Sentence Combining – Seek Summer Program 2023

SENTENCE COMBINING

What Is Sentence Combining and How Does It Work?

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

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 depends on several factors, beginning with the context in which the sentence appears.

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.

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:

Meaning. As far as you can determine, have you conveyed the idea intended by the original author?
Clarity. Is the sentence clear? Can it be understood on the first reading?
Coherence. Do the various parts of the sentence fit together logically and smoothly?
Emphasis. Are key words and phrases put in emphatic positions (usually at the very end or at the very beginning of the sentence)?
Conciseness. Does the sentence clearly express an idea without wasting words?
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.

Adjectives and Adverbs

Combine the sentences in each set into a single clear sentence containing at least one adjective or adverb (or both). Omit words that are needlessly repeated, but don’t leave out any important details. If you run into any problems, you may find it helpful to review the following pages:

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

After you have completed the exercise, compare your new sentences with the original sentences. Keep in mind that many combinations are possible, and in some cases you may prefer your own sentences to the original versions.

Willie had a beard and a moustache.
The beard was bushy.
The beard was long.
The moustache was droopy.

The man handed me a photograph of a woman.
He did this silently.
The man was old.
The woman was beautiful.

The man handed me a photograph of a woman.
The photograph was torn.
The photograph was faded.
The woman was young.

The photograph brought back memories.
The memories were brought back instantly.
The memories were fine.
The memories were old.

The photograph of the woman brought back memories.
The memories were brought back instantly.
The woman was beautiful.
The woman was young.
The photograph was torn.
The photograph was faded.
The memories were fine.
The memories were old.

SAMPLE COMBINATIONS:

Willie had a long, bushy beard and a droopy moustache.
Silently, the old man handed me a photograph of a beautiful woman.
The man handed me a torn and faded photograph of a young woman.
The photograph instantly brought back fine old memories.
The torn and faded photograph of a beautiful young woman instantly brought back fine old memories.

Prepositional Phrases

Combine the sentences in each set into a single clear sentence containing at least one prepositional phrase. Omit words that are needlessly repeated, but don’t leave out any important details.

A mouse darted.
It darted across the salad bar.
This happened during the luncheon.

We traveled this summer.
We traveled by train.
We traveled from Biloxi.
We traveled to Dubuque.

The convertible swerved, crashed, and caromed.
It swerved off the road.
It crashed through the guardrail.
It caromed off a maple tree.

Mick planted seeds.
He planted them in his garden.
He did this after the quarrel.
The quarrel was with Mr. Jimmy.

Grandpa dropped his teeth.
His teeth were false.
His teeth dropped into a glass.
There was prune juice in the glass.

Lucy played.
She was behind the sofa.
She was with her friend.
Her friend was imaginary.
They played for hours.

There was a man.
He wore a chicken costume.
He dashed across the field.
He did this before the ballgame.
The ballgame was on Sunday afternoon.

A man stood, looking down.
He stood upon a railroad bridge.
The bridge was in northern Alabama.
He was looking down into the water.
The water was twenty feet below.
The water was swift.

The gray-flannel fog closed off the Salinas Valley.
It was the fog of winter.
The fog was high.
The Salinas Valley was closed off from the sky.
And the Salinas Valley was closed off from all the rest of the world.

I climbed to my perch.
I did this one night.
The night was hot.
The night was in the summer.
The night was in 1949.
It was my usual perch.
My perch was in the press box.
The press box was cramped.
The press box was above the stands.
The stands were wooden.
These were the stands of the baseball park.
The baseball park was in Lumberton, North Carolina.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

During the luncheon, a mouse darted across the salad bar.

This summer we traveled by train from Biloxi to Dubuque.

The convertible swerved off the road, crashed through the guardrail, and caromed off a maple tree.

After his quarrel with Mr. Jimmy, Mick planted seeds in his garden.

Grandpa dropped his false teeth into a glass of prune juice.

Lucy played behind the couch for hours with her imaginary friend.

