Independent Clause: A complete sentence that can stand by itself.
Dependent Clause: An incomplete sentence that CAN'T stand by itself.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:  A dependent clause needs to be attached to an independent clause (with a comma between them) in order to become a complete sentence.

Simple Sentence: One independent clause.
Compound Sentence: Two independent clauses joined by a comma/conjunction or a semi-colon.
Complex Sentence: One dependent clause, a comma, and one independent clause.