main clause
Americannoun
noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The main clause expresses the main idea of the sentence, and the subordinate clause expresses the less important idea.
From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021
Like a main clause, a subordinate clause has a subject and verb; however, unlike a main clause, it cannot stand alone as a sentence.
From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021
A main clause contains a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence.
From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021
Most copy editors would recast the main clause, supplying it with a subject to which the modifier can be properly fastened:
From The Guardian • Aug. 15, 2014
And when the subject of the main clause is the dummy element it or there, the reader glides right over it, and it poses no danger of attracting a dangler.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