Before the ballgame on Sunday afternoon, a man in a chicken costume dashed across the field.

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift waters twenty feet below.
(Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”)

The high gray-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world.
(John Steinbeck, “The Chrysanthemums”)

One hot night in the summer of 1949, I climbed to my usual perch in the cramped press box above the wooden stands of the baseball park in Lumberton, North Carolina.
(Tom Wicker, “Baseball”)

COORDINATION

By coordinating words, phrases, and/or clauses, combine the sentences in each set into a single clear sentence. Use any basic conjunctions (FANBOYS) or correlative conjunctions that you think are appropriate. Omit words that are needlessly repeated, but don’t leave out any important details. If you run into problems, you may find it helpful to review the following pages:

After you have completed the exercise, compare your new sentences with the original sentences at the bottom of this page. Keep in mind that many combinations are possible, and in some cases you may prefer your own sentences to the original versions.

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

The sound of an automobile horn is muffled.
The sound is indistinct.
The sound seems part of another world.

A few of the strikers obeyed the court order.
They returned to work.
Most of the strikers remained on the picket line.

Merdine may be down at the Rainbow Bar.
Merdine may be over at the Chelsea Drugstore.
Merdine is at one of these two places.

The winds dispersed.
The rain slackened to a drizzle and a mist.
The clouds fell apart.
The sun shone through.

The girl was little.
She pressed her nose against the window.
The window was icy.
She giggled with delight.
She had never seen snow before.

The waitress tugged the pencil out of her hair.
Her hair was lacquered.
She licked the pencil point.
She flicked over her bill pad.
She asked if she could take our order.

He turned.
He pushed the bottom strand of wire.
He pushed it down to the ground.
He pushed it with his foot.
He held the middle strand up.
He held it up with his hands.
He did this so Ed and I could walk through.

Papa would sit on the front porch.
Papa would sit after supper.
Papa would sit on summer nights.
The nights were warm.
Papa would tell us stories.
The stories were about ghosts.
The stories were about witches.

The sun would dry the dew.
The dew was on the grass of the park
The sun would soften the tar.
The sun would bake the rooftops.
The sun would brown us on the beaches.
The sun would make us sweat.
The sun would keep us from the flats.
These were the flats of the tenements.
The flats were tight.
The flats were small.

SAMPLE COMBINATIONS:

The dancer was neither tall nor slender, but she was extremely elegant.
The muffled and indistinct sound of an automobile horn seems part of another world.
A few of the strikers obeyed the court order and returned to work, but most remained on the picket line.
Merdine is either down at the Rainbow Bar or over at the Chelsea Drugstore.
The winds dispersed, the rain slackened to a drizzle and a mist, the clouds fell apart, and the sun shone through.
The little girl pressed her nose against the icy window and giggled with delight, for she had never seen snow before.
The waitress tugged the pencil out of her lacquered hair, licked the pencil point, flicked over her bill pad, and asked if she could take our order.
He turned and pushed the bottom strand of the wire down to the ground with his foot and held the middle strand up with his hands, so Ed and I could walk through.
(Anne Moody, “Coming of Age in Mississippi”)
On warm summer nights after supper, Papa would sit on the front porch and tell us stories about ghosts and witches.
The sun would dry the dew on the grass of the park, soften the tar, bake the rooftops, brown us on the beaches, make us sweat, and keep us from the tight, small flats of the tenements.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

The adjective clause–a word group that modifies a noun–is a common form of subordination.

An adjective clause usually begins with a relative pronoun.
The two main types of adjective clauses are restrictive and nonrestrictive.

Consider how these two sentences can be combined:

My mp3 player fell apart after a few weeks.
My mp3 player cost over $200.

By substituting the relative pronoun which for the subject of the second sentence, we can create a single sentence containing an adjective clause:

My mp3 player, which cost over $200, fell apart after a few weeks.

Or we may choose to substitute which for the subject of the first sentence:

My mp3 player, which fell apart after a few weeks, cost over $200.

