An independent clause

An independent clause is a clause (a group of words containing a subject and a verb) which can stand alone as a sentence. This kind of clause is an independent clause. A simple sentence is one independent clause.

Tom loves Erica.

(Simple Sentence, one independent clause)

Two independent clauses can be joined together by a comma and one of the seven coordinating conjunctions (and, but, so, or, nor, for, yet) to form a compound sentence. Further discussion in in the next chapter.

Examples:

	Bob is eating, and Tom is sleeping.
	Bob is clever, but Tom is stupid.
	You must study hard, or you fail.
	Bob told a joke, so Tom laughed.
	Bob is tired, yet he is not going to sleep.
	We rarely stay in hotels, for we can't afford it.

There are three possible ways of joining independent clauses:

John was sick; he didn't come to school.	independent clauses joined by punctuation
John was sick, so he didn't come to school.	independent clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction
John was sick; therefore he didn't come to school.	independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb.

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A dependent clause

A dependent clause is a clause (a group of words with a subject and a verb) that does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone. There are different kinds of dependent clauses:

(Dependent Clause adalah clause (kelompok kata dengan Subject dan Verb) yang tidak dapat berdiri sendiri sebagai kalimat). Ada tiga jenis dependent clause:
■ dependent adjective clauses


which is celebrated on May 1st whose child
whose child was kidnapped

■ dependent adverb clauses
before he died
because she loved him

■ dependent noun clauses
that we could go whether it was raining



A dependent clause must be connected to an independent clause in order to make a complete sentence, which is called a complex sentence. Further discussion is in the next chapter. Read More......