Question

is the group of words in bold a phrase or a clause?
people who have influenza (the flu) can be contagious even before they show sign of the illness.

Explanation:

To determine if the bolded group of words is a phrase or a clause, we analyze:

Key Definitions:

• Phrase: A group of words without a subject - verb relationship (no independent thought or action).
• Clause: A group of words with a subject and a verb (expresses a complete or partial thought).

Analysis of the Bolded Text (assuming the bolded text is "People who have influenza (the flu)"):

• "People" is the subject.
• "who have influenza (the flu)" contains a subject ("who") and a verb ("have"). This is a relative clause (a type of dependent clause) modifying "People". Since there is a subject - verb relationship within the bolded group, it functions as a clause (specifically, a dependent clause with a subject - verb pair).

A clause has a subject - verb relationship. The bolded "People who have influenza (the flu)" has "People" (subject) and "who have" (subject - verb in the relative clause), so it is a clause.

Answer:

The group of words in bold is a clause.