Building blocks for effective sentence construction
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. It can stand alone as a sentence. Understanding independent clauses is essential for constructing various sentence types and avoiding common sentence errors like fragments and run-ons.
An independent clause has three essential components:
Each of these examples can stand alone as a complete sentence because each contains a subject, a verb, and expresses a complete thought.
To identify an independent clause, first locate the subject and verb:
The old car broke down on the highway.
Many students study in the library during finals week.
After identifying the subject and verb, ask yourself if the clause expresses a complete thought. If it answers the questions "Who?" and "Did what?" and makes sense on its own, it's an independent clause.
The chef prepared a delicious meal.
This is an independent clause because it answers both questions and makes sense on its own.
Because the chef prepared a delicious meal.
This is not an independent clause because it begins with a subordinating conjunction ("because") and leaves the reader wondering what happened as a result.
It's important to distinguish between independent and dependent clauses:
The movie ended.
Can stand alone as a sentence
When the movie ended
Independent clauses can be joined in several ways to form compound and complex sentences:
I wanted to go to the beach, but it started to rain.
Note: A comma is required before the coordinating conjunction when joining two independent clauses.
I wanted to go to the beach; it started to rain.
Note: The semicolon indicates a close relationship between the two independent clauses.
I wanted to go to the beach; however, it started to rain.
Note: A comma follows the conjunctive adverb.
A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined without proper punctuation or conjunctions.
The movie was excellent the actors performed well.
The movie was excellent, and the actors performed well.
The movie was excellent; the actors performed well.
The movie was excellent. The actors performed well.
A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined with only a comma.
The test was difficult, many students failed.
The test was difficult, so many students failed.
The test was difficult; many students failed.
The test was difficult. Many students failed.
Independent clauses are the building blocks of sentences. They contain a subject and a verb and express a complete thought. Understanding how to identify and use independent clauses correctly will help you construct grammatically correct sentences and avoid common errors like fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.
Identify the independent clauses in the following examples and determine if they are used correctly:
Test your understanding of independent clauses with this short quiz.
Which of the following is an independent clause?
In the sentence "The dog barked, and the cat ran away," how many independent clauses are there?
Which of the following correctly joins two independent clauses?
What is the error in this sentence: "I went to the store, I bought some milk"?
Which of the following is NOT a way to correctly join independent clauses?