An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone as a sentence. It has all characteristics a sentence must have - it contains a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought. Independent clauses are connected to each other by coordinating conjunctions (e.g. but - <em>But </em><em>I did not speak up for myself</em>).
A dependent clause is a clause that can't stand alone as a sentence. It provides additional information about the independent clause, and without it, the dependent clause doesn't express a complete thought. That's why it can't stand alone. Dependent clauses are connected to independent clauses by subordinating conjunctions (<em>And so</em><em> we left the party, </em><em>So</em><em> she went to the store</em>).