Put what you think is the main idea in the main clause, the secondary (or subordinate) idea in the adjective clause. And keep in mind that an adjective clause usually appears after the noun it modifies.

PRACTICE: Building Sentences with Adjective Clauses
Combine the sentences in each set into a single, clear sentence with at least one adjective clause. Subordinate the information that you think is of secondary importance. When you are done, compare your new sentences with the sample combinations on page two. Keep in mind that many combinations are possible, and in some cases you may prefer your own sentences to the original versions.

The first alarm clock woke the sleeper by gently rubbing his feet.
The first alarm clock was invented by Leonardo da Vinci.

Some children have not received flu shots.
These children must visit the school doctor.

Success encourages the repetition of old behavior.
Success is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.

I showed the arrowhead to Rachel.
Rachel’s mother is an archaeologist.

Merdine was born in a boxcar.
Merdine was born somewhere in Arkansas.
Merdine gets homesick every time she hears the cry of a train whistle.

The space shuttle is a rocket.
The rocket is manned.
This rocket can be flown back to earth.
This rocket can be reused.

Henry Aaron played baseball.
Henry Aaron played with the Braves.
Henry Aaron played for 20 years.
Henry Aaron was voted into the Hall of Fame.
The vote was taken in 1982.

Oxygen is colorless.
Oxygen is tasteless.
Oxygen is odorless.
Oxygen is the chief life-supporting element of all plant life.
Oxygen is the chief life-supporting element of all animal life.

Bushido is the traditional code of honor of the samurai.
Bushido is based on the principle of simplicity.
Bushido is based on the principle of honesty.
Bushido is based on the principle of courage.
Bushido is based on the principle of justice.

Merdine danced on the roof.
It was the roof of her trailer.
Merdine danced during the thunderstorm.
The thunderstorm flooded the county.
The thunderstorm was last night.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

The first alarm clock, which woke the sleeper by gently rubbing his feet, was invented by Leonardo da Vinci.
Children who have not received flu shots must visit the school doctor.
Success, which encourages the repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.
I showed the arrowhead to Rachel, whose mother is an archaeologist.
Merdine, who was born in a boxcar somewhere in Arkansas, gets homesick every time she hears the cry of a train whistle.
The space shuttle is a manned rocket that can be flown back to earth and reused.
Henry Aaron, who played baseball with the Braves for 20 years, was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.
Oxygen–which is colorless, tasteless, and odorless–is the chief life-supporting element of all plant and animal life.
Bushido, which is the traditional code of honor of the samurai, is based on the principles of simplicity, honesty, courage, and justice.
Merdine danced on the roof of her trailer during the thunderstorm that flooded the county last night.

APPOSITIVES

Instructions

Combine the sentences in each set below into a single clear sentence with at least one appositive (a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause, usually set off by commas, which follows a noun or pronoun and renames or describes the noun or pronoun). Omit words that are needlessly repeated, but don’t leave out any important details.

Monroe and I strolled through the graveyard.
The graveyard is the most peaceful spot in town.

St. Valentine is the patron saint of lovers.
St. Valentine was never married.

We were waiting outside the prison cells.
The cells were a row of sheds fronted with double bars.
The cells were like small animal cages.

My father was outside.
My father was beneath the window.
My father whistled for Reggie.
Reggie was our English setter.

We saw the stream in the valley.
The stream was black.
The stream was halted.
The stream was a tarred path through the wilderness.

We arrived at a group of peasant houses.
The group was small.
The houses were low yellow constructions.
The houses had dried-mud walls.
The houses had straw mats.

A great many old people came.
They knelt around us.
They prayed.
They included old women with jet-black faces.
The women had braided hair.
They included old men with work-gnarled hands.

One of the Cratchet girls had borrowed the books.
She was a hatchet-faced girl.
She was thin.
She was eager.
She was a transplanted Cockney.
She had a frenzy for reading.

It was the kind of home that gathers memories like dust.
It was a place filled with laughter.
It was filled with play.
It was filled with pain.
It was filled with hurt.
It was filled with ghosts.
It was filled with games.

