A phrase is a group of words that work together but do not have a subject and a predicate, so it cannot express a complete thought. For example, “under the table” or “the tall building” are phrases because they give an idea but are incomplete on their own. On the other hand, a clause is a group of words that has both a subject and a predicate. Clauses can be independent (expressing a complete thought, like “She sings beautifully”) or dependent (not a complete thought, like “because she sings beautifully”). The main difference is that a phrase does not have both subject and verb, while a clause does. Understanding phrases and clauses is important because they are the parts that build sentences.
