Independent and Dependent Clauses

Front

What is an independent clause?

Back

An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.

Front

What is a dependent clause?

Back

A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought.

Front

What is a clause?

Back

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.

Front

What is the difference between an independent and a dependent clause?

Back

An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, while a dependent clause cannot.

Front

Can a sentence have more than one independent clause?

Back

Yes, a sentence can have multiple independent clauses, often joined by conjunctions.

Front

What is a coordinating conjunction?

Back

A coordinating conjunction is a word that connects two independent clauses (e.g., and, but, or).

Front

What is a subordinating conjunction?

Back

A subordinating conjunction is a word that connects a dependent clause to an independent clause (e.g., because, although, since).

Front

Give an example of an independent clause.

Back

"The dog barked loudly." This is a complete thought.

Front

Give an example of a dependent clause.

Back

"Although the dog barked loudly" is not a complete thought.

Front

What punctuation is used to separate independent clauses?

Back

A comma is used before a coordinating conjunction to separate independent clauses.