I led a raid on the grocery.
It was the grocery of Barba Nikos.
The grocery was small.
The grocery was shabby.
Barba Nikos was old.
Barba Nikos was short.
Barba Nikos was sinewy.
Barba Nikos was a Greek.
Barba Nikos walked with a slight limp.
Barba Nikos sported a flaring handlebar moustache.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

Monroe and I strolled through the graveyard, the most peaceful spot in town.
St. Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, was never married.
We were waiting outside the prison cells, a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages.
(George Orwell, “A Hanging”)
Outside beneath my window, my father whistled for Reggie, our English setter.
We saw the stream in the valley, black and halted, a tarred path through the wilderness.
(Laurie Lee, “Winter and Summer”)
We arrived at a small group of peasant houses, low yellow constructions with dried-mud walls and straw roofs.
(Alberto Moravia, Lobster Land: A Traveler in China)
A great many old people came and knelt around us and prayed, old women with jet-black faces and old men with work-gnarled hands.
(Langston Hughes, “Salvation”)
One of the Cratchet girls had borrowed the books, a hatchet-faced, thin, eager, transplanted Cockney girl with a frenzy for reading.
(Wallace Stegner, Wolf Willow)
It was the kind of home that gathers memories like dust, a place filled with laughter and play and pain and hurt and ghosts and games.
(Lillian Smith, Killers of the Dream)
I led a raid on the small, shabby grocery of Barba Nikos, a short sinewy Greek who walked with a slight limp and sported a flaring, handlebar moustache.
(Harry Mark Petrakis, Stelmark: A Family Recollection)

ADVERB CLAUSES

Adverb clauses are subordinate structures that show the relationship and relative importance of ideas in sentences. They explain such things as when, where, and why about an action stated in the main clause.

Practice Exercise:
Building & Combining Sentences with Adverb Clauses

Combine the sentences in each set below by turning the sentence(s) in bold into an adverb clause. Begin the adverb clause with an appropriate subordinating conjunction.

Example:
Sailors wear earrings.
The earrings are made of gold.
Sailors always carry the cost of a burial.
They carry the cost on their own bodies.

Combination 1: So that they always carry the cost of a burial on their bodies, sailors wear gold earrings.
Combination 2: Sailors wear gold earrings so that they always carry the cost of a burial on their bodies.

It is unlikely that Cleopatra actually committed suicide with an asp.
The species is unknown in Egypt.

The boy hid the gerbil.
No one would ever find it.

Our neighbors installed a swimming pool.
The pool is in their backyard.
They have gained many new friends.

My parents and I watched in awe.
We watched on a hot August evening.
Erratic bolts of lightning illuminated the sky.
The bolts of lightning were from a distant storm.

Benny played the violin.
The dog hid in the bedroom
The dog whimpered.

Natural rubber is used chiefly to make tires and inner tubes.
It is cheaper than synthetic rubber.
It has greater resistance to tearing when wet.

A Peruvian woman finds an unusually ugly potato.
She runs up to the nearest man.
She smashes it in his face.
This is done by ancient custom.

Credit cards are dangerous.
They encourage people to buy things.
These are things that people are unable to afford.
These are things that people do not really need.

I kissed her once.
I kissed her by the pigsty.
She wasn’t looking.
I never kissed her again.
She was looking all the time.

Some day I shall take my glasses off.
Some day I shall go wandering.
I shall go out into the streets.
I shall do this deliberately.
I shall do this when the clouds are heavy.
I shall do this when the rain is coming down.
I shall do this when the pressure of realities is too great.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

Because the species is unknown in Egypt, it is unlikely that Cleopatra actually committed suicide with an asp.

The boy hid the gerbil where no one would ever find it.

Since our neighbors installed a swimming pool in their backyard, they have gained many new friends.

On a hot August evening, my parents and I watched in awe as erratic bolts of lightning from a distant storm illuminated the sky.

Whenever Benny played the violin, the dog hid in the bedroom and whimpered.

