Question

Identify the principal clause in the following sentence-
He died in the village where he was born.
a) He was born
b) Died in the village
c) He died in the village
d) Where he was born

Answer 1

Hint: A Principal Clause is an independent clause that can exist even without a subordinate clause.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to identify the principal clause from the given sentence. A Subordinate Clause is called a dependent clause because it cannot exist without the help of the principal clause. It begins with a subordinating conjunction.
Now, let us examine all the given options to find out the correct answer-
Option ‘a’ is He was born. It is an incorrect option as it is a subordinate clause. So, we will eliminate this option.
Option ‘b’ is Died in the village. It is an incorrect option as it is just a portion of the main principal clause.
Option ‘c' is He died in the village. It is the correct answer as It can exist even without the remaining part of the sentence. It contains a finite verb.
Option ‘d’ is Where he was born. It is an incorrect option as it is a subordinate clause beginning with the subordinate conjunction ‘where’. So, we will eliminate this option.
Hence, option ‘c’ is the correct option.

Note:
A principal clause has a subject and a predicate, but still, it does not make complete sense without the principal part of the sentence, called the principal clause. For example : I don’t know where he lives.