SENTENCE COMBINING
STUDY SHEET
Sentence combining is the joining of two or more short sentences into one longer sentence.
Knowing how to combine short sentences into longer ones provides you with many options for expressing your ideas. Mastering sentence combining techniques will enable you to develop a smoother, more mature and varied style, to clarify relationships between ideas, and to avoid unnecessary repetition.
Avoid long strings of short, choppy, repetitive sentences. Combine such groups into one clearer, more compact sentence.
You don't have to obey any hard and fast rules for combining sentences. You may use several methods. After you learn all the most common methods, you should choose the ones that best express your meaning in your particular situation. Just remember that variety is one of the keys to mature writing. Study the examples of each of the following methods, carefully noting how the combined sentences are formed.
Use coordination to show that closely related words, actions, or ideas are equally important. Two or more words, phrases, or clauses may be coordinated—joined by coordinate conjunctions (FANBOYS) or semicolons. When independent clauses are coordinated, a compound (double) sentence or a compound sentence element results.
These seven coordinating conjunctions have specific meanings; do not use them randomly.
|
|
For |
= |
for this reason |
|
|
|
And |
= |
in addition to or also |
|
|
|
Nor |
= |
a negative choice |
|
|
|
But |
= |
a contrast or opposite |
|
|
|
Or |
= |
a positive choice |
|
|
|
Yet |
= |
however or in spite of |
|
|
|
So |
= |
a result or conclusion |
|
If you use one part of the following correlatives (pairs of coordinate conjunctions), you must also use the other part.
either . . . or neither . . . nor not only . . . but also both . . . and
|
|
Awkward |
The rain increased. The officials canceled the game. |
|
|
Better: |
The rain increased, so the officials canceled the game. |
|
|
Awkward |
The hamburgers were cold. The buns were cold. |
|
|
Better |
Both the hamburgers and the buns were cold. |
|
|
Awkward |
The children swam for an hour. The children had a picnic in the back yard. |
|
|
Better |
The children swam for an hour; then, they had a picnic in the back yard. |
|
|
Better |
The children swam for an hour and then had a picnic in the back yard. |
|
|
Awkward |
She is a gifted writer. She is very young. |
|
|
Better |
She is a gifted writer, yet she is very young. |
|
|
Awkward |
Laurie is leaving early at night. She also is arriving late every morning. |
|
|
Better |
Laurie is not only leaving early at night but also arriving late every morning. |
Use subordination to combine unequal ideas. Make a dependent clause from the sentence containing the least important idea. Begin the dependent clause (see page 3 of Clauses) with a danger word (see chart below). You may need to change the order of the words. Don't forget to place a comma after a dependent clause that begins the sentence, but do not put a comma before a danger word that comes later in the sentence. A combined sentence must contain at least one independent clause, but it can contain two or more dependent clauses.
* * * DANGER WORDS * * *
(subordinating conjunctions)
|
after |
because |
provided that |
unless |
where |
who |
|
although |
before |
since |
until |
wherever |
whoever |
|
as |
even though |
so that |
what |
whether |
whom |
|
as if |
how |
than |
whatever |
which |
whomever |
|
as soon as |
if |
that |
when |
whichever |
whose |
|
as though |
just as |
though |
whenever |
while |
why |
|
|
Awkward |
I got caught in a traffic jam on Tennessee Street. I missed my final exam. |
|
|
Better |
I missed my final exam because I got caught in a traffic jam on Tennessee Street. |
|
|
Awkward |
The highway has been widened. The traffic has increased unbelievably. |
|
|
Better |
Since the highway has been widened, the traffic has increased unbelievably. |
|
|
Awkward |
The day was freezing. We hiked down the mountain. We went home. |
|
|
Better |
Although the day was freezing, we hiked down the mountain before we went home. |
----------------------------
To skip this material and go straight to the Practices, click one of the links below.
|
Practice 1 |
Practice 2 |
Use the relative pronouns who, which, what, and that as danger words to begin some dependent clauses. Remember—who refers to persons, which to things, and that to persons or things. To combine sentences with relative pronouns, you usually need to replace some words with who, which, what, or that; you may need to rearrange the order of the words. Use commas around the dependent clause only if it is clearly an interrupter (see page 2 of Commas).
|
|
Awkward |
The hedge muffles the highway noise. The hedge surrounds the house. |
|
|
Better |
The hedge which surrounds the house muffles the highway noise. |
|
|
Awkward |
Anna is going to Europe this summer. Anna has not had a vacation in five years. |
|
|
Better |
Anna, who has not had a vacation in five years, is going to Europe this summer. |
|
|
Awkward |
Greg's suggestion resulted in our having a successful campaign this year. Greg said we should give each team leader a bonus. |
|
|
Better |
Greg's suggestion that we give each team leader a bonus resulted in our having a successful campaign this year. |
Use a present participle (a verb ending in –ing — see page 7 of Verb Forms) or a past participle (a past, –ed, or –en verb form) to replace a clause or to combine ideas. You may have to change the order of the words.
