Introduction to Sentence Combining

By Richard Nordquist, About.com Guide

Filed In:

1. English Grammar

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This exercise will introduce you to sentence combining--that is, organizing sets of short, choppy
sentences into longer, more effective ones. However, the goal of sentence combining is not to
produce longer sentences but rather to develop more effective sentences--and to help you become
a more versatile writer.

Sentence combining calls on you to experiment with different methods of putting words together.
Because there are countless ways to build sentences, your goal is not to find the one "correct"
combination but to consider different arrangements before you decide which one is the most
effective.
An Example of Sentence Combining

Let's consider an example. Start by looking at this list of eight short (and repetitive) sentences:

 She was our Latin teacher.

 We were in high school.
 She was tiny.
 She was a birdlike woman.
 She was swarthy.
 She had dark eyes.
 Her eyes were sparkling.
 Her hair was graying.

Now try combining those sentences into three, two, or even just one clear and coherent sentence:
in the process of combining, omit repetitive words and phrases (such as "She was") but keep all
of the original details.

Have you succeeded in combining the sentences? If so, compare your work with these sample
combinations:

 Our Latin teacher in high school was a tiny woman. She was swarthy and birdlike. She
had dark, sparkling eyes and graying hair.

 When we were in high school, our Latin teacher was a tiny woman. She was swarthy and
birdlike, with dark, sparkling eyes and graying hair.

 Our high school Latin teacher was a swarthy, birdlike woman. She was tiny, with dark,
sparkling eyes and graying hair.

 Our Latin teacher in high school was a birdlike woman, tiny and swarthy, with graying
hair and dark, sparkling eyes.

Remember, there's no single correct combination. In fact, there are usually several ways to
combine sentences in these exercises. After a little practice, however, you'll discover that some
combinations are clearer and more effective than others.

If you're curious, here is the sentence that served as the original model for this little combining
exercise:
 Our high school Latin teacher was a tiny, birdlike woman, swarthy, with sparkling dark
eyes, graying hair.
(Charles W. Morton, It Has Its Charm)
An unusual combination, you might say. Is it the best version possible? As we'll see in later
exercises, that question can't be answered until we look at the combination in the context of the
sentences that precede and follow it. Nevertheless, certain guidelines are worth keeping in mind
as we evaluate our work in these exercises.

Evaluating Sentence Combinations

After combining a set of sentences in a variety of ways, you should take time to evaluate your
work and decide which combinations you like and which ones you don't. You may do this
evaluation on your own or in a group in which you will have a chance to compare your new
sentences with those of others. In either case, read your sentences out loud as you evaluate them:
how they sound to you can be just as revealing as how they look.

Here are six basic qualities to consider when you evaluate your new sentences:

1. Meaning. As far as you can determine, have you conveyed the idea intended by the
original author?
2. Clarity. Is the sentence clear? Can it be understood on the first reading?
3. Coherence. Do the various parts of the sentence fit together logically and smoothly?
4. Emphasis. Are key words and phrases put in emphatic positions (usually at the very end
or at the very beginning of the sentence)?
5. Conciseness. Does the sentence clearly express an idea without wasting words?
6. Rhythm. Does the sentence flow, or is it marked by awkward interruptions? Do the
interruptions help to emphasize key points (an effective technique), or do they merely
distract (an ineffective technique)?

These six qualities are so closely related that one can't be easily separated from another. The
significance of the various qualities--and their interrelationship--should become clearer to you as
you practice the combining exercises on this site.

Exercises in Sentence Building and Combining at About.com Grammar &

Composition

The sentence building and combining exercises here at Grammar & Composition encourage
students to experiment with different methods of putting words together:

 Sentence Building Exercises focus on particular grammatical structures in isolated

sentences.
 Sentence Combining & Paragraph Building Exercises (sometimes called whole-
discourse exercises) provide similar practice within the context of paragraphs and short
essays.
Because there are countless ways to construct sentences, the goal is not to find the one "correct"
combination but to consider different arrangements before deciding which one is most effective.

Question: What Is Sentence Combining and How Does It Work?

Find out about sentence combining--a friendly (and generally more effective) alternative to
traditional grammar instruction. Then begin developing your sentence-combining skills here at
About.com Grammar & Composition.

Answer:

An alternative to traditional forms of grammar instruction, sentence combining gives students

practice in manipulating a variety of basic sentence structures. Despite appearances, the goal of
sentence combining is not to produce longer sentences but rather to develop more effective
sentences--and to help students become more versatile writers.

How Sentence Combining Works

Here's a simple example of how sentence combining works. Consider these three short
sentences:

 The dancer was not tall.

 The dancer was not slender.
 The dancer was extremely elegant.

