This part of the tutorial covers the different types of phrases found in grammar. Phrases help aid and support the main clauses and being able to distinguish which type of phrase will be helpful.

1. Types of
Phrases

2. Clauses & Phrases
• Sentences can be divided into two parts:
• Clauses - clauses always have a subject and verb
• Phrases never have subjects and verbs
• Sometimes phrases can be only one word
• I will be using the term “Phrasing” to refer to both clauses
and phrases during this tutorial, but for the sake of
grammar we need to learn the difference

3. Finding the Main Subject and Verb
• As we progress in our study you will deal with
more and more clauses and phrases
• When several of them are strung together it can
be difficult to determine what the main subject
and verb of sentence is
• In this next section we will go over some basic
rules to finding a main subject and verb. The
main subject and verb will be the main thought
of that sentence

4. Some Rules to Help
• Start with a single sentence
• Next, find all the verbs and subjects that go with those verbs
• The main verb will always be a finite verb or an imperative verb. Start
eliminating all the other types of verbs (participles, infinitives, verbs in relative
phrases, etc.)
• The main subject and verb will be an independent clause. That is, the
sentence will be able to stand alone and make sense by itself
• Consider the following two sentences as examples:
Jesus is Lord
Because Jesus is Lord, we will honor
Him

5. The first sentence represents a main sentence
because it makes sense standing alone
The second sentence is a subordinate sentence.
Without the second part, it would not make
sense

6. Now, let’s try some examples. First, we’ll make
up a sentence and see if we can pick out the
main clause and other phrases
Then we will use a real Scriptural example

7. Some Basic Examples
• Jesus died on the cross for our sin
main clause prep phrase 1 prep phrase 2

8. Some Basic Examples
What is the main subject and verb?
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with
Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the
record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

9. Some Basic Examples
• The main subject cannot be “you” because it is actually the direct object of
the main verb
• We have to exclude the “who” as the main subject because it is a relative
clause, which also excludes the verb “were dead”. Remember, relative
clauses will never contain the main subject
• This leaves only one other clause: “God made alive”, with the word “you” as
the direct object. This gives us, “God made you alive” as the main thought of
this sentence
• How did you do? Don’t worry, it takes practice to get this right.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with
Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the
record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

10. A Little Encouragement
•Everything should come a little easier as we learn
the different types of phrases. As you learn them,
you will recognize them and be able, with
practice and patience, be able to find all of the
main subjects and verbs
•Let’s get started learning the types of phrases!

11. The Different
Phrases• There are several different types of phrases that should be recognized:
• Prepositional phrases - a phrase that shows the relationship between
two nouns
• The book is under the table
• Relative phrase - a phrase that contains one of the relative pronouns
(who, whom, whose, what, which, that [that is sometimes not a relative
pronoun])
• The Greek teacher, whose class I took last year will not be
teaching this semester
• Appositional phrase - this type of phrase renames or gives further
information about the noun it is modifying
• Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
• Genitive phrase - these phrases always begin with the English word ‘of’
and the entire phrase will usually modify a single noun
• The Father gave us the Son of eternal life

12. The Different Phrases
• Participle phrase - a phrase with a participle. Remember that participles most times
end in ‘ing’
• The disciples preached the gospel, proclaiming forgiveness of sins
• Unmarked phrase - a phrase which has no apparent connecting word (conjunction,
particle, etc.)
• She will bear a son
• Infinitive phrase - a phrase which begins with an infinitive verb
• This took place to fulfill what the prophets had said
• Substantival phrase - a phrase which contains a verb but is functioning more like a
noun. These are probably the most difficult to spot
• This thing is what the Lord had spoken
• Conjunctional phrase - a phrase that begins with a conjunction, signaling a
connective thought
• And he canceled our debt, having nailed it to the cross

13. Practice
• Try practicing by reading a portion of Scripture
from your Bible. See if you can identify the
different types of phrases and clauses

14. End Video