principal clause
Americannoun
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.
Thus we have the following definitions: A simple sentence contains one principal clause.
From Business English A Practice Book by Buhlig, Rose
We may say that it is a complex sentence in which the whole sentence takes the place of a principal clause.
From Higher Lessons in English A work on English grammar and composition by Kellogg, Brainerd
Should the time be important a subordinate when or while clause may precede the principal clause of the sentence; i.e.,
From Newspaper Reporting and Correspondence A Manual for Reporters, Correspondents, and Students of Newspaper Writing by Hyde, Grant Milnor
Minor Clauses—Clauses other than the principal clause or main statement of a sentence.
From Punctuation A Primer of Information about the Marks of Punctuation and their Use Both Grammatically and Typographically by Hamilton, Frederick W. (Frederick William)
Complex; a sentence consisting of one principal clause and one or more subordinate clauses; as, The man that I saw is tall.
From Practical Grammar and Composition by Wood, Thomas
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.
