phrase

A phrase is a group of words that does not have a subject and verb. A clause, on the other hand, has a subject and verb.

Phrases:

• under the fenceprepositional phrase
• around the churchprepositional phrase
• running to the storeThis could be either a participle or gerund phrase depending on its function within a sentence.
• preaching ChristThis could be either a participle or gerund phrase depending on its function within a sentence.

Clauses:

• After we won the raceThis is a dependent clause; 'after' is the DMW.
• Before Carl started preachingThis is a dependent clause; 'before' is the DMW.
• I love fishThis is an independent clause; there is no DMW..

In English, there are four basic kinds of phrases;

• gerund (always substantival),
• participle (always adjectival),
• infinitive (can be substantival, adjectival, or adverbial), and
• prepositional phrase (can be adjectival or adverbial).

The first three are also called verbals.