independent clause

British  

noun

1. grammar a main or coordinate clause Compare dependent clause

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independent clause Cultural  

1. 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.)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

independent clause

Le Guin could do more in an independent clause than many authors could do in a whole chapter.

From Slate ● Jan. 24, 2018

Capitalize what follows the colon if it’s an independent clause, as here.

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2015

Also, our style calls for capitalizing the first letter of the independent clause that follows the colon: “About 178,000 …”

From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2014

Sentence form—putting into an independent clause what is most important—has already been discussed under clearness.

From News Writing The Gathering , Handling and Writing of News Stories by M. Lyle (Matthew Lyle) Spencer

A principal, main, or independent clause is one making a statement without the help of any other clause.

From An English Grammar by James Witt Sewell