Final answer:
The underlined part 'we reached on time' in the sentence is a clause because it contains a subject ('we') and a verb ('reached') and it expresses a complete thought, making it an independent clause.
Step-by-step explanation:
The underlined part of the sentence, "we reached on time," is a clause. A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and a verb. In this case, "we" is the subject and "reached" is the verb. This clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence, which makes it an independent clause.
For comparison, a phrase is a group of words that does not contain both a subject and a verb, and therefore cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. Examples of phrases include "in spite of the heavy rains" or "during the afternoon." These do not express complete thoughts on their own and are often part of a larger sentence structure.