QT 8 – Video Transcript and Bonus Info
Hey, everyone, welcome back to QuickTakes with Cate and an episode of the reality show, Keeping Up with the Klausashians!
Today’s topic features my very own relatives! You can spot an Armenian name by the endings “ian” or “yan.” And what better time to peek into the Clause-ashian household than at Christmas, when thoughts turn to Santa Claus?
So what makes a Claus a clause?
In the world of grammar, we have three forms—or building blocks—by which we build sentences: the word, the phrase, and the clause. A clause is a group of words that tells a story—that is, it has a character and a plot.
There’s a story unfolding in Santa’s kitchen right now. Seems Mrs. Claus is taking the cookie tray away from her husband.
Santa grumbles.
Santa—our character—is called the subject. Grumbles—our plot—is called the verb. This clause is an independent clause because it conveys a complete thought with a subject and its verb.
What happens when we add the word “after” in front of our independent clause?
After Santa grumbles
Do we still have a clause? Are the subject and verb still there? Yes. We still have a clause. But do we have a complete thought, one that can stand alone—independently—as a sentence?
No. The word “after” has changed the independent clause into a dependent clause. For it to make sense, we have to add an independent clause, for example,
After Santa grumbles, Mrs. Claus frowns.
Now we have a complex sentence, one of the four sentence structures. And things are certainly becoming complex in this kitchen, heating up in fact.
Mrs. Claus pokes a spatula at Santa’s belly just as a button pops off.
Can you identify the independent clause in that sentence? The dependent clause? Let’s see how you did.
“Give me a cookie, witch!”
“I’m not a witch! I’m your wife.”
Wait! Wrong reality show!
Well, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Maybe it’s time we leave the Clauses to work out their differences in private.
The rest of the story:
When a dependent clause, also called a subordinate clause, is attached to an independent clause, the resulting sentence is called a complex sentence. Put brackets around the dependent clauses in the following complex sentences. (Answers below.)
- When the elves hear the scuffle in the kitchen, they crowd outside the window for a peek.
- Santa scowls when he catches sight of them.
- “Why aren’t you painting the toys?” he barks as he waves them toward the workshop.
- “They’re not working because they’re hungry,” says Mrs. Claus, piling cookies on a plate.
- “Since I’m hungry too, I ought to get a cookie.” Santa tries to grab one off the plate.
- “Well, of course, dear,” Mrs. Claus replies. “You’ll get an entire plate once you finish dinner.”
A dependent clause punctuated as though it were a sentence is a fragment. In the hands of unskilled writers, such fragments are unintentional and thus errors. But skilled writers will sometimes use dependent clauses without attaching them to independent clauses, doing so for stylistic effect.
- [When the elves hear the scuffle in the kitchen,] they crowd outside the window for a peek.
- Santa scowls [after he catches sight of them].
- “Why aren’t you painting the toys?” he barks [as he waves them toward the workshop].
- “They’re not working [because they’re hungry],” says Mrs. Claus, piling cookies on a plate.
- “[Since I’m hungry too,] I ought to get a cookie.” Santa tries to grab one off the plate.
- “Well, of course, dear,” Mrs. Claus replies. “You’ll get an entire plate of cookies [once you finish your dinner].”