Phrases and clauses add detail and variety. Noun phrases build description (a rusty metal tin with scratched letters). Prepositional phrases show place and time (beneath the trees). Participle phrases add action (Shaking with fear, she stepped forward).
Subordinate clauses show relationships between ideas: cause (because), concession (although), condition (unless) and time (when).
Placing a clause first can emphasise it: “Unless we act now, the forest will disappear.” Experiment with order to control what the reader notices.
Worked example
Combine using a participle phrase: “The climbers were exhausted. They rested by the stream.”
- Both sentences have the same subject.
- Turn the first into a phrase describing the climbers.
Answer:Exhausted, the climbers rested by the stream.
Key words
- phrase
- a group of words without a subject and verb pair
- participle phrase
- a phrase built around an -ing or -ed verb
- concession
- admitting something before contrasting it
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.9-10.1b