Independent clause
Encyclopedia
An independent clause is a clause
Clause
In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages it may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in other languages in certain clauses the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase,...

 that can stand by itself, also known as a simple sentence
Simple sentence
A simple sentence is a sentence structure that contains one independent clause and no dependent clauses.-Examples:*The runner jumped....

. An independent clause contains a subject
Subject (grammar)
The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...

 and a predicate
Predicate (grammar)
There are two competing notions of the predicate in theories of grammar. Traditional grammar tends to view a predicate as one of two main parts of a sentence, the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies. The other understanding of predicates is inspired from work in predicate calculus...

; it makes sense by itself.
Multiple independent clauses can be joined by using a semicolon or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).The conjunctions can be remembered as F.A.N.B.O.Y.S .

Examples

  • I love penguins. (simple sentence)
  • I drive a bus. (simple sentence)
  • I am a doctor, and my wife is a lawyer. (compound sentence
    Compound sentence
    A compound sentence is composed of at least two independent clauses. It does not require a dependent clause. The clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction , a correlative conjunction , a semicolon that functions as a conjunction, or a conjunctive adverb preceded by a semicolon. A conjunction...

     made up of two independent clauses: I am a doctor and my wife is a lawyer)
  • I want to be a nurse, but I need to receive my science degree. (compound sentence made up of two independent clauses:

(I want to be a nurse)

(I need to receive my science degree)
  • Go to the store, and get me a carton of milk. (compound sentence) (Though a subject is not visible, in English
    English language
    English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

     the subject of an imperative
    Imperative mood
    The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...

     is considered to be the pronoun
    Pronoun
    In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...

     'you')

See also

  • Sentence
    Sentence (linguistics)
    In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...

  • Dependent clause
    Dependent clause
    In linguistics, a dependent clause is a clause that augments an independent clause with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses modify the independent clause of a sentence or serve as a component of it...

  • Simple sentence
    Simple sentence
    A simple sentence is a sentence structure that contains one independent clause and no dependent clauses.-Examples:*The runner jumped....

  • Compound sentence
    Compound sentence (linguistics)
    A compound sentence is composed of at least two independent clauses. It does not require a dependent clause. The clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction , a correlative conjunction , a semicolon that functions as a conjunction, or a conjunctive adverb preceded by a semicolon. A conjunction...

  • Run-on sentence
    Run-on sentence
    A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunction. It is generally considered a stylistic error, though it is occasionally used in literature and may be used as a rhetorical device...

  • Comma splice
    Comma splice
    A comma splice is the use of a comma to join two independent clauses. For example:Although acceptable in some languages and compulsory in others, comma splices are usually considered style errors in English.- Prescriptive view :...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK