Independent vs. Dependent Clauses: A Clear Explanation
As you improve your English and deepen your grammatical knowledge, one important threshold is whether you fully understand the concept of a “clause,” including the distinction between independent and dependent clauses.
Understanding what makes a clause, and how independent clauses differ from dependent clauses, is essential for consistently producing advanced grammatical sentences.
A solid understanding of clause structure is key to using advanced English, not only for TOEFL but also for academic writing and business communication.
In this article, we will provide a clear-cut explanation of independent and dependent clauses.
What Are Clauses?
In English grammar, a clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and its main verb. Depending on whether a clause can stand alone, clauses can be categorized into two types:
- Independent clause: A clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence.
- Dependent clause: A clause that cannot stand alone and requires an independent clause to form a complete sentence.
Independent and Dependent Clauses
As the names suggest, independent clauses are clauses that can stand alone as complete sentences. In contrast, dependent clauses cannot convey a complete thought on their own. A dependent clause must be attached to an independent clause to form a grammatically complete sentence; otherwise, it results in an ungrammatical construction.
| Can stand as a complete sentence | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Independent clause | Yes | My father is a lawyer. |
| Dependent clause | No | Because my father is a lawyer |
To deepen our understanding of clauses, let’s look at some examples of clauses and non-clause elements.
Examples of Independent Clauses
Independent clauses are relatively easy to understand. An independent clause is also known as a complete sentence. If a clause can stand alone and express a complete thought, it is considered an independent clause.
Sample 1
The teacher majored in Psychology at university.
This sentence contains both a subject and a verb.
- Subject: the teacher
- Verb: majored
Because it includes a subject–verb combination, we can identify it as a clause. The next question is whether it’s an independent clause or a dependent clause. Since it expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence, we can conclude that it’s an independent clause.
Sample 2
The man dancing on the stage is my classmate.
Again, this sentence contains a subject–verb combination.
- Subject: The man dancing on the stage
- Verb: is
The clause follows an SVC construction and conveys a complete thought. Therefore, we can conclude that it is an independent clause.
Note that “dancing” is a verb in participial form, also known as the “-ing form.” When a verb is used in this form, it does not function as the main verb of the sentence. Instead, it functions adjectivally. In this example, the participial verb “dancing” modifies the noun “the man,” indicating that the man is in the state of dancing.
Therefore, the verb that connects to the subject “the man” is “is,” not “dancing.”
Examples of Dependent Clauses
Dependent clauses are those with a subject-verb combination, but can’t stand by itself as a complete sentence; it requires another independent clause to convey a complete thought.
Most of the dependent clauses are structured using a conjunction. For example, “Because I am allergic to cats, I can’t have them at home” is the product of dependent clause and independent clause. The first half of the sentence is a dependent clause. It has a subject-verb combination but is incomplete because it starts off by the conjunction “because.”
Sample 1
Since the experiment was well designed, the researcher was content with what she found.
In this sentence, the first part is a dependent clause, and the latter part is an independent clause. You can quickly see that the dependent clause “Since the experiment was well designed” cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. A dependent clause always requires an independent clause to form a grammatically complete sentence.
In this example, the dependent clause is followed by the independent clause “the researcher was content with what she found.”
Sample 2
The scientists has stopped the experiment because they found critical flaw to the experimental design.
In this sentence, the latter part “because they found critical flaw to the experimental design” is a dependent clause because it can’t stand as a complete sentence by itself.
Difference between Clause and Phrase
Another key grammatical concept is the distinction between a clause and a phrase. The essential difference lies in whether a group of words contains both a subject and a verb. Whether a clause is independent or dependent, it always includes a subject–verb combination.
In contrast, a phrase is a group of words that does not contain a subject–verb combination. For example, “by eating too much” is a phrase because it lacks its own subject.
Understanding the distinction between clauses and phrases is especially important when learning advanced grammatical structures.
