clause structure

All clauses in English have at least two parts: a noun phrase and a verb phrase:

Noun phrase (subject)	Verb phrase
The children	laughed
All the people in the bus	were watching

But most clauses have more than two parts:

Noun phrase (subject)	Verb phrase
The children	laughed
John	wanted	a new bicycle
All of the girls	are learning	English
This soup	tastes	awful
Mary and the family	were driving	to Madrid
She	put	the flowers	the flowers

The first noun phrase is the subject of the sentence:

The children laughed.
John wanted a new bicycle.
All the girls are learning English.
She put the flowers in the vase.

English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. He was a teacher.
I’m waiting for my wife. Is late. She is late.

… except for the imperative which is used to give orders:

Stop!
Go away.

… and for "soft imperatives" like invitations and requests:

Please come to dinner tomorrow.
Play it again please.

If we have no other subject we use "there" or "it" as subject. We call this a ‘dummy subject’:

There were twenty people at the meeting..
There will be an eclipse of the moon tonight.

It’s a lovely day.
It’s nearly one o’clock.
I have toothache. It hurts a lot.

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