<p>Hey guys</p>
<p>Have heard and seen various explanations to this question so I really would like a definitive answer. What exactly constitutes an independent clause? Is there any sure method to determine an independent clause or does the phrase have to fulfill a set of criteria for it to be considered an independent clause?</p>
<p>Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks :)</p>
<p>At a minimum, an independent clause requires a subject and a finite verb. “Birds fly.” “Running through the streets” is not a clause of any kind because (1) there is no subject and (2) “running” is not a finite verb. “John runs through the streets” and “John is running through the streets” are independent clauses.</p>
<p>The more usual problem is accidentally adding words to an independent clause and making it dependent. “Because birds fly” is not independent because the conjunctions needs something to connect the clause to: “I need a shotgun because birds fly” joins one clause to the other. “I need a shotgun” is independent and “because birds fly” is dependent.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help! Sorry but what does you exactly mean by a ‘finite’ verb?</p>
<p>Wikipedia has a [good</a> explanation](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_verb]good”>Finite verb - Wikipedia). The examples are the best part.</p>