As the name suggests, a simple sentence has a simple internal clause structure, having only one
independent clause. Non-simple sentences are multi-clausal sentence structures made up complex, compound and compound complex sentences (Wardhaugh 1995: 115).
He would quickly point to the final s in the word as evidence of its plurality and he would be right.' The emphasis is on the
independent clause, 'and he would be right.'
For example, one lesson focuses on the proper use of punctuation and includes questions like "What are some common misuses of quotation marks?" and "How do I use a colon with an
independent clause?" Other chapters address spelling, sentence structure, grammatical concepts, and mechanics.
We also start to see how a long adverbial and a simple
independent clause or even two short
independent clauses and a longer
independent clause may be prosodically equivalent; that is, according to the prosodic hierarchy, they may be equivalent prosodic units, and share similar tempo and duration, despite their not being syntactic equivalents.
The Cassation Court highlighted that as long as the liquidated damages clause or penalty clause is an
independent clause which the parties have agreed will survive termination, it will be effective after the termination of the contract.
When a sentence contains a subject, a verb, and a subordinating conjunction such as the word although--that is, when it is a subordinate clause--it is structurally incomplete unless it is joined to a main or
independent clause. The word although is like a coat hanger, and the clause the pork was a bit tough hangs from it like a pair of pants.
Just as noun groups can be expanded to pack in more meaning, we can look at examples of expansion in sentences, whereby the main or
independent clause is expanded by adding dependent clauses or phrases or groups.
The evidential meaning was foregrounded when the non-finite verb form, which functioned as a complement of an utterance verb, became an
independent clause, whereby the non-finite form acquired the function of a finite form (cf.
The Elements of Style (Strunk, 1935) instructs us to place a comma before a conjunction introducing an
independent clause. It then gives two examples--one with and and one with but--before continuing with the following prescript: "Two-part sentences of which the second member is introduced by as (in the sense of because), for, or, nor, and while (in the sense of and at the same time) likewise require a comma before the conjunction" (p.
The clausal structure of Judges 13:21, an
independent clause beginning with a negated qatal form (a so-called perfect verbal form) followed by an
independent clause introduced by az with a qatal form, appears as well in I Kings 8:11-12 (= II Chronicles 6:1).
But it is still non-finite; it cannot occur in this sense in an
independent clause; and even in Haegeman and Gueron's terms it is "non-finite", it does not inflect for tense or agreement.