Is a group of words which contains a subject and a predicate and which can form a sentence or part of a sentence?

S-1a Elements of a Sentence

Subjects and predicates

A sentence contains a subject and a predicate. The subject, usually a NOUN or PRONOUN, names the topic of the sentence; the predicate, which always includes a VERB, says what the subject is or does.

In this chapter, you'll find examples that are color-coded to help you see the parts of sentences: tan for subject, yellow for predicate, gray for verb.

Birds fly.

Birds are feathered vertebrates.

The subject and the predicate each may contain only one word. Usually, however, both the subject and the predicate contain more than one word.

Birds of many kinds fly south in the fall.

A sentence may contain more than one subject or verb.

Birds and butterflies fly south in the fall.

Birds fly south in the fall and return north in the spring.

At times, the subject comes after the verb.

Here comes the sun.

Expressing subjects explicitly

English requires an explicit subject in every CLAUSE, even if all of the clauses in a sentence are about the same subject.

Although the dinner cost too much, it impressed my guests.

The only exception is commands, in which the subject is understood to be you.

Eat smaller portions at each meal.

Sentences beginning with there or it. In some cases the subject comes after the verb and an EXPLETIVE—there or it—comes before the verb.

Is There is no place like home.

Is It is both instructive and rewarding to work with young children.

You can also rephrase the sentence to avoid using the expletive.

Is Working with young children is both instructive and rewarding. to work with young children.

If English is not your first language, be aware that English does not emphasize a subject by repeating it in the same clause.

My friend Jing Jing she changed her name to Jane.

The students who visited they were detained at the airport.

Clauses

A clause is a group of words containing a subject and predicate. An independent clause can function alone as a sentence: Birds fly. A subordinate clause begins with a SUBORDINATING WORD such as as, because, or which and cannot stand alone as a sentence: because birds fly.

In the following example, the independent clause is tan and the subordinate clause is gray.

My yard is now quiet because most of the birds flew south.

Phrases

A phrase is a word group that lacks a subject, a verb, or both and thus cannot stand alone as a sentence. Some common ones are prepositional, appositive, participial, gerund, and infinitive phrases.

A prepositional phrase starts with a PREPOSITION such as at, from, of, or in and usually ends with a noun: at school, from home, in bed.

The day after the World Series San Francisco celebrated.

An appositive phrase follows and gives additional information about a noun or pronoun. Appositives function as nouns.

I knew I was in the right house because my daddy's only real possession, a velvet-covered board pinned with medals, sat inside a glass cabinet on a table.—Rick Bragg

A participial phrase contains the present or past participle of a verb plus any OBJECTS, MODIFIERS, and COMPLEMENTS.

Brimming with optimism, I headed over to the neighborhood watering hole and waited.—Hal Niedzviecki

A study from Princeton issued at the same time as the Duke study showed that women in the sciences reported less satisfaction in their jobs and less of a sense of belonging than their male counterparts.—Anna Quindlen

A gerund phrase includes the -ing form of a verb plus any objects, modifiers, and complements. It functions as a noun.

For roller coasters, being the star of summer amusement park rides certainly has its ups and downs.—Cathi Eastman and Becky Burrell

An infinitive phrase includes an infinitive (to plus the base form of a verb: to read, to write) and any objects, modifiers, and complements.

To commit more troops seemed crazy when we couldn't win the war.

The point of ribbon decals is to signal that we support our troops.