Which statements are required in a basic SQL query?

In a basic SQL query, the essential statements are the SELECT and FROM clauses. The SELECT statement is used to specify the columns that should be returned in the result set, indicating what data you want to retrieve. The FROM clause follows and specifies the table from which the data should be drawn. Together, these two components form the backbone of any SQL query, enabling the user to extract specific information from the database.

The other options include clauses that provide additional functionality but are not necessary for a basic query. For instance, JOIN and ON are employed to combine rows from two or more tables based on related columns, while WHERE restricts results based on specified conditions, ORDER BY organizes the results in a particular order, GROUP BY is used to arrange identical data into groups, and HAVING filters groups based on specific conditions. While all these clauses are useful in their respective contexts, they are not required to form a fundamental SQL query.