By cutting out the needless repetition and adding a few conjunctions, we can combine these three
short sentences into a single, more coherent sentence. We might write this, for instance: "The
dancer was not tall or slender, but she was extremely elegant." Or this: "The dancer was neither
tall nor slender but extremely elegant." Or even this: "Neither tall nor slender, the dancer was
extremely elegant nonetheless."

Which version is grammatically correct?

All three of them.

Then which version is most effective?

Now that's the right question. And the answer (as discussed in Introduction to Sentence
Combining) depends on several factors, beginning with the context in which the sentence
appears.

The Rise, Fall, and Return of Sentence Combining

As a method of teaching writing, sentence combining grew out of studies in transformational-

generative grammar and was popularized in the 1970s by researchers and teachers such as Frank
O'Hare (Sentence-Combining: Improving Student Writing Without Formal Grammar Instruction,
1971) and William Strong (Sentence Combining: A Composing Book, 1973). Around the same
time, interest in sentence combining was heightened by other emerging sentence-level
pedagogies, especially the "generative rhetoric of the sentence" advocated by Francis and
Bonniejean Christensen (A New Rhetoric, 1976).

In recent years, after a period of neglect (a period when researchers, as Robert J. Connors has
noted, "did not like or trust exercises" of any kind), sentence combining has made a comeback in
many composition classrooms. Whereas in the 1980s, as Connors says, "it was no longer enough
to report that sentence-combining 'worked' if no one could specify why it worked," research has
now caught up with practice:

[T]he preponderance of writing instruction research shows that systematic practice in combining
and expanding sentences may increase students' repertoire of syntactic structures and may also
improve the quality of their sentences, when stylistic effects are discussed as well. Thus,
sentence combining and expansion are viewed as a primary (and accepted) writing instructional
approach, one that has emerged from research findings holding that a sentence combining
approach is far superior to traditional grammar instruction.
(Carolyn Carter, The Absolute Minimum Any Educator Should Know & Teach Students About the
Sentence, iUniverse, 2003)
For more information about the rise, fall, and return of sentence combining (and other syntactic
exercises), see "The Erasure of the Sentence" by Robert J. Connors, originally published in the
September 2000 issue of College Composition and Communication and reprinted in the third
edition of Teaching Composition: Background Readings, edited by T.R. Johnson (Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2008).

Exercises in Sentence Building and Combining at About.com Grammar &

Composition

The sentence building and combining exercises here at Grammar & Composition encourage
students to experiment with different methods of putting words together:

 Sentence Building Exercises focus on particular grammatical structures in isolated

sentences.
 Sentence Combining & Paragraph Building Exercises (sometimes called whole-
discourse exercises) provide similar practice within the context of paragraphs and short
essays.

Because there are countless ways to construct sentences, the goal is not to find the one "correct"
combination but to consider different arrangements before deciding which one is most effective.

To begin developing your skills in sentence building and combining, follow these links:
Rules for Combining Sentences

Combining sentences is a necessary part of fluent communication in the English language;

however, with all of the transitions, subjects, predicates, verbs and verbals to consider, it’s easy
to become overwhelmed. Sentence combining does not need to be a chore! In fact, if you follow
these simple rules for combining sentences, you’ll probably find that it’s easy and you might
even begin to enjoy it.

Combining Independent Clauses

Independent clauses are essentially two sentences that could stand on their own—in other words,
they don’t “depend” on another clause to allow them to make sense. These sentences must be
combined with the use of a connecting word known as a “conjunction.” Some popular
conjunctions often used to achieve this purpose are and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet. Each
expresses something different, so use them wisely!

 “And” means also or in addition. Instead of saying, “Bryan went to the store. Brandon went to
the store, too,” try saying, "Bryan and Brandon went to the store."

 “But” expresses an opposite or different point of view. Instead of saying “It was a good idea. It
was a dangerous idea,” try saying, "It was a good but dangerous idea."

 “For” expresses causation or result. Instead of saying, “They went upstairs. They did this
because it was bedtime,” try saying, "They went upstairs, for it was bedtime."

 “Nor” means an additional negative idea. Instead of saying, “She doesn’t like school. She also
doesn’t like being at home,” try saying “She likes neither school nor home.”

 “Or” reflects an additional point of view—the presence of choice. Instead of saying, “The cat is
upstairs. It might also be in the garage,” try saying,“The cat is upstairs or in the garage.”

 “So” indicates the progression of a thought. Instead of saying, “They ditched school. This way,
they would not have to take the test,” try saying,“They skipped school so they could avoid the
test.”

 “Yet” expresses a contrast, similar to “but.” Instead of saying “I loved her. On the other hand, I
was angry with her,” try saying, “I loved her, yet I was angry with her.”

