principal clause
Americannoun
Example Sentences
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A sentence may consist of two or more independent clauses, or it may consist of one principal clause and one or more dependent clauses.
From Practical Grammar and Composition by Thomas Wood
The independent part of the sentence is called a principal clause, and the dependent part is called a subordinate clause.
From Business English A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig
Subordinate Conjunctions and Complex Sentences.+—A subordinate conjunction is used to join a subordinate clause to a principal clause, thus forming a complex sentence.
From Composition-Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks
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 Brainerd Kellogg
Subordinate infinitives and participles take their time from the verb in the principal clause.
From The Style Book of The Detroit News by The Detroit News
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