Sentence+Combining

Recognizing Compound Sentences Making Compound Sentences Using Compound Sentences
 * Putting Sentences Together
 * Putting Sentences Together

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If you continually use short sentences in your writing, your paragraphs will sound very choppy. Read this paragraph and notice how it sounds.


 * It was my birthday. I ask for a bike. My parents bought me a red bike. It had white strips on the fenders. I like to ride my bike everywhere. I like to ride on smooth payment best. I am not allowed to ride on the sidewalk. People walk on the side walk. If I have time. I ride on the bike trail in the park.**

To make your writing more interesting, you can combine the short sentences to make longer sentences. The longer sentences can be either compound or complex. Read the revised paragraph below. Notice how the paragraph flows much better with longer sentences.


 * It was my birthday, so I ask for a bike. My parents bought me a red bike, and it had white strips on the fenders. I like to ride my bike everywhere, but I like to ride on smooth payment best. I am not allowed to ride on the sidewalk because people walk on the sidewalk. Whenever I have time, I ride on the bike trail in the park.**

Did you notice the kind of changes that were made in the second paragraph? Conjunctions and commas were used to connect the sentences. What are conjunctions? The most common conjunctions used in compound sentences are: || **and, as, but, or, so** ||

When you make a compound sentence you are joining two or more simple sentences together with a conjunction and a comma. If you took the conjunction away, the sentences would be complete and they would still make sense. Look at this example:


 * **Sentence 1: I like to ride my bike everywhere** ||
 * **Sentence 2: I like to ride on smooth payment best** ||
 * **Compound sentence: I like to ride my bike everywhere** **, but** **I like to ride on smooth payment best.** ||

Complex sentences use conjunctions and sometimes commas also. However, complex sentences don't just divide into neat, complete, simple sentences if you take out the conjunctions. In complex sentences the conjunction is used to join together clauses. These conjunction are used most often in complex sentences:
 * **after, although, because, before, until, since, when, whenever, while** ||

What is a clause? A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. Sometimes clauses are complete short sentences, but in a complex sentence at least one of them will depend on the conjunction for its meaning. This means if you take the conjunction away, the sentence won't divide into complete units that make sense by themselves. Look at these examples:


 * **Clause 1: I am not allowed to ride on the sidewalk** ||
 * **Clause 2: People walk on the sidewalk** ||
 * **Complex sentence: I am not allowed to ride on the sidewalk** ** because ** **people walk on the sidewalk.** ||


 * **Clause 1: If I have time** ||
 * **Clause 2: I ride on the bike trail in the park** ||
 * **Complex sentence:** **Whenever** **I have time** **, ** **I ride on the bike trail in the park.** ||

=** Exercise #1 **=


 * Revise these paragraphs using compound and complex sentences.**

Paragraph 1: It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was high. The trees waved and crashed against the barn. I looked around me and saw that I wasn’t alone. A man stood behind me. He was tall. He was mean. He had a knife. It was shining in the moonlight. It was long and slender. He reached back. He stabbed with it. I jumped out of the way. I ran away.

It was a dark, and stormy night, and the wind was high. The trees waved, crashing against the barn. I knew I was not alone because I saw a tall, and mean man with a knife standing behind me. The long, and slender knife was shining bright, like the devious moon. I saw him trying to stab me, but I jumped away. I got away safely.

Paragraph 2: Tom prefers baseball to basketball. Baseball seems more interesting to Tom. Tom feels baseball is a gentleman’s sport. Baseball is more structured than basketball. Baseball requires athletes to use more skill than aggression when playing. Tom respects baseball players the most because of this.

