Any real difference between 句子 and 句话 in Mandarin?

Question

I have learned that both words mean "a sentence". But they behave differently: 句子 requires a measure word and can be used separately, while 句话 does not (?) need the measure word and shouldn't be used alone. Plus it's similar to 菊花, which has a very interesting colloquial meaning.

But one native speaker went in-depth suggesting that they are not interchangeable. I only understood a bit. From what I gather, one might actually mean "an utterance" or "clause", an incomplete part of sentence. Let me quote him:

句 jù

由词组成的，能表示出一个完整意思的话。

话 huà

说出来的，能表达思想、感情的声音，也指把这种声音记录下来的文字。

句子 jù zǐ

用词和词组构成的，能够表达完整意思的语言单位。每个句子都有一定的语调，表示陈述、疑问、祈使或感叹的语气。在连续说话时，句子和句子中间有一个较大的停顿。在书面上每个句子的末尾用句号、问号或叹号。

我想你主要困惑的是什么时候用“句子”，什么时候用“句话”。

在简单句中，比如，由一个单独的名词组成句子的时候，使用“句子”这个词。比如：

A问道：sentence这个英语词汇用中文怎么说？

B直接简单的回答：句子。（这里不能用“句话”，可以用“一句话”或者“几句话”。而且这里的“句子”是泛指，不特指一个句子，还是两个句子，而是都有可能。）

“句话”这个词其实不能算个词汇，它不完整。在句子中如果出现“句话”这个词，一般是“一句话”省略为“句话”。比如：“我说句话。”是“我说一句话。”或“我说几句话。”的省略。如果你仅仅使用“句话”，就不完整。

PS. I also don't understand his use of 词汇 here.

Answer 1

"句话" is not a word. A qualifier is needed before it, like"一句话" or "两句话". No one say "句话" alone, because it is weird.

Answer 2

From Johnzh's answer:

"句话" is not a word. A qualifier is needed before it,

• Qualifiers provide specific detail of the noun.
• Quantifiers tell how much or how many

With a classifier 句 precede the noun 话. we need to add a counting word to make a quantifier before the noun 话, to describe the quantity of it (e.g. 一句话, 几句话) ; or a pronoun (this, these, those) to show proximity of the noun (e.g. 这句话)

You can use qualifiers, quantifiers or both to modify a noun. For example: 一句话 (one sentence), 蠢话 (stupid speech), 一句蠢话(one stupid speech)

From Huang's comment:

However, in few cases, you may omit the number 一 as in 一句话。 for example, 你倒是说句话呀. – Huang

Yes, we can omit the singular counting word 一 and say "说句话" instead of "说一句话", if you have a verb before it; but we cannot omit plural counting words like 两 or 几 before the classifier 句.

Answer 3

句子 is a noun that refers to a sentence. It needs a measure word to be counted, like "一个句子."

话 is the noun in "句话," which means "speech." "句" is the measure word that you use for it. As johnzh said, you would never use "句话" on its own, but "一句话" could be understood as "one sentence of speech."

“用完整句子” - "Use complete sentences."

“他说了一句话就走了” - "He spoke one sentence and left."

“有几个句子我没看懂” － "There were a few sentences that I couldn't understand."