|
|
Awkward |
The doctor hoped the bone damage in Mark's broken leg was not serious. The doctor carefully examined the X-rays. |
|
|
Better |
Hoping the bone damage in Mark's broken leg was not serious, the doctor carefully examined the X-rays. |
|
|
Awkward |
Loud, angry voices surrounded me. I lay quietly on the grass. I pretended to be far away. |
|
|
Better |
Surrounded by loud, angry voices, I lay quietly on the grass pretending to be far away. |
|
|
Awkward |
In Jamaica, Mary bought a gorgeous blue tablecloth. The tablecloth has heavy white lace around the edges. |
|
|
Better |
In Jamaica, Mary bought a gorgeous blue tablecloth edged in heavy white lace. |
Use appositives to combine ideas. An appositive is a noun that renames or identifies a noun before it and is interchangeable with that noun. Most appositives are set off by commas.
|
|
Awkward |
Rita is a good friend of mine. She works at the police department. |
|
|
Better |
Rita, a good friend of mine, works at the police department. |
|
|
Awkward |
Squash is my favorite vegetable. Squash is my husband's least favorite vegetable, so I don't cook it often. |
|
|
Better |
My favorite vegetable, squash, is my husband's least favorite vegetable, so I don't cook it often. |
|
|
Awkward |
Barak Obama was the first black American president. He was born in Hawaii. |
|
|
Better |
Barak Obama, the first black American president, was born in Hawaii. |
Use an adverb opener (see page 2 of Parts of Speech) at the beginning of a sentence to omit unnecessarily repeated words.
|
|
Awkward |
Fran hung up on the telephone salesman. Fran was abrupt. |
|
|
Better |
Abruptly, Fran hung up on the telephone salesman. |
|
|
Awkward |
I pulled on my shoes and pants as the doorbell rang. I was swift. |
|
|
Better |
Swiftly, I pulled on my pants and shoes as the doorbell rang |
Use an infinitive opener (see letter K on page 4 of Practice 1 of Subject/Verb Identification) at the beginning of a sentence to combine ideas and omit repeated words. Put the less important information in the infinitive phrase, and put a comma after it.
|
|
Awkward |
John fertilizes his lawn every spring. He wants to make it greener. |
|
|
Better |
To make his lawn greener, John fertilizes it every spring. |
|
|
Awkward |
I offered to drive the next five hundred miles. I wanted to give my wife a rest. |
|
|
Better |
To give my wife a rest, I offered to drive the next five hundred miles. |
Use prepositional phrases to combine sentences. Start the new sentence with a prepositional phrase and replace repetitive material with prepositional phrases. Generally, you should put a comma after an opening prepositional phrase.
|
|
Awkward |
Mother quickly wrote my new address. She wrote in the airport restaurant. She used her eyebrow pencil. She wrote on the napkin. |
|
|
Better |
With her eyebrow pencil, Mother quickly wrote my new address on the napkin in the airport restaurant. |
|
|
Awkward |
Pam invited ten people. She invited them to dinner. She invited them to her house. The dinner is Tuesday night. It will celebrate Aunt Jo's seventy-fifth birthday. |
|
|
Better |
Pam invited ten people to dinner at her house on Tuesday night for a celebration of Aunt Jo's seventy-fifth birthday. |
Instead of writing a series of short descriptive sentences about a person or thing, use lists of adjectives (see page 2 of Parts of Speech) before the nouns they modify in one sentence. If the word and could be used between the adjectives, use commas between the adjectives.
|
|
Awkward |
The little boy stared eagerly at his birthday gift. He was impatient. He was excited. The gift was huge. It looked mysterious. It felt heavy. |
|
|
Better |
The excited, impatient little boy stared eagerly at his huge, heavy, mysterious birthday gift. |
|
|
Awkward |
Patty squeezed her feet into her sandals. Patty's feet were swollen. Patty's feet were aching. Patty's feet were sunburned. Her sandals were tight. |
|
|
Better |
Patty squeezed her aching, swollen, sunburned feet into the tight sandals. |
Combine groups of short sentences into one sentence by listing all the verbs in one sentence and omitting repeated words. Place commas between the verbs as with other items in a series.
|
|
Awkward |
The reporters surrounded the lawyer. They shoved microphones into his face. They shouted questions at him. They took pictures without his permission. |
|
|
Better |
The reporters surrounded the lawyer, pushed microphones into his face, shouted questions at him, and took pictures without his permission. |
|
|
Awkward |
Lisa ran into the house. Lisa threw her books on the table. Lisa grabbed Mom. Lisa whirled around. Lisa shouted that she had gotten the scholarship. |
|
|
Better |
Lisa ran into the house, threw her books on the table, grabbed Mom, whirled around, and shouted that she had gotten the scholarship. |
Use more than one method of combining at the same time, especially if you need to combine several sentences into one.
|
|
Awkward |
Mr. Hernandez is our supervisor. Mr. Hernandez likes our brochure. The brochure is a graphic representation of lab services. Delores and I designed it. He suggested a pre-printed paper. That kind of paper is decorative. The paper will make our brochure look very professional. |
|
|
Better |
Mr. Hernandez, our supervisor, likes the brochure, which is a graphic representation of lab services designed by Dolores and me; but he suggested we use a decorative, pre-printed paper to make the brochure look more professional. |
|
|
Awkward |
Susan went to the beach. Susan is my best friend. Susan is from St. Louis. The beach had white sand. The beach had clean sand. Sailboats glided through the water. The water was clear. The water was blue. |
|
|
Better |
Susan, my best friend from St. Louis, went to the beach with white, clean sand where colorful sailboats glided through the clear, blue water. |
Now, do this activity and these practices to see if you understand the dfferent methods:
|
Practice 1 |
Practice 2 |