Tom likes baseball more than basketball because baseball is more interesting. Tom believes that baseball is for a gentleman, and that baseball is more structured than basketball. Tom respects baseball players because baseball requires athletes to use more skill then aggression when playing. = Exercise #2 = 1. I always order cheese fries. The reason why is because they're my favorite. I always order cheese fries, because they are my favorite kind of food. 2. Bob was my boyfriend. That was in high school. We dated for about eight months. Before I met Mike. During school years, I dated Bob, my boyfriend for eight months before I met Mike. 3. The tree fell on the house. This was a sycamore. Because of the high winds. But my grandmother wasn't hurt. The sycamore tree fell on my house because of my high winds but it did not harm my grandmother. 4. My dog's name is George. He is a Golden Retriever. He loves to play Frisbee. Loves to swim, too. My dog George is a Golden Retriever that loves to play frisbee, and swim. 5. My parents gave me a car. That is why I'm able to afford to go to college. Still, I work part-time. I work at Wal-Mart. I'm a cashier. I work part-time at Wal-Mart as a cashier, and can afford to go to college because my parents gave me a car. //and, but, or, so, yet, nor// 6. Some students stay on the sidewalks. Some students cut across the grass. Some students stay on the sidewalks and some students cut across the grass. 7. Students have to park far from their classrooms. They are often late for class. Students have to park far from their classrooms so they are often late for class. 8. Trash cans have been placed all over campus. Students still throw garbage on the ground. Trash cans have been placed all over campus yet students still throw garbage on the ground. 9. The administration promised to improve dining hall service. The quality of the food is actually worse this year. The administration promised to improve dining hall service, but the quality of the food is actually worse this year. 10. These students do not respect the feelings of others. They don't seem to respect themselves. These students do not respect the feelings of others nor do they respect themselves. 11. We must stand up for our rights today. We may find ourselves with no rights at all. We must stand up for our rights today or we may find ourselves with no rights at all.
 * Combine each set of short sentences and fragments into one sentence.**
 * Combine these six pairs of sentences using the coordinating conjunctions listed below. Use each conjunction only one time.**

//unless, because, even though, while, although, though// 12. Some students stay on the sidewalks. Some students cut across the grass. Some students stay on the sidewalks while some students cut across the grass. 13. Students have to park far from their classrooms. They are often late for class. Students have to park far from their classrooms even though they are often late for class. 14. Trash cans have been placed all over campus. Students still throw garbage on the ground. Trash cans have been placed all over campus though students still throw garbage on the ground 15. The administration promised to improve dining hall service. The quality of the food is actually worse this year. The administration promised to improve dining hall service because the quality of the food got worse this year. 16. These students do not respect the feelings of others. They do seem to respect themselves. These students do not respect the feelings of others unless they respect themselves. 17.We must stand up for our rights today. We may find ourselves with no rights at all. We must stand up for our rights today even though we may find ourselves with no rights at all.
 * Combine the same sentences above using the subordinating conjunctions listed below. Again, use each conjunction only one time.**

= Exercise #3 = Make a single sentence from each of the groups of sentences below. You must include all of the information which is given, but you may change the form of any word or the arrangement of the sentences. You should delete redundant words or phrases, and you may add prepositions and conjunctions.

"Example": l. The students were diligent. 2. The students followed their professor's instructions. 3. The students wrote in their journals. 4. The students wrote every day.

"Single sentence": Diligently following their professor's instructions, the students wrote in their journals every day.

"Exercises": A. l. We caught two bass. 2. We hauled them in briskly. 3. We hauled them in as though they were mackerel. 4. We pulled them over the side of the boat. 5. We did not use a landing net. 6. Our manner was businesslike. 7. We stunned them with a blow on the back of the head.

We caught the two bass in which we hauled briskly like a mackerel while pulling them over the side of the boat without using a landing net in a businesslike manner and stunned the fish with a blow on their heads.

-- E.B. White B. l. The doctor's eye roved across the landscape. 2. His eye detected a figure. 3. His eye was quick. 4. The figure was in black. 5. The figure passed through the gate. 6. The gate led to the field. 7. The gate led down toward the pond. The doctor's quick eye detected a black figure passing through a gate that led to a field, and pond.

--D.H. Lawrence

C. l. Mrs. Lang saw herself as a counselor. 2. Mrs. Lang saw herself as wise and helpful. 3. She appeared on her neighbor's doorstep. 4. She appeared at the first hint of trouble. 5. She was armed with a treasure-trove of cliches. 6. She was armed with a repertory of sad looks. 7. She was armed with a jar of fig preserves. Mrs. Lang, the wise and helpful counselor armed with clinches, sad looks, and a jar of fig preserves appeared on her neighbor's doorstep when she sensed trouble.

D. l. Two men dozed. 2. The two men were young. 3. The two men were in the class. 4. They succumbed to fatigue. 5. They succumbed to boredom. 6. They succumbed to the stuffiness of the classroom. 7. The classroom was crowded. 8. They barely heard the voice of the instructor. 9. The instructor detailed with enthusiasm. 10. The instructor detailed the horrors of the Black Death. Two men in a class were young, dozed, bored, stiff, and fatigue in a crowded classroom and had a hard time hearing the enthusiastic instructor talking about the Black Death.

