Clause is a statement with a verb or verbal phrase that conveys complete or partial meaning. A clause can be a complete sentence or part of a longer sentence. The core of the clause is the verb, which attracts elements such as subject, complements, and adjuncts. Identifying the verb is the first step in analyzing the structure.

A sentence is a segment of text delimited by final punctuation and formed by one or more clauses. A simple sentence has one clause; a compound sentence has two or more clauses. In written Portuguese, the period marks the end of a sentence. Within the sentence, cohesion depends on the linkage between clauses and internal punctuation.

The subject is the term of the clause about which something is stated, normally agreeing with the verb in number and person. It can be explicit (appearing in the sentence) or implicit (recovered from the context or the verb inflection). A nonexistent subject occurs when the verb does not refer to a defined agent, often with impersonal verbs.

The predicate is the part of the clause that contains the verb and provides information about the subject. It can be formed solely by the verb (verbal predicate) or by the verb plus an essential element (a complement or a predicative). The internal structure of the predicate determines whether the clause requires complements.

An object is the term that completes the sense of transitive verbs, and can be direct or indirect. A direct object links to the verb without a mandatory preposition; an indirect object requires a preposition. In many cases, pronouns and prepositions signal the function of the object in the clause.

Nominal complement completes the sense of a noun (substantive, adjective, or adverb) and is usually introduced by a preposition. It differs from the object because it does not complete the verb, but rather a noun in the clause. Identifying the term that requires a complement helps avoid ambiguities.

Coordinated clauses are clauses in a compound sentence that connect with no syntactic dependency, possibly using a connective. Each coordinated clause maintains structural autonomy and can, in many cases, be understood in isolation. The comma, and, but, and or are common connectors in coordination.

Subordinate clauses depend syntactically on another clause, called the main clause. They can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb within the sentence. In Portuguese, connectors such as that, if, when, and because frequently introduce subordinate clauses.

Punctuation organizes the sentence and signals relationships between clauses, especially in compound sentences. A comma separates coordinate clauses with a contrasting connective, fronted adverbial clauses, and enumerated elements. The period ends the sentence; the semicolon can separate long or enumerated clauses without ending the sentence.

Agreement is the relation of concordance between words, mainly between the subject and the verb (subject-verb agreement) and between a noun and its determiners or adjectives (nominal agreement). In Portuguese, the verb agrees with the subject in number and person, even with an elided subject. The cohesion of the sentence depends on maintaining this agreement.