Phrase guide

main clause

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A clause that can stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence and contains at least a subject and a verb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: coordinate clause, independent clause

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a clause in a complex sentence that can stand alone as a complete sentence

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: independent clause

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clause

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: baş cümlə — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Breton: pennlavarenn — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Breton: lavarenn dizalc'h — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Catalan: oració principal — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Chinese Mandarin: 主要分句 (zhǔyào fēnjù) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Chinese Mandarin: 主句 (zhǔjù) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Danish: hovedsætning — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Dutch: hoofdzin — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Finnish: päälause — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • French: proposition principale — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Georgian: მთავარი წინადადება (mtavari c̣inadadeba) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • German: Hauptsatz — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Hungarian: főmondat — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Icelandic: aðalsetning — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Irish: príomhchlásal — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Italian: proposizione principale — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Japanese: 主文 (jūbun) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Japanese: 主節 (shusetsu) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Korean: 주절 (jujeol) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Northern Kurdish: hevoka sereke — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Polish: zdanie główne — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Polish: zdanie nadrzędne — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Portuguese: oração coordenada — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Portuguese: oração principal — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Russian: гла́вное предложе́ние (glávnoje predložénije) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Spanish: proposición principal — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Swedish: huvudsats — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Thai: มุขยประโยค (múk-kà-yá-bprà-yòok) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Thai: ประโยคหลัก (bprà-yòok-làk) — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically
  • Welsh: prif gymal — grammar: clause that can stand alone syntactically