Phrases 

A phrase is a group of two or more grammatically linked words without a subject and predicate -- a group of grammatically-linked words with a subject and predicate is called a clause.

The group "teacher both students and" is not a phrase because the words have no grammatical relationship to one another. Similarly, the group "bay the across" is not a phrase.

In both cases, the words need to be rearranged in order to create phrases. The group " both teachers and students " and the group " across the bay " are both phrases .

You use a phrase to add information to a sentence and it can perform the functions of a subject, an object, a subject complement or object complement, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.

• The highlighted words in each of the following sentences make up a phrase:
• She bought some spinach when she went to the corner store .
• Lightning flashed brightly in the night sky .
• They heard high pitched cries in the middle of the night.
• In early October, Giselle planted twenty tulip bulbs ; unfortunately, squirrels ate the bulbs and none bloomed.
• Small children often insist that they can do it by themselves.