Natural rubber is used chiefly to make tires and inner tubes because it is cheaper than synthetic rubber and has greater resistance to tearing when wet.

By ancient custom, when a Peruvian woman finds an unusually ugly potato, she runs up to the nearest man and smashes it in his face.

Credit cards are dangerous because they encourage people to buy things that they are unable to afford and do not really need.

I kissed her once by the pigsty when she wasn’t looking and never kissed her again although she was looking all the time.
(Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood)

Some day, when the clouds are heavy, and the rain is coming down and the pressure of realities is too great, I shall deliberately take my glasses off and go wandering out into the streets, never to be heard from again.
(James Thurber, “The Admiral on the Wheel”)

PARTICIPIAL PHRASES

Combine the sentences in each set below into a single clear sentence with at least one participial phrase. Here’s an example:

I stood on the roof of my apartment building at dawn.
I watched the sun rise through crimson clouds.

Sample combination: Standing on the roof of my apartment building at dawn, I watched the sun rise through crimson clouds.

Exercise: Building Sentences with Participial Phrases

The dishwasher was invented in 1889.
The dishwasher was invented by an Indiana housewife.
The first dishwasher was driven by a steam engine.

I took small sips from a can of Coke.
I was sitting on the ground in a shady corner.
I was sitting with my back against the wall.

I was sitting on the window ledge.
The ledge overlooked the narrow street.
I watched the children.
The children were frolicking in the first snow of the season.

The first edition of Infant Care was published by the U.S. Government.
The first edition of Infant Care was published in 1914.
The first edition of Infant Care recommended the use of peat moss for disposable diapers.

The house sat stately upon a hill.
The house was gray.
The house was weather-worn.
The house was surrounded by barren tobacco fields.

I washed the windows in a fever of fear.
I whipped the squeegee swiftly up and down the glass.
I feared that some member of the gang might see me.

Goldsmith smiled.
He bunched his cheeks like twin rolls of toilet paper.
His cheeks were fat.
The toilet paper was smooth.
The toilet paper was pink.

The roaches scurried in and out of the breadbox.
The roaches sang chanteys.
The roaches sang as they worked.
The roaches paused only to thumb their noses.
They thumbed their noses jeeringly.
They thumbed their noses in my direction.

The medieval peasant was distracted by war.
The medieval peasant was weakened by malnutrition.
The medieval peasant was exhausted by his struggle to earn a living.
The medieval peasant was an easy prey for the dreadful Black Death.

He eats slowly.
He eats steadily.
He sucks the sardine oil from his fingers.
The sardine oil is rich.
He sucks the oil with slow and complete relish.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

Invented by an Indiana housewife in 1889, the first dishwasher was driven by a steam engine.

Sitting on the ground in a shady corner with my back against the wall, I took small sips from a can of Coke.

Sitting on the widow ledge overlooking the narrow street, I watched the children frolicking in the first snow of the season.

Published by the U.S. Government in 1914, the first edition of Infant Care recommended the use of peat moss for disposable diapers.

The gray, weather-worn house sat stately upon a hill surrounded by barren tobacco fields.

Fearing that some member of the gang might see me, I washed the windows in a fever of fear, whipping the squeegee swiftly up and down the glass.

“Goldsmith smiled, bunching his fat cheeks like twin rolls of smooth pink toilet paper.”
(Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts)

“The roaches scurried in and out of the breadbox, singing chanteys as they worked and pausing only to thumb their noses jeeringly in my direction.”
(S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge)

The medieval peasant–distracted by war, weakened by malnutrition, exhausted by his struggle to earn a living–was an easy prey for the dreaded Black Death.

He eats slowly, steadily, sucking the rich sardine oil from his fingers with slow and complete relish.

ABSOLUTES

Instructions

Combine the sentences in each set below into a single clear sentence with at least one absolute phrase. Here’s an example:

The paperboy stood shivering in the doorway.
His teeth were chattering.
His palm was extended.

Sample combination:
His teeth chattering, his palm extended, the paperboy stood shivering in the doorway.

