Sections and paragraphs define a program.
They are subdivided into clauses and statements.
Entries
An entry is a series of clauses ending with a separator period.
Clauses
A clause is an ordered set of consecutive COBOL character-strings that specifies an attribute of an entry.
Sentences
A sentence is a sequence of one or more statements, ending with a separator period.
Statements
A statement is a valid combination of a COBOL verb and its operands. It specifies an action to be taken by the object program.
Phrases
Each clause or statement in the program can be subdivided into smaller units called phrases.