Sentence Combining

 

Text Box: Problems with short sentences: *Short choppy sentences demand attention, they should be used primarily for emphasis. If you have too many short sentences one after another it creates a choppy style. *Short sentences cannot show relationships that exist between ideas of different importance. *Short sentences draw attention away from the ideas in the paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following example sounds very choppy when read aloud…

I go to St. Lawrence University.  I am a sophomore.  I am 19 years old. 

I am a 19-year-old sophomore at St. Lawrence University. 

If your writing looks and reads like this you may want to consider combining sentences.

 

Text Box: How can sentences be combined?

 

 

Use Punctuation

Be careful not to use commas to combine sentences.  This may create run-on sentences and comma splices. 

 

There are 3 punctuation marks that are stronger than a comma but weaker than a period, question mark, or exclamation point. These are the dash (--), colon (:), and semi-colon (;).

 

-- A dash is used to add more information about some part of your sentence.  It is very informal, so it may be advisable not to include it in your writing. 

 

: A colon is used to add more information or to give examples in your sentence.

For example: He plays many sports: soccer, hockey, and basketball.  (Instead of: He plays soccer.  He plays hockey.  He plays basketball).

 

; A semi-colon is the most important punctuation mark for combining sentences, it is used to connect clauses.  It can also be used to connect clauses together with linking words such as however, moreover, and therefore. Remember that it is the semi-colon and not the conjunctive adverb that connects the clauses.

 

Use coordinating words

 

The coordinating conjunctions are as follows.

 

“and” is used to join clauses that contain additional information

(I bought a ticket and I got on the bus).

“or” is used to join clauses that contain choices or alternatives

(Write me a letter or send an e-mail message).

“but” is used to join clauses that contain opposing ideas

(I arrived early but no one was there).

“so” is used to join clauses that contain ideas of cause and effect

(The jacket didn't fit so I took it back to the store).

“for” shows logical consequence; it has the same meaning as because, the reason why

(Coping with environmental issues is a necessary part of industrial studies, for industries affect the environment).

“nor” shows addition of a negative point

(The environment cannot sustain constant resource depletion, nor can it recover quickly from wide-scale resource extraction).

“yet” shows contrast

(More secondary schools are implementing programs designed to increase teenagers' awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, yet alcohol-related traffic accidents continue to be one of the leading causes of death for people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two).

 

 

 

 

¨      APPOSITION: In apposition, a word or phrase is taken and placed in a parallel position to a noun in the sentence. An appositive is like a parenthetical statement surrounded not by parentheses but by commas.

 

(Jason is a very good student.  He always does his homework.  Jason, a very good student, always does his homework).

 

 

Examples taken from the following websites…

 

            http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/style/sentencev.html

           

            http://eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/COMBINE/S1.htm