1. A phrase is one of the smaller divisions of a sentence, and consists of two or more words. Apart from the rest of the sentence, it is incomplete in meaning. It does not, like a clause, include a subject and a verb.
2. When two brief expressions are connected by a conjunction, it is better to omit punctuation marks; as, “Good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue.”—Izaak Walton.
3. When words and phrases form a series, a conjunction being used only with the last phrase, they should be separated from each other and from what follows by commas; as, “Virtue, merit, and everything that is praiseworthy, will be made the subject of ridicule and buffoonery.”—Addison.
Rule XVI. Logical Subject.—When the logical subject ends with a verb, or is separated into parts by commas, or is unusually long, a comma should be placed between the logical subject and the main verb.
EXAMPLES.
“This imaginary promise of divine aid thus mysteriously given, appeared to him at present in still greater progress of fulfillment.”—Irving.
“The voice of praise, too, coming from those to whom we had thought ourselves unknown, has a magic about it that must be felt to be understood.”—Charles Lever.
“Those who can put the best countenance upon the outrages of this nature which are offered them, are not without their secret anguish.”—Addison.
REMARKS.
1. The logical subject consists of the name of the person or thing, of which something is affirmed, together with its modifying words. It is “the subject according to the real meaning or logic of the sentence.”