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.

---

main clause British  

noun

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

---

Example Sentences

Perhaps knowing the difference between a main clause and a dependent clause doesn’t matter so much so long as you can intuit the difference.

From The Guardian

Most commonly it ends up there when it introduces an explanation that has been preposed in front of a main clause, as in Because you’re mine, I walk the line.

From Literature

Most commonly it ends up there when it introduces an explanation that has been preposed in front of a main clause, as in: "Because you're mine, I walk the line."

From The Guardian

The objection is that the interposed phrase or clause needlessly interrupts the natural order of the main clause.

From Project Gutenberg

But she repeated the main clause in her creed: "Alfred'll come back."

From Project Gutenberg