We know that a clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb. A phrase is a group of words without a verb.
A clause has action. A phrase has no action.
A prepositional phrase is one type of phrase. A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and usually adds more information to a sentence.
Here are sentences with prepositional phrases:
I rode my bike to the park.
After dinner, Bob did his homework.
Dad pushed the broken lawnmower into the garage.
An appositive phrase is another type of phrase. An appositive phrase comes right after a noun and gives more information about that noun.
These sentences have an appositive phrase:
John, my next-door neighbor, has a new dog.
Mr. Smith, the math department chairman, is teaching advanced algebra.
Fluffy, my sister’s cat, got stuck in a tree.
A phrase is a group of words with no verb, so a phrase has no action. A clause is a group of words with action.