Exercise: Building Sentences with Absolutes

Ed and the little man climbed the stairs together.
Each was lost in his own strange world.

I sat on the highest limb of a sturdy oak tree.
Its branches were reaching to the clouds.
The branches were reaching as if to claim a piece of the sky.

The wolf trots away.
His head and tail are erect.
His hips are slightly to one side and out of line with his shoulders.

The raccoon goes down on all fours and strides slowly off.
Her slender front paws are reaching ahead of her.
Her slender front paws are like the hands of an experienced swimmer.
My grandparents were holding hands in a New York City subway train.
Their faces were old.
Their faces were beautifully lined.
Their gray heads were almost touching.

I sat huddled on the steps.
My cheeks were resting sullenly in my palms.
I was half listening to what the grownups were saying.
I was half lost in a daydream

One sunny morning I whipped down the Roxbury Road on my bicycle.
The front spokes were melting into a saw blade.
The wind was shrilling tunes.
The tunes came through the vent holes in my helmet.

An elderly woman shuffles slowly to a park bench and sits down heavily.
Her wig is slightly askew.
Her wig is ash-blond.
Her wig is showing tuffs of hair.
The hair was thin.
The hair was gray.

Arthur fidgets on his high-legged chair.
A pencil is poking out from behind his ear.
Arthur is in his box-like office.
His office is in the old Loft’s candy factory on Broome Street.

There were several species of turtle.
These species took to the sea between 90 million and 100 million years ago.
The turtles had stubby legs.
Their legs were adapting into flippers.
The flippers were streamlined.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

Ed and the little man climbed the stairs together, each lost in his own strange world.

I sat on the highest limb of a sturdy oak tree, its branches reaching to the clouds as if to claim a piece of the sky.

The wolf trots away, his head and tail erect, his hips slightly to one side and out of line with his shoulders.
Her slender front paws reaching ahead of her like the hands of an experienced swimmer, the raccoon goes down on all fours and strides slowly off.

Their faces old and beautifully lined, their gray heads almost touching, my grandparents were holding hands in a New York City subway train.

Half listening to what the grownups were saying and half lost in a daydream, I sat huddled on the steps, my cheeks resting sullenly in my palms.

One sunny morning I whipped down the Roxbury Road on my bicycle, the front spokes melting into a saw blade, the wind shrilling tunes through the vent holes in my helmet.

An elderly woman, her ash-blond hair slightly askew and showing tuffs of thin gray hair, shuffles slowly to a park bench and sits down heavily.

A pencil poking out from behind his ear, Arthur fidgets on his high-legged chair in his box-like office in the old Loft’s candy factory on Broome Street.

Between 90 million and 100 million years ago, several species of turtle took to the sea, their stubby legs adapting into streamlined flippers.

NOUN PHRASES AND NOUN CLAUSES

Sentence Combining Exercises

Combine the sentences in each set into a single clear sentence with at least one noun phrase or noun clause. Turn all questions (interrogative sentences) into declarative statements, and eliminate any needless repetition.

One either has or does not have a mathematical mind.
This is a common myth about the nature of mathematical ability.

How does cross-country skiing differ most fundamentally from downhill skiing?
It differs in the way you get yourself uphill.

What will radar scanning be valuable for?
It will detect modern waterways lying near the surface in arid areas.
Geologists believe this.

What does the American value?
The American does not value the possession of money as such.
The American values his power to make money as a proof of his manhood.

What is the secret of a good life?
One must have the right loyalties.
One must hold them in the right scale of values.

Your authority, if not already gone, is slipping fast.
What is the best way to learn this?
Help your eldest son pick a college.

What is diplomacy?
One does the nastiest thing in the nicest way.
One says the nastiest thing in the nicest way.

What should politicians be encouraged to do?
They should stand for what they believe in.
They should not formulate their principles on the basis of opinion polls.

What is the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day?
He can work.
That is the saddest thing.

How does propaganda work?
It tricks us.
It distracts the eye momentarily.
It distracts while the rabbit pops out from beneath the cloth.

