What do we call a group of words with a subject and a predicate that can stand alone as a complete thought?

Independent and dependent clauses are fundamental parts of writing. But what are these clauses? How do they differ? And how do you use them? In this post, we look the basics of independent and dependent clauses.

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What Is a Clause?
Independent Clauses
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Dependent Clauses
Summary: Independent and Dependent Clauses
What is a group of words with subject and predicate is called?
Is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate some can stand alone as sentences others Cannot?
What is the group of words that has a subject and a predicate which can either be dependent or dependent?
What do you call a group of words with its own subject?

What Is a Clause?

A ‘clause’ is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. This could be a sentence, part of a sentence, or even a sentence fragment.

Every sentence will include at least one clause, but you can also combine independent and dependent clauses. We will look at how this works below.

Independent Clauses

An independent clause is also known as a ‘main clause’. A clause is independent if it works as a sentence by itself. We can make an independent clause with just a noun and a verb:

Noun (Subject)	Verb (Predicate)
Dogs…	…bark.

Here, we have a noun (dogs) as the subject of the clause and a verb (bark) as the predicate. And this works as a standalone sentence because it expresses a complete thought (the thought of dogs barking).

We can also combine two (or more) independent clauses in a single sentence. To do this, we would use a coordinating conjunction between the clauses:

Clause 1	Conjunction	Clause 2
Dogs bark…	…and…	…cats meow.

Here, then, we have multiple independent clauses in one sentence. But these clauses are still ‘independent’ because we could write either one by itself:

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Dogs bark. Cats meow.

Dependent Clauses

A dependent clause, also known as a ‘subordinate clause’, adds extra information to a sentence. It cannot, however, work as a sentence by itself. Take the following complex sentence, for example:

Independent Clause	Dependent Clause
My dog barks…	…when he sees a cat.

The second clause above is ‘subordinate’ because it ‘depends’ on the main clause to make sense. We can see this if we write each clause separately:

Independent Clause: My dog barks. ✓

Dependent Clause: When he sees a cat. ✗

In other words, ‘when he sees a cat’ does not make sense by itself. But as part of a sentence, it tells us something about the main clause. All dependent clauses add information like this, but they can function in different ways:

Adverbial clauses tell us something about how a main clause occurs. For example, ‘when he sees a cat’ tells us something about the situation in which ‘my dog’ barks.
Adjectival clauses modify a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. For instance, we could say ‘Dogs that bark at cats should be kept indoors’. In this sentence, ‘that bark at cats’ is an adjectival clause because it tells us what type of dog the sentence is about.
Nominal clauses (or noun clauses) function like a noun. For instance, we could say, ‘My dog goes wherever I go’. The nominal clause here is ‘wherever I go’, which is the object of the verb ‘go’ in the main clause.

However, one thing all dependent clauses have in common is that they only make sense when attached to a main clause.

Summary: Independent and Dependent Clauses

A ‘clause’ is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. Two of the most important types of clause are ‘independent’ and ‘dependent’ clauses:

An independent clause (or main clause) expresses a complete thought. It can be a sentence by itself, but it may also be part of a longer sentence.
A dependent clause (or subordinate clause) is part of a sentence that contains a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought.

The key is to remember that only independent clauses work by themselves. If you use a dependent clause by itself, you will end up with a sentence fragment. And to make sure your written work is free from grammatical errors, don’t forget to have it proofread.

Chapter 3 - Sentences: Elements, Varieties, Patterns, Types

Synopsis

Sentence Elements

To be complete, sentences must have subjects and predicates and they must make sense.

Simple subject: A noun or pronoun that tells who or what the sentence is about.
Complete subject: Simple subject plus all its modifiers.
Predicate: A verb or verb phrase that tells what the subject is doing or what is being done to the subject.
Complete predicate: Simple predicate and all of its modifiers.

In the following examples, the simple subjects and predicates are underlined.

Complete Subject	Complete Predicate
The newly hired manager	ordered new equipment and supplies.
A customer who sent an e-mail	made a number of suggestions.

Sentences are made up of phrases and clauses.

Phrase: A group of related words without a subject and a verb.
- Examples: in the fall might have been

Independent Clause: A group of related words with a subject and a verb that is grammatically complete.
- Example: Sara applied for a job.

Dependent Clause: A group of related words with a subject and a verb but is not complete.
- Example: but she was not hired

Sentence Varieties

Simple sentence: Contains one independent clause (complete thought).
- Sears moved to a new location.

Compound sentence: Contains two complete clauses with related thoughts.
- Sears moved to a new location, but the move did not increase sales.