E. l. There is a spider. 2. The spider is bulbous at the abdomen. 3. The spider is drab in color. 4. The spider is in the bathroom. 5. The spider has a web. 6. The web is six inches in diameter. 7. The web is in the corner. 8. The corner is behind the toilet. 9. The web is torn. 10. An earwig is trapped in the web. 11. Corpses are on the floor beneath the web. 12. The corpses are the spider's kill. 13. Most of the corpses are sow bugs. 14. Three of the corpses are spiders. 15. Two of the corpses are moths. 16. The moths' corpses are wingless.

The bulbous, and colorful spider in the bathroom had a torn web that was 6 inches sitting in the corner behind a toilet which had an earwig, and corpses of sow bugs, spiders, and wingless moths on them.

-- Annie Dillard

F. l. He ran upstairs. 2. He took blankets from a bed. 3. He put blankets before the fire. 4. The blankets were warm. 5. Then he removed her clothing. 6. Her clothing was saturated. 7. Her clothing was earthy-smelling. 8. He rubbed her leg. 9. He rubbed her with a towel. 10. He wrapped her in the blanket. 11. She was naked. He ran upstairs and took the warm blankets before the fire removing her saturated, earthy-smelling clothing while rubbing her leg with a towel, and wrapping her naked body in the blanket.

-- D.H. Lawrence

G l. Then he motioned. 2. He motioned to the driver. 3. The driver was to go on. 4. The car moved slowly. 5. The car moved along. 6. The driver avoided holes. 7. The holes had been made by wart hogs. 8. The driver drove around the mud castles. 9. The mud castles had been built by ants. He motioned to the driver to go on, while moving his car along slowly avoiding holes made by wart hogs to the mud castles built by ants. -- Ernest Hemingway

H. l. Corporal Max Klinger is a character on "M.A.S.H." 2. "M.A.S.H." is a television series. 3. "M.A.S.H." is popular. 4. Corporal Klinger is aptly named. 5. He is named for a playwright. 6. The playwright is Maximilian Klinger. 7. Maximilian Klinger was a German. 8. Maximilian Klinger lived in the eighteenth century. 9. Maximilian Klinger wrote a play. 10. His play was entitled "Sturm und Drang." 11. "Sturm und Drang" means "Storm and Stress." 12. "Sturm und Drang" became the name of a movement. 13. The movement was literary. 14. The movement was "avant-garde."

The popular television series " M.A.S.H" by Maximilian Klinger has a German character who lived in the 18th century named Corporal Max Klinger, who wrote a play called "Sturm und Drang" (meaning "Storm and Stress") which became a literary, and "avant-garde" movement.

= Exercise #4 =

EXERCISES IN WRITING AN ECONOMICAL PARAGRAPH

Combine the sentences of A. into an economical paragraph, then do the same with B. See how many words you can omit without changing any of the ideas or information.

A. 1. Men are always aware of women. 2. They are aware of them whether they are young men or old men. 3. Middle-aged men are also aware. 4. Men are animals who are constantly aware of women as women. 5. They might be defined that way. 6. They are aware of women on the street. 7. They are aware of them in stores and parks. 8. They are aware of them on beaches. 9. Men are also aware of women in buses. 10. Men are always aware of women. 11. Men are most aware of women who want to be noticed.

B. l. Women are discriminated against. 2. Women's liberation is concerned with this. 3. They are discriminated against in the type of jobs they are allowed. 4. Their salaries are frequently lower than those of men for the same work. 5. Women are treated as empty-headed sex objects. 6. They are told they are fit only to be housewives. 7. They are also told they must aspire to be mothers and are given almost all the job of child rearing. 8. Women are told they must accept the protection of men. 9. Women are told they are physically weaker and that they cannot reason as well as men. 10. Men are a minority in America. 11. Men have made women second-class citizens. 12. This is a tragic situation. 13. Except for very limited areas women are denied success and fulfillment in life. 14. It is even more tragic to realize what women have done to themselves. 15. Women in the past have helped create the very society which dis- criminates against them.

