Phrases and Clauses: Understanding Sentence Structure
This worksheet helps 8th-grade students identify and differentiate between phrases and clauses, and understand their roles in sentence structure.
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Phrases and Clauses: Understanding Sentence Structure
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Read each question carefully and follow the instructions. This worksheet will test your understanding of phrases and clauses.
A phrase is a group of words that acts as a single part of speech but does not contain both a subject and a verb. A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and a verb. Clauses can be independent (a complete thought) or dependent (an incomplete thought).
1. Identify whether the underlined group of words is a phrase or a clause: 'The cat ran quickly across the yard.' (underlined: ran quickly)
Phrase
Clause
2. Identify whether the underlined group of words is a phrase or a clause: 'Because she was tired, she went to bed early.' (underlined: Because she was tired)
Phrase
Clause
3. A group of words that contains both a subject and a verb is called a .
4. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence.
5. Explain the difference between an independent clause and a dependent clause.
6. All phrases contain a subject and a verb.
True
False
7. Write two sentences. In the first sentence, use an independent clause. In the second sentence, use a dependent clause followed by an independent clause.