What Makes a Clause Independent or Dependent?

A clause is a combination of a subject and a predicate (e.g., she ran; I discovered; he reads). There might be more information added in, such as direct objects, adjectives, adverbs, etc. (e.g., she ran four miles quickly; I discovered a new restaurant last Friday; he only reads nonfiction books), but when you have that complete subject and complete predicate, you have a clause.

There are two different types of clauses: independent and dependent. Both have a subject and predicate, so what’s the difference? It all comes down to whether the clause can stand on its own two feet.

An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence. A dependent clause cannot stand alone and requires the help of an independent clause to form a complete sentence. Let’s dive into the differences between the two, what makes a dependent clause dependent, and the different types of dependent clauses.

Independent Clauses

Independent clauses are fairly straightforward. They all have a subject and predicate, and they can always stand alone as sentences.

You can link multiple independent clauses together with a comma and coordinating conjunction…

…or with a semicolon:

Independent clauses are the strong anchors of text. They can stand alone as sentences, and dependent clauses and other phrases cling to them in order to stay afloat.

Dependent Clauses

Although a dependent clause has both a subject and a predicate, it cannot stand alone as a sentence because it has a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun attached to it.

Due to the subordinating conjunction because, that clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence. It leaves the reader wanting more information. What happened because Macbeth was declared to be the Thane of Cawdor?

You can turn an independent clause into a dependent one by adding a subordinating conjunction—like if, because, or when—or a relative pronoun—like who, whose, that, which, or whoever.

These subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns establish the relationship between the independent and dependent clauses. If a dependent clause begins with if, we expect the independent clause after it to tell us what will happen if that condition is met.

In that sentence, the subordinating conjunction if starts off the dependent clause; the independent clause (“Lady Macbeth would plan to murder him”) tells us what will happen if King Duncan stays at Macbeth’s castle. The subordinating conjunction at the beginning tells us what to expect in the next clause.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions introduce a dependent clause. They indicate how the dependent and independent clauses are linked. In other words, they demonstrate the relationship between the clauses.

Here are some of the relationships that subordinating conjunctions frequently mark between independent and dependent clauses (source: The Chicago Manual of Style):

• comparison or degree (than, as, else, otherwise, rather, as much as, as well as; e.g., “Lucille reads faster than Sandy does”)
• time (since, until, as long as, before, after, when, while; e.g., “while we waited, I ordered dessert”)
• condition or assumption (if, though, unless, except, without, once; e.g., “once you begin demolition, it’s very difficult to go back”)
• reason or concession (as, inasmuch as, why, because, for, since, though, albeit; e.g., “since his leg was hurting, he skipped that weekend’s track meet”)
• purpose or result (that, so that, in order that; e.g., “the tuba players played so loudly that we couldn’t hear the rest of the band”)
• place (where; e.g., “there’s a beautiful park where the street ends”)
• manner (as if, as though; e.g., “Mark acted as though he had already been given the promotion”)
• indirect questions (whether, why, when; e.g., “she wouldn’t say whether she liked him or not”)

Relative Pronouns

Like subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns introduce a dependent clause and indicate a relationship between the independent and dependent clauses. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whoever, whose, whomever, that, and which.

The relative pronouns that and which are frequently mixed up—learn more about the difference between those two at the link below!

Learn more about that vs. which here!

Now that you know what makes a dependent clause dependent, you’re ready to hear about the two different kinds of dependent clauses: restrictive and nonrestrictive.

Restrictive Clauses

A restrictive clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. It affects the independent clause in such a way that the reader’s understanding would be incomplete without it.

The dependent clause “If Banquo and his heirs live” is essential to this sentence’s meaning; without it, we don’t know why Macbeth’s power is limited.

Again, the dependent clause “who is Banquo’s son” is essential because we wouldn’t know who “the man” is without it. “The man survived the attack” doesn’t give us the information we need.

Nonrestrictive Clauses

A nonrestrictive dependent clause is not essential to the sentence’s meaning. It adds value and information, but it could be removed without seriously affecting the sentence’s meaning.

Without the dependent clause “who had been chastised by Hecate,” we would still have all the essential information in this sentence. The dependent clause helps us understand more about the witches, but its presence doesn’t affect the sentence’s meaning.

Sometimes the presence or absence of a comma tells us whether a clause is restrictive or nonrestrictive:

The first sentence has a restrictive dependent clause, meaning that the army advancing on Macbeth’s castle was the reason for his fear. The second sentence has a nonrestrictive dependent clause and means that Macbeth was already afraid and then the army began to advance on his castle.

What If a Clause Is MISSING a Subject or Predicate?

A dependent clause is not dependent because it’s missing something—it’s dependent because of the PRESENCE of a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun. If a sentence is missing its subject or predicate, it’s not actually a clause at all—it’s a phrase.

There are many different kinds of phrases: verb phrases (“ran away”), noun phrases (“the witches”), prepositional phrases (“through the stream”), adjectival phrases (“a light shade of red”), and adverbial phrases (“as quietly as a mouse”).

If you only have a subject or a predicate, you don’t have a dependent or independent clause—you have a phrase.

If you have any questions about independent and dependent clauses, drop them in the comments, and I’ll find an answer for you!

Learn about the 4 different kinds of sentence structures here!

Sources:

• The Chicago Manual of Style. 17th ed. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2017.
• Ebbitt, D. R., and W. R. Ebbitt. Index to English. 8th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
• Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor’s Handbook. 3rd ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: Univ of California Pr, 2011.
• Hale, Constance. Sin and Syntax: How To Craft Wicked Good Prose. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2013.