Video transcript
- [Voiceover] Hello, grammarians. Hello, Rosie. - [Voiceover] Hi, Paige. So in this video we're gonnatalk about complex sentences. We've talked in another video about simple and compound sentences, so, that is like one independent clause or two independent clauses. And with a complex sentence, we're gonna introduce somethingcalled a dependent clause. So a sentence needs atleast one independent clause to function as a sentence. But with complex, we're gonnaadd this dependent clause. So, Rosie, what's an exampleof a complex sentence? - [Voiceover] When webuy his birthday cake, we have to make sureit's lemon. (chuckles) - [Voiceover] So this sentence, when we buy his birthday cake, we have to make sure it's lemon, is made up of two clauses, and I've written them indifferent colors here. So, the second one, the pink one, can stand on its own as a sentence. We could just say, we haveto make sure it's lemon. - [Voiceover] It functionsas an independent clause, as its own sentence. We have some informationthat might be missing from this sentence, becausewe don't necessarily know what it's is, but we dohave all the components of an independent clause here. We've got a subject, we,and a verb, have, have to, and well we have multiple verbs. (laughs) - [Voiceover] (laughs) Yeah, got a lot of have to make sure. - [Voiceover] So the sentence is relying on some information that's not provided, but it does still standas its own sentence. - [Voiceover] Right, like wecan have a sentence before it that's like, we're gonnago buy a birthday cake, we have to make sure it's lemon, right, those can be two separate sentences. In this case we have this other clause, this what's called a dependent clause. We can't just say whenwe buy his birthday cake as a sentence, that doesn'treally stand on its own, it doesn't convey the information that a sentence needs to convey. So we could have an independentclause or a sentence that's just we buy his birthday cake. It's kind of a weird construction, I don't know that I would say that, you could maybe say, we arebuying his birthday cake. But we buy his birthday cakestill works as a sentence. It has a subject we and a verb buy, and it expresses a complete idea, it's an action that's happening and it tells you who's doing it. But we add this thing calleda subordinating conjunction, that's this word when, here, and that makes thisinto a dependent clause, it can't be a sentence by itself, so it depends on the latter clause, we have to make sure it'slemon, to be part of a sentence. Okay, so, Rosie, what's another example of a complex sentence. - [Voiceover] Althoughour tent was zipped up, the sound of hyenas in thedistance still frightened us. - [Voiceover] So again,this sentence starts with a dependent clause,although our tent was zipped up. This would be independent ifit said our tent was zipped up, but again, we have thissubordinating conjunction, although, at the beginning. And there's kind of a whole bunch of different subordinating conjunctions. They're sort of just somethingthat you need to remember, but essentially their job is to connect clauses and sentences, but also make thingsinto dependent clauses. - [Voiceover] One otherthing, we were showing you two sentences where thedependent clause is coming before the independent clause,but that's not necessarily always gonna be the case. Like for example, we could've said, the sound of hyenas inthe distance frightened us even though our tent was zipped up. - [Voiceover] Right, that wouldstill be a complex sentence, it would be an independentclause and a dependent clause, but just in a different order, they don't have to be in thisorder that we've done twice. Okay, so Rosie, what ifI do something like this? Like, when we buy his birthday cake, we have to make sure it's lemon,because it's his favorite. I think because it's his favorite is a dependent clause, right? - [Voiceover] That's right. And this sentence still completely works as a complex sentence,because you still just have this one independent clause, we have to make sure it's lemon, but the thing about a complex sentence is is you can add more than onedependent clause if you want and it's still considereda complex sentence. - [Voiceover] Okay, so it has to have just one independent clause. - [Voiceover] Right. - [Voiceover] But I guess, as many dependent clauses as you want? - [Voiceover] Yeah, you can go crazy. - [Voiceover] Okay, cool. So I think that's complex sentences. It's an independent clause thatcan be a sentence by itself and one or more dependent clauses which can't be sentences by themself all put together in one big sentence. Does that sound right, Rosie? - [Voiceover] Sounds good to me, Paige. - [Voiceover] Cool. You can learn anything, Paige out. - [Voiceover] Rosie out.
