Asked • 06/23/19

How to categorize this phrase. Relative clause, Interrogative clause, Adverbial clause?

What is "Where to go" in the sentence "Where to go is the question." Is it a adverbial phrase or a relative clause? And what is "Why go" in the sentence "Why go when you can stay?" - is it a clause?

Peter C.

tutor
"Where to go" cannot be a clause because it does not have a finite verb. It is an infinitive (to go) in a phrase with an interrogative adverb (where). An infinitive being a noun form of a verb, the phrase is thus a predicate noun (subject complement) to the main subject, "question."
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06/25/19

Peter C.

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The phrase "Why go" is an abbreviated interrogative main clause; the full form would have a deliberative subjunctive verb modifier: Why would you go, etc.
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06/25/19

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Angela L. answered • 07/08/19

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A phrase is defined as a group of words while a clause is a group of words containing a subject and verb. "Where to go" and "Why go" contain verbs but no subjects. Thus they are phrases, not clauses. "Where to go" is a phrase acting as the subject of the sentence. This makes it a noun phrase. "Why go" is an adverb phrase.

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