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A main clause contains a verb and has one main idea. It can form a complete sentence. This is called a main clause.

Examples:

• The cat mewed.
• His car broke down at the station.
• The girl laughed loudly.

Other clauses do not have verbs and therefore do not function as independent sentences. These are subordinate clauses and add extra information to a sentence. A sentence that includes both a main and a subordinate clause is known as a complex sentence. For example:

• The cat, which was balanced on the fence, mewed.
• His car, described by his girlfriend as a ‘rust-bucket’, broke down at the station.
• The girl, whose name he could never remember, laughed loudly.

Notice how the subordinate clause makes no sense on its own. It depends on the main clause to make sense.

Also notice that the subordinate clause is separated by commas.