Complex sentence: Contains an independent clause and a dependent clause.
- Sears moved to a new location where it hoped to attract more customers.

Compound-complex sentence: Contains at least two independent clauses and one dependent clause.
- Sears moved to a new location where it hoped to attract more customers; however, the move did not increase traffic.

Sentence Patterns

Subject - verb. Sara works.
Subject - action verb - object. Sara manages our project.
Subject - action verb - indirect object. Sara assigned me a task.
Subject - linking verb - complement. Sara felt bad.
Inverted order: Sitting in front is Sara. Here is Sara

Punctuating Four Sentence Types

A statement makes an assertion and ends with a period: Our team has four employees.
A direct question ends with a question mark: When is the report due?
A command gives an order or makes a direct request. A command ends with a period or, occasionally, an exclamation mark: Shut the door.
An exclamation shows surprise, disbelief, or strong feeling. It may not be expressed as a complete thought: Wow! That felt like an earthquake!

Sentence Faults

Fragments are generally words that are broken off from preceding or succeeding sentences.
- Fault: She won the lottery. Which explains why she quit.
- Revision: She won the lottery, which explains why she quit.

A comma splice results when two independent clauses (sentences) are incorrectly joined or spliced together with a comma.
- Fault: He sent an e-mail, later he wished he hadn’t.
- Revision: He sent an e-mail. Later he wished he hadn’t.

A run-on sentence joins two independent clauses without proper punctuation.
- Fault: Sales are increasing it looks as if profits will follow.
- Revision: Sales are increasing; it look as if profits will follow.

True or False

1. If a group of words has a subject and a predicate, you can be sure that it is a complete sentence.

True
False

2. The predicate of a sentence tells what the subject is doing or what is being done to the subject.

True
False

3. A phrase is a group of related words containing a subject and a verb.

True
False

4. A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence, such as When our expenses are greater than our income.

True
False

5. A complement is a noun, pronoun, or adjective that renames or describes the sentence subject

True
False

6. A compound sentence contains two complete but related thoughts.

True
False

7. The following sentence illustrates inverted order: Sara opened the e-mail without thinking.

True
False

8. A statement makes an assertion and ends with a question mark.

True
False

9. A comma splice results when a writer joins two independent clauses (sentences) with a comma.

True
False

10. A group of words that is broken off from a sentence and appears to be a sentence but lacks one of the essentials is called a sentence segment.

True
False

Multiple Choice

11. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a sentence predicate?

     Tells what the subject is
     Tells what is being done to the subject
     Is the person or thing being talked about
     Tells what the subject is doing

12. Identify the complete subject in this sentence: An awareness of other cultures is becoming increasingly important.

     awareness
     An awareness of other cultures
     cultures
     important

13. Identify the simple subject in this sentence: Students from all over the world may be found on most college campuses.

     Students
     Students from all over the world
     college
     campuses

14. Identify the verb(s) in this sentence: People are traveling more frequently today than ever before.

     traveling
     are traveling
     frequently
     than ever before

15. Identify the complete predicate in this sentence: International travel and business transactions are making language courses popular in many schools.

     are making
     travel, transactions
     making language courses popular
     are making language courses popular in many schools

16. Identify the following sentence: Most companies allow personal use of e-mail, and some even allow instant messaging.

     Simple sentence
     Compound sentence
     Complex sentence
     Compound-complex sentence

17. Which of the following contains a comma splice?

     These directions are hard to follow, no examples are shown.
     The nurse, taking the patient's blood pressure.
     Although they were prepared for the quiz.
     The map was not adequate I had to ask for directions.

18. Characterize this group of words: Nonverbal communication varies from culture to culture people express their feelings differently.

     fragment
     run-on
     comma splice
     complete sentence

19. Which of the following is a fragment?

     Look at this strange insect!
     If you will close the door quietly as you leave.
     To reduce the crime rate, residents began to patrol the streets.
     Some employees favor a four-day work week most prefer the traditional five-day week.

20.Which of the following is correctly written?

     Mila studied Spanish, she learned quickly.
     Bernadette, who was already fluent in French.
     Abhijat might be coming to the meeting tonight.
     Lee is teaching Japanese he also taught that subject last year.

21. Choose the best characterization of this word group: Lawyers are like beavers they get in the main stream and dam it up.

     sentence containing a comma splice
     run-on
     fragment
     complete and correctly punctuated sentence

22. Choose the best characterization of this word group: The administrative assistant found several errors as she proofread, then she made corrections.