main clause
noun Grammar.
a clause that can stand alone as a sentence, containing a subject and a predicate with a finite verb, as I was there in the sentence I was there when he arrived.
Words nearby main clause
maimonides, main, main body, main brace, main chance, main clause, main course, main deck, main diagonal, main drag, main entry
Compare subordinate clause.
Also called in·de·pend·ent clause.
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
British Dictionary definitions for independent clause (1 of 2)
British Dictionary definitions for independent clause (2 of 2)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Cultural definitions for independent clause
independent clause
A clause that can stand alone as a sentence. The following sentence consists of two independent clauses joined by but: “The farmers complained of the low price of food, but the office workers did not complain.” (Compare dependent clause.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.