Basics of Grammar: Independent & Dependent Clauses
Independent and Dependent Clauses come under the basics of grammar. They are fundamental parts of writing in English. But what are these clauses? How do you identify and use them? In this blog, we will cover everything you need to know about Independent & Dependent Clauses.
What is a Clause?
A “clause” is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. This could be a sentence, part of a sentence, or even a sentence fragment.
Every sentence in English has at least one clause, either Independent or Dependent. The clause that exists in every sentence is known as the independent clause and the additional clause is the dependent clause. Let us understand in detail.
What is an Independent Clause?
An independent clause is also known as a “main clause.” A clause is independent if it works as a sentence by itself. We can make an independent clause with just a noun and a verb.
Example: Dogs bark.
In the above sentence, ‘dogs’ is the noun and subject and ‘bark’ is the verb and predicate. As you must be able to tell that the main clause makes complete sense on its own.
This means that Independent Clauses are standalone expressions as they express a complete thought (the thought of dogs barking).
Two independent clauses can be combined together as well by using a coordinating conjunction.
Example: Raghav dances and Bhavya sings.
‘Raghav dances’ and ‘Bhavya sings’ are two independent clauses as they make complete sense without the use of the coordinating conjunction (and). They can be written as two individual sentences.
What are Dependent Clauses?
A dependent clause, also known as a “subordinate clause,” adds extra information to a sentence. It cannot, however, work as a sentence by itself.
Example: Raghav dances only when Bhavya sings.
Here, ‘Raghav dances’ is the independent clause and ‘only when Bhavya sings’ is the dependent clause.
This is because the subordinate clause makes no sense on its own. It is “subordinate” because it “depends” on the main clause to make sense.
This can further be clarified, by writing the two ‘sentences’ separately:
- Raghav dances. (correct and complete)
- Only when Bhavya sings. (incorrect and incomplete)
In conclusion, always remember that independent clauses work independently whereas dependent clauses always need a main clause. If you write a dependent clause as a standalone expression, the result will be a sentence fragment and not a meaningful sentence.