Glosario / Glossary

dependent: unable to occur alone. For instance in the word "hands", the morpheme "hand" is independent, because it can occur alone, but "-s" 'plural' is dependent. A dependent element is often said to "depend on" some independent element with which it combines. Thus in "hands", "-s" depends on "hand". The clause "I saw it" is (at least potentially) independent, whereas "because I saw it" is dependent. In the sentence "I know it's true because I saw it", the clause "because I saw it" depends on "I know it's true". [Spanish: dependiente]