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definitions

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.

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Nearby words

  1. maimonides,
  2. main,
  3. main body,
  4. main brace,
  5. main chance,
  6. main course,
  7. main deck,
  8. main diagonal,
  9. main drag,
  10. main entry
Compare subordinate clause.
Also called in·de·pend·ent clause.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for independent clause (1 of 2)

independent clause

noun

grammar a main or coordinate clauseCompare dependent clause

British Dictionary definitions for independent clause (2 of 2)

main clause

noun

grammar a clause that can stand alone as a sentenceCompare subordinate clause
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture 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.