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.
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
The main clause expresses the main idea of the sentence, and the subordinate clause expresses the less important idea.
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.
