What is defined as a group of words that expresses a complete thought?

A complete sentence is defined as a group of words that expresses a complete thought, meaning it conveys a full idea and can stand alone as its own statement. A complete sentence typically contains a subject and a predicate, which together provide meaning and context. For instance, "The dog barks." is a complete sentence because it tells us exactly what the dog does.

In contrast, a phrase is a group of words that does not convey a complete thought and typically lacks either a subject, a verb, or both. A clause is similar but can be dependent or independent; an independent clause can stand as a complete sentence, while a dependent clause cannot. A sentence fragment is a type of incomplete sentence that may present part of a thought but fails to express a complete idea. Thus, the distinguishing feature of a complete sentence is its ability to stand alone with a coherent meaning.