WORD, PHRASE, AND

CLAUSE

Institut Teknologi Del

Jl. Sisingamangaraja, Sitoluama-Laguboti
Toba Samosir, 22381 Sumatera Utara
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What is a word?
A word is a unit of language which means
something and can be spoken or written. It is the
smallest meaningful bit of sense.

Word has 9 different forms or known as part of speech:

1. Noun 6. Pronoun
2. Verb 7. Preposition
3. Adjective 8. Conjunction
4. Determiner 9. Interjection
5. Adverb
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The function of all types of words

Type of word Function Example

Noun Thing/person Pencil, Jhon

Verb Action/state Calm, speak

Adjective Noun modifier Beautiful, peaceful, etc.

Determiner Limit/determine a noun The, some, a, etc.

Adverb Verb/adjective/adverb Spontaneously, loudly, etc.

modifier
Pronoun Replace a noun He, him, his, etc.

Preposition Link a noun to another word In, to, from, of, etc.

Conjunction Join word/clause and, but, etc.

Interjection Short exclamation Hi! Oh! Ouch! Etc.

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What is a phrase?
A phrase is a small group of words standing together
as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of
a clause. It is a short, single piece of information that
does not have a subject doing a verb.

A phrase functions as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective or

preposition in a sentence. The function depends on its
construction (words it contains).
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Based on the functions, phrases are divided into 5 types:

1. Noun phrase
2. Prepositional phrase
3. Adjective phrase
4. Adverb phrase
5. Verb phrase
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Type of phrase Function Example

Noun phrase To modify noun He gave me a long dark

chocolate.
Prepositional As an adjective or adverb We found him hiding
phrase under the bed.
Adjective Functions like an She made me a beautiful
phrase adjective to modify white dress.
noun/pronoun
Adverb phrase Functions as an adverb She always cooks with
care.
Verb phrase Functions as a verb They have been talking
for 4 hours.
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What is a clause?
A clause is a collection of word that has a subject
that is actively doing a verb. It consists of a subject
and predicate.

Two kinds of clause are:

1. Independent clause/main clause/coordinate
clause
2. Dependent clause/subordinate clause
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Kind of clause Meaning Example

Independent Can stand by Donald Trump
clause itself and form a is the current
complete president of the
sentence with USA.
punctuation
Dependent Has a subject Because he
clause doing a verb, was admired by
but it has a almost all of the
subordinate people.
conjunction
placed in front
of the clause.
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Make sure you understand the different

meaning of word, phrase, and clause
correctly.

So,
1. Word is .
2. Phrase is
3. Clause is .