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Consider these examples:
- clause
- cows eat grass
This example is a clause, because it contains the
subject "cows" and the predicate "eat
grass."
- phrase
- cows eating grass
What about "cows eating grass"? This noun phrase
could be a subject, but it has no predicate
attached to it: the adjective phrase "eating grass"
show which cows the writer is referring to, but there is
nothing here to show why the writer is mentioning cows in the first
place.
- clause
- cows eating grass are visible from the highway
This is a complete clause again. The
subject "cows eating grass" and the
predicate "are visible from the highway" make up a
complete thought.
- clause
- Run!
This single-word command is also a clause, even though
it does seem to have a subject. With a direct
command, it is not necessary to include the subject, since it
is obviously the person or people you are talking to: in other words,
the clause really reads "[You] run!". You should
not usually use direct commands in your essays, except in
quotations.
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