The Difference Between Dependent and Independent Clauses

Some people sometimes asks about a clause. They want to know what the clause is and what the types of clause are. Not only this, but also when they think or talk about clauses, they feel like to know the difference between these types of clauses. Here is what you want to know about the clause and the difference between it's types which are dependent clauses and independent clauses. 

Definition of Clause:

A clause is a group of words that containing both a subject and a verb. It's a part of a sentence that contains a subject and some kind of predicate. The two main kinds of clause are dependent and independent clauses. Independent and dependent clauses are the building blocks of sentences. A single independent clause can be a sentence, by itself. However, dependent clauses are used to make sentences more complete and more interesting. Using conjunctions and proper punctuation, dependent and independent clauses can be joined together to create interesting and complex compound sentences that are fun and engaging to read.

The sentence “Because it was sunny, she took her umbrelle.” contains two clauses: “Because it was sunny” is a dependent clause and “she took her umbrella.” is an independent clause.

The Difference Between Dependent and Independent Clauses:

An independent clause can be a sentence, by itself. However, dependent clauses are used to make sentences more complete and more interesting. Using conjunctions and proper punctuation, dependent and independent clauses can be joined together to create interesting and complex compound sentences that are fun and engaging to read.

Definition of Independent Clause:

An independent clause is a clause that can stand on its own, by itself. It does not need to be joined to any other clauses, as it contains all what sentences need to be completeed.

Components of Independent Clauses:

Independent clauses have three components:

1- They have a subject - they tell the reader what the sentence is about.

2- They have an action or predicate - they tell the reader what the subject is doing.

3-They express a complete thought - something happened or was said.

An independent clause can be simple containing only a subject and a verb.

Example:

Ali cries.

Ali is the subject. Cries is the action or verb. A complete thought was expressed - something was said, and the reader now knows that Ali has a problem.

Independent clauses can also be joined to other independent clauses, if the independent clauses are related. However, they should be joined using the proper punctuation. Independent Clauses are called coordinating clauses.

She walked her dog; she likes walking dogs.

The first clause is an independent clause. She is the subject, walked is the action, her dog is the object.

The second clause is an independent clause. She is the subject, enjoys is the action and walking dogs is the object.

The independent clauses are related, so they can be joined to create a complex sentence. They are correctly joined by a semicolon.

Two independent clauses must be joined properly by whether a semicolon, coordinating conjunction, which are ( for - and - nor - but - or - yet - so ) ( FANBOYS ) or subordinating conjunctions such as ( Because - however - when - while - after - before - since - unless - wherever - whenever - although - though - even though - even if - in order to ).

Sarah walked her dog, she likes walking dogs.

In this example there are two independent clauses, but the independent clauses are not joined properly. When two independent clauses are joined only be a comma, it is a grammatical error called a comma splice.

Independent clauses can be quite complex, but the important thing to remember is that they stand on their own and make sense alone.

Definition of Dependent Clause:

A dependent clause is a clause that does not express a complete thought by its own. A dependent clause is also called a subordinate clause, it is connected to the main clause of a sentence by a subordinating conjunction such as after or when.

Dependent clauses must be joined to another clause, in order to avoid creating a sentence fragment.

Because I was hungry.

This is a sentence fragment. We have a "because" but not a "why" or anything accompanying and following what happened.

Because I was hungry, I went to the restaurant.

Here, the error is corrected. "I went to the restaurant" is an independent clause. "I" is the subject, "went" is the verb, "to the restaurant" is the complement. A complete thought is expressed.

Dependent clauses can become more complex if we add subjects, objects, and modifying phrases.

Example: 

Reem, who likes movies, saw a movie.

"Reem" is the subject.

"Who likes movies" is a dependent clause that modifies Reem. It contains "likes" which is a verb.

"Saw" is a verb.

"A movie" is the object.

Like independent clauses, a dependent clause can also be complex. The important thing to remember is that the dependent clause does not stand on its own as a complete thought.

By definition, a dependent clause does not form a simple sentence by itself. Also called a subordinate clause, it is connected to the main clause of a sentence by a sentence conjunction such as that or when.

Example:

I lost the watch that Sam gave me for my birthday.

The main clause of the sentence is “I lost the watch”— It's a complete idea that can stand on its own as a complete sentence. The words that follow (“that Sam gave me for my birthday”) are a dependent clause, acting subordinate to the main clause. They contain a complete idea in their own right, including a subject and corresponding verb (“Sam gave”), but the existence of the subordinating conjunction that indicates that the clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence. It depends on the main clause, because the main clause contains the object (“watch”) that the verb in the dependent clause (“gave”) targets.

An independent clause, in contrast, can stand alone as a complete simple sentence even though it is usually functioning as part of a larger sentence. For a sentence to be complete, all it needs is a subject and a verb: “Ali cried.” No part of the sentence depends on some element expressed outside the sentence.

To sum up, the only thing that distinguishes an independent clause from a dependent clause is the presence of a subordinating conjunction. Consider what the addition of a subordinating conjunction does to these examples:

Independent: We arrived early to the class.

Dependent: when we arrived early to the class.

Full sentence: Our teacher got surprised when we arrived early to the class.