Ace the MTEL Writing Test 2026 – Unleash Your Communication Superpowers!

A group of related words that contains both a subject and a predicate is referred to as a clause. This is because a clause typically includes a subject, which represents what the sentence is about, and a predicate, which provides information about the subject and often includes a verb. Clauses can stand alone as complete sentences when they express a complete thought, or they can function as part of a larger sentence.

While phrases are groups of words, they lack either a subject or a predicate, which means they do not convey a complete thought. Sentences can consist of one or more clauses but are broader in definition as they must express a complete thought and be independent. The term "fragment" describes an incomplete sentence that does not express a complete thought, thus lacking the necessary structure of a subject and predicate to qualify as a clause. Thus, a clause encompasses the key components of both a subject and a predicate, making it the correct answer.