What are dependent and independent clauses?
A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate.
An independent clause has a subject and a predicate and makes complete sense on its own.
For example: She ate her food. (Subject: She; predicate: ate her food; makes complete sense)
A dependent clause has a subject and a predicate but does not make complete sense.
For example: When I came to school (Subject: I; predicate: came to school: incomplete sense)
It needs more words to give it complete meaning: When I came to school, it started raining.
Independent clause can be a simple sentence; can be joined by a dependent clause; can be joined by other independent clauses.
Dependent clauses are often marked by conjunctions or markers such as: when, if, because, and, but, after, etc.
An independent clause has a subject and a predicate and makes complete sense on its own.
For example: She ate her food. (Subject: She; predicate: ate her food; makes complete sense)
A dependent clause has a subject and a predicate but does not make complete sense.
For example: When I came to school (Subject: I; predicate: came to school: incomplete sense)
It needs more words to give it complete meaning: When I came to school, it started raining.
Independent clause can be a simple sentence; can be joined by a dependent clause; can be joined by other independent clauses.
Dependent clauses are often marked by conjunctions or markers such as: when, if, because, and, but, after, etc.