English Grammar (Clause, phrase)

句子 ( sentence )

句子必須以大寫字母開頭 ,
並以句號 ( . ) , 問號 ( ? ) , 感嘆號 ( ! ) 結尾 ,
才叫做一句句子 ,

句子分為 :
單句 ( simple sentence ) ,
合句 ( compound sentence ) ,
複句 ( complex sentence ) ,

---------------------------------------

單句 :

五種單句句型 :
1 ) 主詞 + 動詞 ,
My head aches .
2 ) 主詞 + 動詞 + 補語 ,
Peter is ( clever / a doctor ) .
3 ) 主詞 + 動詞 + 直接受詞 ,
My brother enjoyed the play .
4 ) 主詞 + 動詞 + 間接受詞 + 直接受詞 ,
The firm gave Peter a watch .
5 ) 主詞 + 動詞 + 受詞 + 補語 ,
They called Peter ( foolish / a fool ) .

* 一個單句 , 必有一個 main verb *

-----------------------------

合句 :

" 兩個或以上的單句 " 連接在一起 , 構成合句 ,
We fished all day , but we didn' t catch a thing .
句中 , but 是對等連接詞 ( co-ordinating conjunction ) , 連接了兩個單句 ,
其他如 : and , so , for , yet ,,,,等等 , 都可作為對等連接詞 ,

* 合句句子中 , 每一個單句各自有一個 main verb *
" fished " , " catch " 都是 main verb

-----------------------------

複句 :

複句是由 " 主要子句 " ( main clause )
與一個或以上的 " 從屬子句 " ( subordinate clause ) 組成 ,

The alarm was *raised ( 主要子句 ) as soon as the fire was discovered . ( 從屬子句 )

If you want to get into university ( 從屬子句 ) you have to *pass a number of examinations . ( 主要子句 )

When he saw the door open , ( 從屬子句 ) the stranger *entered the house . ( 主要子句 )

主要子句 ( main clause ) 可以獨立成一個句子 ( sentence )
e.g. : The alarm was *raised .
main verb 都在主要子句中 , ( 上例 * 號都是 main verb )

而從屬子句是用來修飾主要子句 , 或構成主要子句的部分 , 不能單獨成句 ,
上述例句中的從句 , 是 " 副詞從屬子句 "

-----------------------------------------

從屬子句分為 :

名詞子句 ( noun clause ) : 具名詞性質 ,
He *told me [ that the match had been cancelled ] .

形容詞子句 / 關係子句 ( adjectival / or relative clause ) : 具形容詞性質 ,
Holiday resorts [ which are very crowded ] *are not very pleasant .

副詞子句 ( adverbial clause ) : 具副詞性質 ,
[ However hard I try ] , I can' t *remember people' s nasmes .

上述例句 , [ ] 中都是從句 , * 號的動詞就是 main verb ,
而從句入面的動詞 , 只用於從句內部 , 不是 main verb ,
故 relative clause 裏面的 verb 不是 main verb ,

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verb phrase :
包括 : 單個動詞形式 built , 或一組動詞 have done , will tell 等等 ,

Phrasal verb :
常常將介詞或副詞置於動詞之後 , 以表達多種不同意思 ,
例如 : go away , give up , look after , look for , look out 等等 , 數之不盡 ,,,,,,

a clause IS NOT a sentence
a clause can be a group of words with verbs in there.

Main verb is the DOMINATE verb in a sentence.

eg. Andy Lau is a singer, who also acts in a lot of different movies.

In the above example, the first "is" after "Andy Lau" is the main verb; "who acts in a lot of different movies" is a relative clause. "acts" after who is NOT a main verb in the sentence.
The second part of the sentence "who acts in a lot of different movies" is an ADDITIONAL INFORMATION of the main sentence "Andy Lau is a singer". "Andy Lau is a singer" can be an independent sentence by itself.
Since the second part is not the most essential element of the sentence, the verb "acts" is not a main verb.

Phrasal verb is verbs that have more than ONE word to form a verb. "take care", "look after" are the examples of phrasal verbs. They need at leat two verbs or more to form an action.
eg. I look after my grandma because she is old.
My mother took care of my dog while I was gone.

If you say, I "look" my grandma because she is old. or My mother care of my dog while I was gone., that will be very odd and funny, and doesnt make too much sense to native english speakers!
Those verbs wont mean anthing by themselves unless it is combined with other words, then they become phrasal verbs.

Verb phrase is just a group of words including a verb in it.

eg. The coffee spilled, burning Mary.

In the above example, "the coffee spilled" can be an independent clause and sentence because it has ALL required elements of a sentence = Noun + Verbs. "burning Mary" can not be an independent clause or it is actually not even a clause because it cannot stand by itself; it is another form of a relative clause, but not a verb phrase.

I cannot pull out any examples of verb phrase all in a sudden. Whenever I have it, I will post it again.

I hope it helps it with understanding what you did not get, but not confusing you.

eg

一個clause 唔等於一個sentence
main verbs 係一個sentence中的主要動詞.
eg) A dog ran through the street.
Ran 就係main verb
clause is a phrase with verb in it, so clause 裏面的verb就唔係main verb
phrasal verb is verb using in a short sentence, verb phrase 就等於 clause