Independent clause

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In grammar, an independent clause (or main clause) is a clause that can stand by itself as a grammatically viable simple sentence. Independent clauses express a complete thought and contain a subject and a predicate. Multiple independent clauses can be joined; see Strunk and White for details.

Contents 1 Examples 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Examples

• I am a bus driver. (simple sentence)
• I drive a bus. (simple sentence)
• I am a bus driver, and my wife is a lawyer. (compound sentence made up of two independent clauses: I am a bus driver and my wife is a lawyer)
• I want to be an astronaut, but I need to receive my Astronaut Badge. (compound sentence made up of two independent clauses: I want to be an astronaut and I need to receive my Astronaut Badge)
• Go to the store, and get me a copy of Mac OS X Leopard. (compound sentence) (Though a subject is not visible, in English the subject of an imperative is considered to be the pronoun 'you')

[edit] See also

• Sentence
• Dependent clause
• Simple sentence
• Compound sentence
• Run-on sentence
• Comma splice

[edit] References

• Rozakis, Laurie (2003). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style pp. 152. Alpha. ISBN 1-59257-115-8.

[edit] External links

• The Tongue Untied: Independent Clause
• Owl Online Writing Lab: Independent and Dependent Clauses