= Exercise #5 =

**SENTENCE COMBINING**
===**Smooth long sentences which convey a lot of information are really combinations of many short sentences. For example if you wanted to convey the information in the series of sentences listed below, how would you write it? (John Steinbeck's version of this cluster of statements is included at the end of this booklet.)**=== 1. The Torres family had a farm. 2. The farm was about 15 miles below Monterey. 3. It was on the coast. 4. The coast was wild. 5. The farm was a few acres in size. 6. The acres were sloping. 7. The acres were above a cliff. 8. The cliff dropped to the reefs. 9. The reefs were brown. 10. The cliffs dropped to the waters. 11. The waters were white. 12. The waters were the ocean. 13. The waters were hissing.

====When you want to combine shorter units of information into longer ones, try some of the methods listed here. Use the signals in the parentheses.====

**Now you try some.**
1. My dog had twelve puppies. All of them died. (BUT) _ _ 2. You can take his advice which isn't very good. You can try to figure out your own solution. (,OR) _ _

===**b. To make relationships clearer, join sentences with words like "however," "moreover," "therefore," etc. and a semicolon.**===

====Example Tim found the dorm food tasteless, overcooked and uninteresting. He ate it anyway. (HOWEVER,) Result Tim found the dorm food tasteless, overcooked, and uninteresting; however, he ate it anyway.====

**Now you try some.**
1. When Phil came to class, he rarely paid close attention to lectures. His notebook was a collection of random phrases and interesting doodles. (THEREFORE,) _ _ _ _ 2. Traveling to Florida inn the winter is expensive. I went there anyway. (NEVERTHELESS,) _ _

**c. Join sentences by omitting a repeated subject.**
====Example Helen raised her pistol. She took careful aim She squeezed off five rapid shots to the center of the target (,AND) Result Helen raised her pistol, took careful aim, and squeezed off five rapid shots to the center of the target.====

**Now you try some.**
1. Parker's friends ate his food. They sprawled on his sofa. They pretended to listen to what he said. (,AND) _ _ _ __2. The fire raced through the abandoned warehouse. The fire leveled it in an hour. (,AND)__ _ _ __3. The hunter scrambled onto the rock. He gently eased up his rifle. He methodically adjusted the sights. Then he squeezed off a perfect shot.__ _ _ _ _

**Now you try some.**
1. My younger brother is a pest. He often trails after me. (WHO) _ _ __2. Clara picked the flowers. The flowers soon wilted and died. (WHICH)__ _ _ __3. The book was on the fireplace. I wanted but couldn't find it. (THAT)__ _ _ __4. Gayle turned out to be the most reliable member of our team. We had never trusted Gayle. (WHOM)__ _ _ __5. Most of the helicopters were already beyond repair. The terrorists destroyed the helicopters. (THAT)__ _ _ _

**Now try omitting "WHO," "WHICH," or "THAT"**
====Example The history book covers much more than we can handle in a semester. We are using the history book. (THAT) Result The history book we are using covers much more than we can handle in a semester.==== 1. I gave away all the candy to the trick-or-treaters. Dad bought the candy. (THAT) _ _ 2. The lady took all the honors at the speech contest. The young lady wore a purple pants suit. (WHO) _ _ _

**3. ADJECTIVES __--__ before and after nouns**
====Example The horses drooped patiently in its traces. The horse was old. The horse was weary. Result The horse, weary and old, drooped patiently in its traces. (or) The weary, old horse drooped patiently in its traces.====

**Now you try some.**
1. The waitress perched on the counter. The waitress was young. The waitress was sexy. _ ___or__ _ _ __What can you do with: The puppy was lonely. The puppy was bedraggled. The puppy crouched at the feet of the man. The man was old. The man kicked it away.__ _ _ _ _ _

**4. __DEPENDENT CLAUSES -- Because, When, If, Although, Since (etc.)__**
===**(Dependent clauses are moveable and can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence.)**===

====Example I began to rain. (BECAUSE) Mary came in the house. Result Because it began to rain, Mary came in the house. (OR) Mary came in the house because it began to rain.====

**Now you try some.**
1. Carla came in the room. (WHEN) Everyone fell silent. _ _ or _ _ 2. His wife had left him. (BECAUSE) His children were grown (BECAUSE) His business was falling (BECAUSE) He wanted to leave for Europe. _ _ _ _ _

