Question

Is the group of words in bold a phrase or a clause?The champion didn't expect the challenger to be such a formidable opponent, but despite his small size, the challenger possessed brute strength.

Answer 1

Answer:

A phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb component, used as a single part of speech. It's different than a clause because clauses are groups of words containing a subject and verb.

In this case, the group of words is a clause:

"The champion didn't expect the challenger to be such a formidable opponent, but despite his small size, the challenger possessed brute strength."