{"id":1316,"date":"2018-05-30T03:33:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T03:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/?page_id=1316"},"modified":"2018-05-30T03:33:47","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T03:33:47","slug":"the-principal-clause","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/the-sentence\/phrases-and-clauses\/what-is-a-clause\/the-principal-clause\/","title":{"rendered":"The Principal Clause"},"content":{"rendered":"Last updated: May 30, 2018 at 3:33 am\n

\"rulerA clause, as it relates to the sentence, is a defined as a group of words in a sentence which contains both a subject and a predicate.<\/p>\n

Every sentence must have at least one principal clause. In sentences with only one clause, the clause and the sentence are the same.<\/p>\n

The word “principal” means “head, authority, main, most important, or leader.” The principal clause of a sentence, therefore, is the clause which carries the main idea. A subordinate clause will depend on the principal clause to complete its meaning.<\/p>\n

Not all sentences have subordinate clauses, but every sentence must have a principal clause.<\/p>\n

In the examples, some of the sentences have both a principal and a subordinate clause. Some of the sentences only have one clause: a principal clause. Sentences with only one principal clause may be called “single clause sentences.”<\/p>\n

Look at the sentences below. Can you tell which are single clause sentences and which are multi-clause sentences? Can you identify the principal clause in all the multi-clause sentences?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The rain was falling.<\/li>\n
  2. We were coming home from school when we met an alien.<\/li>\n
  3. The girls were swimming.<\/li>\n
  4. The girls were swimming before the rain started to fall.<\/li>\n
  5. We were driving.<\/li>\n
  6. We were driving to the hospital after we heard the terrible news.<\/li>\n
  7. The President was on television.<\/li>\n
  8. The President was on television when we sat down to have dinner.<\/li>\n
  9. I was going to work.<\/li>\n
  10. I was going to work when I heard a loud noise.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A clause, as it relates to the sentence, is a defined as a group of words in a sentence which contains both a subject and a predicate. Every sentence must Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1311,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-the-clause"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Principal Clause - English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/english\/the-sentence\/phrases-and-clauses\/what-is-a-clause\/the-principal-clause\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Principal Clause - English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A clause, as it relates to the sentence, is a defined as a group of words in a sentence which contains both a subject and a predicate. 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