Somebody please explain the following statement to me

In an n-dimensional space,a set of n vectors is linearly independent if and only if it spans the space.
What does it mean? I understand the term "linearly independent" and " span" very well. But this sentence makes little sense to me since I'm second-language English.

Question

Somebody please explain the following statement to me

In an n-dimensional space,a set of n vectors is linearly independent if and only if it spans the space. 
What does it mean? I understand the term "linearly independent" and " span" very well. But this sentence makes little sense to me since I'm second-language English.

anonymous · Answer

span simply means that n vectors which are linearly independent to each other will therefore make anything in Rn. I.e ALL THE POINTS YOU CAN THINK OF in that n dimension

caozeyuan · Answer

still a little bit confused⋯⋯

anonymous · Answer

kk lets take an example

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1373799668141:dw|

do you agree that these vectors are linearly independent in R2?