= Grammatical constituent
A <grammatical constituent> is a unit that participates as a component of a larger grammatical construction. Constituency describes hierarchical grouping, so adjacency alone does not establish that an arbitrary sequence of words forms one unit. Different levels of an analysis can contain constituents of different sizes.<Constituent in the SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms>[Definition and distinction between immediate and ultimate constituents]{ref}
In `The red kite rose`, a conventional analysis groups `the red kite` as a <noun phrase> and assigns it the <subject (grammar)> relation. Replacing the whole group with `it` gives `It rose`, providing one structural diagnostic. The example separates the number of written words from the number of units occupying that grammatical position.
A useful analysis combines several diagnostics and states the construction under consideration. Context can license omissions or exceptional patterns, so one substitution does not prove every proposed grouping. <Grammatical constituents> provide the units of a theory of <syntax>; judgments and controlled comparisons supply evidence for choosing among theories.
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