A simple sentence is an independent clause that is not joined to any other clause and stands by itself.
An independent clause stands alone.
A clause that stands on its own.
A simple sentence
independent clause
An independent clause, also known as main or principal clause is one which can stand on its own. An independent clause contains a subject and a verb that form a complete sentence that stands on its own.
An independent clause has a subject, a verb, and it can stand on its own and make sense. If I say "This has got to stop!", I have certainly made a complete sentence. On the other hand, a dependent clause may have a subject and a verb, but it can NOT stand by itself and make sense-- it needs its friend, the independent clause to help it. For example: "While David was waiting for the bus..." That is not a complete sentence-- we don't know what happened while David was waiting. That tells you that it's a dependent clause. So, let's complete it: While David was waiting for the bus, he saw his friend Jerry walking down the street. (Hint: if you see words like "while," "when," "if", "during" and "as," you probably have a dependent clause.) So, one more example: "David is waiting for the bus." That is an independent clause-- it stands by itself and makes sense. But: "If David misses the bus..." That makes no sense. It's a dependent clause (it depends on an independent clause). Let's fix it: "If David misses the bus, he will be late for school." Now we have a complete sentence, and it makes sense.
The independent clauses are the ones that stand alone. They are the one that do not need any more sentence for them.
Subordinate or dependent clause is a group of words which contains a subject and a verb which can not stand on its own.Example: I went to see a movie which was running in a theatre near my house. (In this sentence, I went to see a movie is an independent clause that stands on its own, whereas the second part of the sentence, which was running in a theatre near my house, is a subordinate clause which can not stand on its own as it does not give complete information.
The Use of CommasThis question appears to vague because there are many different ways. Here are some basic ways of comma usage:-Whenever you have what is called a "FANBOYS" you use a comma before a "FANBOYS".Now as you are probably wondering, what is a FANBOY? A "FANBOYS" is an acronym that stands for:*for*and*nor*but*or*yet*soSo whenever you have a "FANBOYS" you put a comma in front of the "FANBOYS", HOWEVER, this rule only applies if you have two independent clauses. Now you are probably wondering what an independent clause is. An independent clause is a complete sentence that consist of a subject and a verb; it also makes complete sense.Example:The man went to the store, and the woman went home."The man went to the store is an independent clause, and "the woman went home" is an independent clause". So between the the two independent clauses you put a "FANBOYS".Now if you have an independent clause and a phrase you do not put a comma between the independent clause and phrase. A phrase does not consist of either a subject or verb, and it does not make sense.Example:The student did her homework and went to bed.*note "the student did her homework" is an independent clause, however, "went to bed" is a phrase because it does not have a subject; it also does not make sense.*There are MANY different ways to use commas. This is just one of the many basics.
The simplest sentence consists of only a subject and a predicate (a noun and a verb) and is only one clause."Scott ran." is an example of such a sentence. It has one noun (Scott), one verb (ran), and is an independent clause (it stands alone as a sentence).A slightly more complex sentence can have two clauses as is evidenced by the following modification to the earlier example:"Scott ran, and he made it in time." The original sentence now contains two clauses (an independent one and a subordinate one).In general, though, "simple sentence" usually refers to a sentence with only one clause.
Commonwealth of Independent States
A dependent clause in a sentence beginning with "because." Ex: BECAUSE IT RAINED, the game was cancelled. BECAUSE IT RAINED is the because clause, and it is dependent because it is a fragment when it stands alone.