Combining Sentences with the Same Subjects and Verbs

Sentences with the same subject can be combined, since you’re describing the same person,
place, or thing completing different actions. This is very easy.

 Instead of: “Television is an educational tool. It is a tool that prevents education."

 Try “Television is an educational tool that may also prevent education.”
If two sentences contain different subjects that are accomplishing the same action, the sentences
can be combined as well.

 Instead of “The baby walked. The mother walked along.”

 Try “The mother walked along with the baby.”

Notice that subjects, verbs, and independent clauses all have something in common. The
sentences before they are combined unnecessarily repeat words that may be omitted by
combining the sentences together. By following these rules, your sentences will be more concise
and interesting, and far less repetitive.

The Semicolon

The semicolon is one of the most feared punctuation marks used in the English language. How
is it used, and why? In reality, the semicolon is a powerful tool when used to combine
sentences.

A semicolon is useful when two sentences that are related to one another in meaning must be
combined, but a comma will not suffice. Normally, a semicolon can be used in the place of a
period (also known as the “full stop”). You can use a semicolon in a number of ways in the
following sentences.

 Instead of “President Bush had left office. Barack Obama was now President.”
 Try “President Bush had left office; Barack Obama was now President.”
 or “President Bush had left office; now, Barack Obama was President.”
 or “President Bush had left office; as a result, Barack Obama was now President.”

Each conveys the same idea—but each also conveys that idea a bit differently.

With these simple rules for combining sentences, you can now combine sentences confidentially
to make your speech and stories much more interesting.

Teaching Sentence Combining

If your students are writing horrible sentences, it doesn’t matter how many times you explain the
need for more forethought and care. On the next assignment, without proper instruction and
guidance, they will do the same. Combining sentences, which should be one of the basic skills of
the English language, is often skipped in earlier grades. When teachers see that their students can
read and comprehend more complex syntax, the writing skill is not reinforced. However, this
often hampers students in the later grades. Fortunately the process can be reversed—or stopped
in its tracks before it starts—with a strong foundation in combining sentences.

Examples from Reading

A primary teaching of combining sentences should begin with reading and instruction instead of
isolated examples on a board. You may, for instance, start out by asking students how they know
to end once sentence and begin another. There will be a variety of correct answers to the
question, which you can write on the chalk board. Next, take an example from a recent short
story covered in class, and have the students notice the choices that the author made when ending
sentences and beginning new ones. Explain to your students that, although the author made some
excellent choices, there are plenty of other options. Use the text to combine sentences and break
them apart. Use different techniques such as breaking two sentences into three, or combining the
tail end of a sentence with the sentence following. This project will demonstrate not only the
choices of the author, but the skills of the pupils themselves to make reasonable sentence
combination decisions.

Write a Bad Paragraph

Oftentimes, teachers will harp on the need for editing and peer-editing without demonstrating to
the students what type of editing is needed. When they’ve pored over their work for perhaps
hours at a time, it is difficult for them to reckon with their own faults. A great teaching strategy
for sentence combination is to introduce an unfamiliar piece of text that is poorly written, and
allow them to combine the sentences together for a more coherent whole. Once the students have
the basic understanding of how and why sentences are combined in various configurations, you
can use their reading to demonstrate examples of bad sentences. Take a paragraph of text from a
short story recently covered and re-write it so that the sentences are short, choppy, and entirely
without transition. Alternatively, you can write a paragraph of your own. Have them edit the
paragraph as a class, and then write their own “bad prose” for a friend to combine sentences as
homework.

Explain the Formal Elements

At this point, you can begin explaining to students the fundamental elements that make for a
good sentence. Whereas before they would not have understood the grammatical backbone on
which your lessons are built, by now they will be prepared to hear why sentences function the
way they do. Focus on grammar and concrete images and build from this. A main part of this
unit will be explaining the difference between subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, and
then reinforcing how punctuation can make these decisions stronger. While these elements of
grammar are sure to be lost of some students, make them extremely simple at first, focusing on
the seven coordinating conjunctions and then moving onto the possibilities allowed by the
subordinating.

Seek Activities

As always, these lessons will become boring and dry without a variety of activities to keep
students interested. Get them into the lesson, allowing them to act out the parts of sentences and
having one or two students at a time play conjunctions. Puzzles, timed activities, and word
searches will all be valuable tools. If all else fails, look for interactive games online that pique
the interest of the students. In this age of technology, there is no reason to forego the more
colorful and entertaining possibilities of the internet for the more banal workbook activities to
which the students are probably accustomed. Combine video (Conjunction Junction is still fun!),
audio, written, and oral exercises for the best possible results. Remember, it takes only one
particularly memorable activity for the concept to become entrenched in the mind of a student.