main clause

American  

noun

Grammar.

1. 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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main clause British  

noun

1. grammar a clause that can stand alone as a sentence Compare subordinate clause

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Example Sentences

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

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

Inserting "we find" or "we see" into the main clause to avoid a dangler can make the sentence stuffy and self-conscious.

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