English Grammar Questions Medium
An independent clause, also known as a main clause, is a complete sentence that can stand alone and express a complete thought. It contains a subject and a predicate and can function as a sentence on its own. For example, "She went to the store."
On the other hand, a dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, is not a complete sentence and cannot stand alone. It relies on an independent clause to form a complete thought. It contains a subject and a predicate but does not express a complete idea. For example, "Because she was hungry."
The main difference between an independent and dependent clause is that an independent clause can function as a sentence on its own, while a dependent clause needs to be combined with an independent clause to form a complete sentence. Additionally, dependent clauses often begin with subordinating conjunctions such as "because," "although," "if," or "when," which indicate the relationship between the dependent clause and the independent clause.