What the sign label means
The second 30° segment. Whether a calculated body falls in Taurus can depend on the chosen ayanamsa, while the sign’s 30° span remains constant.
A body is listed in Taurus when its normalized sidereal longitude falls from 30°00′ up to—but not including—60°00′. The exact degree within the sign remains important, particularly near either edge.
Sign is not the same as house
The sign is a fixed part of the 360° circle. In a whole-sign chart, the house number depends on the ascendant: the rising sign is house one, and the following signs are numbered in order. Taurus can therefore be a different house in different birth charts.
Element and mode are traditional classification labels. They do not, on their own, establish a personality or predict an event.