In grammar, a clause is a group of words organized around a verb and typically containing a subject and a predicate. For example, “the cat slept” is a clause: “the cat” is the subject and “slept” is the verb. A clause may express a complete thought or depend on another clause.
An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, such as “The rain stopped.” A dependent clause cannot normally stand alone: “because the rain stopped” needs a main clause to complete the meaning. Several clauses can be joined in one sentence with punctuation or conjunctions.
A clause is not the same as a phrase. A phrase may contain no subject–verb relationship, as in “under the table,” while a clause usually has one. A sentence may contain one clause or several, and a paragraph is a larger unit made from multiple sentences. The basic definition is useful, although linguistic descriptions note exceptions such as shortened clauses and imperatives where the subject is understood rather than spoken.