(1) Jenna was excited to have the house all to herself. (2) She was looking forward to relaxing in a perfectly quiet house. (3)
Jenna was enjoying the quiet and her new book. (4) She saw her cat Buttons coming from the kitchen with juice all over him. (5) He must have knocked over the glass I left on the counter, Jenna thought. As she laughed to herself.
What is the best way to add the dependent clause above to sentence 5?
A. As Jenna thought he must have knocked over the glass I left on the counter, to herself she laughed.
B. As she laughed he must have knocked over the glass I left on the counter, Jenna thought to herself.
C. He must have knocked over the glass I left on the counter, as she laughed to herself Jenna thought.
D. He must have knocked over the glass I left on the counter, Jenna thought as she laughed to herself.
"As she laughed to herself" is a dependent clause, meaning it cannot stand alone. It needs to be added to an independent clause to be considered a sentence. By adding it to sentence 5, it modifies how Jenna reacted to the situation. There are two ways to add a dependent clause to an independent clause. When you add the dependent clause to the end of the independent clause, like the sentence in the correct answer choice, you do not need a comma to separate the clauses. The word "as" shows the separation in clauses. You can also put the dependent clause before the independent clause and separate them with a comma.