**A CHALLENGE: How many different ways can you combine the following sentences?**
1. The man gathered the boy into his arms. 2. The man was old. 3. The man was grief-stricken. 4. The man was certain (of) SOMETHING. 5. The boy was dying. 6. The man stumbled home. 7. He sank to his knees at home. 8. He prayed SOMETHING. 9. His son would recover. _ _ _ _ _ __1. Police officials returned from a tour. 2. The police officials were American. 3. The tour was of Japan. 4. They were impressed by Tokyo. 5. The crime rate is low in Tokyo despite SOMETHING. 6. Eleven-and-a-half million people live there.__ _ _ _ _ _ __1. A search revealed SOMETHING. 2. The search was conducted by the fire marshal's office. 3. Old rags had been stored near SOMETHING. 4. The rags were still damp with solvents. 5. The solvents were flammable. 6. The solvents were for cleaning. 7. Something seemed to be a heater. 8. The heater was small and portable. 9. The heater was fired by kerosene. 10. Beside a heater is a dangerous spot for anything flammable.__ _ _ _ _ ___

Answer to page 1 question:
====The original sentence from John Steinbeck's short story "Flight" is:==== "About fifteen miles below Monterey, on a wild coast, the Torres family had their farm, a few sloping acres above a cliff that dropped to the brown reefs and to the hissing white waters of the ocean."

=**Sentence Combining Worksheets**= Knowing how to combine sentences is essential when writing. If you were unable to properly combine sentences, each sentence would be very short, simple and boring. Unfortunately, the rules for combining sentences can be somewhat complex. This worksheet helps with some examples of sentences to combine so you can get lots of practice combining sentences.

**Simple Sentence Combining Worksheet**
Combine the following sentences with a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). 1) She went to work. She did not want to go. 2) The scientists trained him well. They helped him find a job when his training was through. 3) Polar bears are fierce, territorial animals. Grizzly bears are the same. 4) Mark told me not to come with him. He looked longingly at me as I left. 5) I will not give in to you. I will not let you push me around. 6) He loves to drive during the day. They will let him drive before 9pm. 7) My cat was hungry. It had not eaten since breakfast. 8) They couldn’t think of anything better to do. They decided to baby-sit for the family. 9) A book can be a lot of fun to read. A book can be boring. 10) That movie looks great! I would love to come see it with you.

**Sentence Combining Using Subordinating Conjunctions**
Combine the following sentences with a subordinating conjunction (after all, although, because, before, however, therefore). This may require a semicolon! 11) They made plans to go. They ended up not being able to make it. 12) Some say that dogs are friendlier than cats. Cats can also be extremely loving. 13) What we’ve accomplished is a milestone. Let’s raise our glasses for a toast. 14) Dr. Johnson ate a big meal. He went to work afterward. 15) I simply cannot get out of bed. I am too tired. 16) Don’t give me a hard time. We’ve been close friends for so long. 17) We don’t believe the way you do. Our culture is very different from yours. 18) I can’t believe that you would do something so crazy. If I were you I might do the same. 19) The two weren’t always this close. When she died, they became closer. 20) I refused to talk about it. I was put in jail.

**Sentence Combining with Subjects and Verbs**
The following sentences share either the same subject or the same verb. Combine the sentences however you can. 21) Mr. Brown walked to the store. His pet monkey Ralph walked along with him. 22) The cactus is thirsty. The cactus is not getting enough sunlight. 23) My mug was in the cupboard. My mug is no longer in the cupboard. 24) Drew’s dog jumped into the air. Janine’s dog jumped into the air as well. 25) The book fell to the floor. It opened to a page I had never read before. 26) Your face has scars on it. Your face looks friendly. 27) Why did you say that word? It was extremely rude. 28) Everyone is lying to me! They’re trying to keep me from learning what they know. 29) Stop dancing like that. Sit back down in your chair. 30) Thomas’ friends seemed so strange. They were hanging up every time they called.

**Sentence Combining in Paragraphs**
Combine as many sentences as you can in the following paragraph, using the above examples to guide you. The Boston Red Sox were three games down. The Red Sox had to win the next four games to advance. Fans were worried. Boston had not won a World Series since 1918. No team had ever come back in the playoffs from a three-game deficit. All of the fans knew this. Red Sox fans watched anxiously as the fourth game of the ALCS began. Yankees fans watched confidently. They also knew that anything could happen. People wanted to watch a good series. They did not expect it to be such a nail-biter! David Roberts stole second base. This move would be remembered as the turning point of the series. Nobody believed the Red Sox would win that year. The Red Sox won that year. The Yankees would not win the World Series for another five years. In 2009, the Yankees won the World Series. || ||