1. It’s a little early for Christmas, isn’t it?

2. Santa Claus has a V-shaped beard in this picture.
Phrases vs Clauses
I use the analogy of Santa Claus to help the children visualise the main difference between phrases and clauses.
Santa Claus has a V-shaped beard in this picture.

3. Santa Claus has a V-shaped beard in this picture.
Phrases vs Clauses
The main difference between the two word classes is that clauses always have a verb. Hence the V-shaped beard for Santa. When the children think of clauses, they are asked to picture Santa and his v-shaped beard! The V represents verbs.
Santa Claus has a V-shaped beard in this picture.

4. There are several different types of clauses.
Clauses always have a verb in them and can make perfect sense by themselves (main clauses) or will have one verb or more in them, but may not make sense on their own (subordinate clauses).
SPaG is confusing. (This is a main clause as it has a verb - think Santa Claus - as ‘is’ is a verb).
SPaG is confusing because there are lots of different word classes.
(The blue part is a subordinate clause as it has a verb in it, but does not make complete sense without the main clause - the part in black.)

5. This is a question from my group’s recent homework
This is a question from my group’s recent homework. Is this answer correct?

6. Handy Hint: I always ask the children to spot the verb in the sentence first. They can eliminate the two clause options if they identify the verb first.
‘is’ = verb.

7. Phrases
Phrases do not make sense by themselves but add extra detail to a main or subordinate clause.
They normally start with a determiner, words like: a, an, the, some, many etc.
The most common phrases:
Noun phrases
Expanded noun phrases
Prepositional phrases

8. The most common phrases:
Noun phrases (one adjective to describe a noun)
Expanded noun phrases (more than one adjective to describe a noun)
Prepositional phrases (these tell you where something is)
Noun phrases: a blue bike
Expanded noun phrases: a brand new, blue BMX bike.
Prepositional phrases: a brand new, blue BMX bike next to the garage door.

9. ‘a gleaming dark blue yacht’

10. ‘a forty-two foot’

11. ‘the local school’

12. ‘a creeping misery’

13. They are all noun phrases.
‘a creeping misery’ - noun phrase
‘the local school’ - noun phrase
‘a gleaming dark blue yacht’ - expanded noun phrase
They all have a determiner (a, the) and one or more adjectives to describe the noun (person, place, object or animal).

14. The main thing to remember: Phrases vs Clauses
The main difference between the two word classes is that clauses always have a verb. Hence the V-shaped beard for Santa. When the children think of clauses, they are asked to picture Santa and his v-shaped beard! The V represents verbs.
Santa Claus has a V-shaped beard in this picture.