What Does A Clause Mean?

A clause is a complete thought.  It's a sentence, or part of a sentence, with a subject and a predicate (verb).  For example, "The dogs are running." "Are running" is the verb, and "dogs" is the subject, because they are what is doing the verb.  "Are" is what is called a helping, or auxiliary, verb.  The helping verbs are is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, do, does, did, has, have, had, may, might, must, can, could, shall, should, will, and would.  There are also verbs called linking verbs, which designate a state of being.  For example, "The cat is hungry." "Is" is the linking verb.  "Hungry" is the subject complement, or linking verb complement, which indirectly modifies the subject.  Subject complements can also be nouns.  For example, "Emma is a champion."  "Champion is the subject complement because it indirectly modifies "Emma", and it is also a noun.