Grammatical Hierarchy

Grammatical hierarchy can be simply said as the order given to the grammatical units like word, phrases, and clauses in the form of hierarchy. Sentence is at the highest level, whereas word is at the lowest level.

- - - - Sentences are made up of clauses.

- - - Clauses are made up of phrases.

- - Phrases are made up of phrases.

- Words are made up of morphemes.

Phrase and Clause

Phrase: Can be stated as a group of words that offers such a proposition to the listener which is not enough to understand the whole circumstances or it does not deliver a complete proposition. In other words we can say that phrase is not a complete statement.

Here are some examples of phrases;
=> at the house
=> in the bed
=> in the west
These examples make the concept of phrase pretty clear. Any one of these is not delivering a complete meaning.
Above mentioned phrases can be used in sentences as;
=> I am at the house.
=> He is in the bed.
=> The sun sets in the west.

Clause: Can be defined as a group of words that contains a subject and predicate, and it should offer a complete proposition and sense to the listener. A clause may contain one or more phrases.
=> She has gone.
=> We played.
=> They went.
These clauses can also be designated as sentences.
But these clauses can also be used in sentences as;
=> They say that she has gone.
=> Yesterday, we played and won the match.
=> They went to the party.

Subject and Predicate

A sentence contains two main parts; subject and predicate.
Subject: A subject is the thing or the person about which or whom the sentence is about.
Predicate: Predicate is the part of the sentence which tells something about the subject.

Let us consider example of a sentence to understand the concept of subject and predicate.
=> Police is chasing the robbers.
The above mentioned sentence is about 'Police', so it is the subject.
Whereas, 'is chasing the robbers' is giving us some information about the 'Police', so it is predicate.

Sentence

Such a word or a group of words that conveys a complete meaning to the listener is known as sentence. It may contain a single clause as well as many clauses.

=> He went to college.

=> Run!
A typical sentence contains a subject and predicate, but it's not necessary for a sentence to contain a subject and predicate to be called a sentence. It maybe an assertion or statement, question, command, request or a feeling expression.


Types of Sentences
On the basis of their sense, sentences can be categorized in the following kinds;
1. Assertive Sentences: Such sentences make a statement.
=> That is my duty.
2. Interrogative Sentences: Questioning sentences are interrogative.
=> What are you doing?
=> Did you attend the meeting?
3. Imperative Sentences: Ordering, commanding or the sentences containing a request are called as imperative.
=> Get out.
=> Grant me a leave for one day.
4. Exclamatory Sentences: Expressing strong feeling or emotion, and end with an exclamation mark.
=> What a nice drawing!