.
"this stuff" and "under Obama" are not necessary, so they can be eliminated.
Main clause: Clinton / went through / years (to "go through" is an idiom that mean to experience)
prepositional adverbial phrase modifying went through
before > becoming / woman
everyone loves = adjective describing woman
relative appositive: woman
"whom Chris Cillizza just dubbed "the new Teflon Clinton." is an adjective clause describing woman.
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