main clauses

Standalone grammatical units

Main clauses are grammatical units that can stand alone as complete sentences.

A main clause contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought: The dog barked.

When sentences combine multiple clauses, the main clause carries the primary meaning while subordinate clauses depend on it: in I left when the music stopped, "I left" is the main clause.

grammar

subject

Matter under discussion

predicateSentence's non-subject portion
verbAction-expressing word
objectTangible entity or aim

complement · declarative · interrogative · imperative · exclamatory · sentence · tense · aspect · mood · voice

coordination

compound sentence

Clauses joined by coordinator

conjunctionWord joining clauses together
andTogether with also
orChoice-linking conjunction

nor · but · for · yet · so · semicolon · comma splice · coordination · compound · correlative

structure

constituent

Member of electoral district

phraseWords forming partial meaning
word orderSentence structure pattern
inversionReversal of position

ellipsis · fronting · focus · theme · subject-verb-object

subordination

complex sentence

Statement with subordinate clause

embeddingPlacing within surrounding mass

main clauses

subject

compound sentence

constituent

complex sentence

main clauses

Opposites

Categories

Family