Independent clauses

An independent clause is a group of words with a subject and a predicate that can stand by itself. It is complete. It is a strong clause.

I looked in the mirror.

He was right.

I love this place.

Each of these sentences is one independent clause. Each is a complete simple sentence. However, many sentences in English contain more than one independent clause.

There are two ways to combine (join) independent clauses in written English. The first way is to join the clauses with a comma, the second way is to join them with a semi-colon.

If you join two independent clauses with a comma, you can also use coordinate conjunctions. These coordinate conjunctions signal the relationship between the IC-s:

1. If the second IC gives the reader additional information, use a comma plus and.

2. If the second IC gives the reader contrasting information, use a comma plus but.

3. If the first IC is a cause, and the second IC gives the reader an effect, use so.

You can also use such coordinate conjunctions as or, nor, for, yet in a compound sentence, or no conjunction at all.

IC, IC

IC, and IC

IC, but IC

IC, so IC

IC, or IC

IC, for IC

IC, yet IC

IC, nor IC

When each independent clause contains only a few words, professional writers sometimes omit the comma before the coordinating conjunctions.

My husband gave him five dollars and his vision improved.

Another way to combine IC-s is to use a semi-colon.

The semicolon is not simply an alternative to the full stop, colon, or comma. With it a writer can signal special relationships between independent clauses, and can increase the readability of long sentences that contain several commas.

If the ideas in two IC-s are related, they may be joined by a semi-colon: IC; IC.

If you use a semi-colon to join two IC-s, you may use such conjunctive adverbs as moreover, furthermore, however, therefore, consequently etc.:

IC; moreover, IC

IC; furthermore, IC

IC; however, IC

IC; therefore, IC

IC; consequently, IC

The use of these conjunctive adverbs is optional; use them if you think they make the sentence clearer. Notice that they come after the semi-colon and they are followed by a comma. These conjunctive adverbs signal the relationship between the IC-s.

1. If the second IC gives additional information to the reader, you may use “moreover” or “furthermore”.

2. If the second IC gives contrasting information to the reader, you may use “however”.

3. If the first IC is a cause, and the second IC gives an effect to the reader, you may use “therefore” or “consequently”.

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