Troubles come.
That is not the real problem.
We don’t know how to meet troubles.
That is the real problem.

Do you have what you want?
That is not happiness.
Do you want what you have?
That is happiness.

Old people in India know something.
They have a position of honor in the family.
They will be needed in diverse matters.
They will initiate a young bride into the ways and running habits of her new home.
They will offer experienced business advice.
They will gauge the proper size of a daughter’s dowry.

What is the purpose of life?
Being happy is not the purpose of life.
The purpose is to matter.
The purpose is to be productive.
The purpose is to be useful.
The purpose is to have it make some difference that you lived at all.

What kind of inner resources do we have?
What imperishable treasures of mind and heart have we deposited in the bank of the spirit against this rainy day?
The truth is this.
When we are in trouble we discover these things.
We discover them swiftly.
We discover them painfully.

How does a porcupine fight?
He gets his head under a rock or log.
He raises his quills.
He whips his tail about at lightning speed.
His tail is quill-filled.
He waits for someone to come and get it.

Is work useful?
Or is work useless?
Is work productive?
Or is work parasitic?
In practice nobody cares.
Work shall be profitable.
That is the sole thing demanded.

Do something before you make a major investment in bottled water.
Check with the manufacturer as to its source.
Check with the manufacturer as to the type of processing. Check with the manufacturer as to results of tests of its content and purity.
Dr. Robert Harris suggests this.
Dr. Robert Harris is a water specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund.

What kind of person are you?
How do you feel about others?
How will you fit into a group?
Are you assured?
Or are you anxious?
To what degree do you feel comfortable with the standards of your own culture?
Nonverbal communications signal these things to members of your own group.

What is the teacher’s job?
It is not to implant facts.
It is to place the subject to be learned in front of the learner.
It is to awaken in the learner the restless drive for answers and insights.
These answers and insights give meaning to the personal life.
The teacher must awaken through sympathy.
The teacher must awaken through emotion.
The teacher must awaken through imagination.
The teacher must awaken through patience.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

A common myth about the nature of mathematical ability holds that one either has or does not have a mathematical mind.
(Sheila Tobias, “Who’s Afraid of Math, and Why?”)

Where cross-country skiing differs most fundamentally from downhill skiing is in the way you get yourself uphill.
(Thomas J. Jackson, “Happy Trails”)

Geologists believe that radar scanning will be valuable for detecting modern waterways lying near the surface in arid areas.

What an American values is not the possession of money as such, but his power to make it as a proof of his manhood.
(W.H. Auden, “The Almighty Dollar”)

The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and to hold them in the right scale of values.
(Norman Thomas, “Great Dissenters”)

Helping your eldest son pick a college is the best way to learn that your authority, if not already gone, is slipping fast.
(Sally and James Reston)

Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way.
(Isaac Goldberg)

Politicians should be encouraged to stand for what they believe in, not formulate their principles on the basis of opinion polls.

One of the saddest things is that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work.
(William Faulkner)
Propaganda works by tricking us, by momentarily distracting the eye while the rabbit pops out from beneath the cloth.
(Donna Woolfolk Cross, Word Abuse)

The real problem is not just that troubles come, but that we don’t know how to meet them.

Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.
(Hyman Judah Schachtel, The Real Enjoyment of Living)

Old people in India always know that they have a position of honor in the family, that they will be needed in matters as diverse as initiating a young bride into the ways and running habits of her new home or offering experienced business advice on gauging the proper size of a daughter’s dowry.

The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all.
(Leo Rosten)

The truth is that when we are in trouble we discover swiftly and painfully what kind of inner resources, what imperishable treasures of mind and heart we have deposited in the bank of the spirit against this rainy day.
(A. Whitman, “Resources to Last a Lifetime”)

The porcupine fights by getting his head under a rock or log, raising his quills, whipping his quill-filled tail about at lightning speed and waiting for someone to come and get it.
(Robert Thomas Allen, Children, Wives, and Other Wildlife)

In practice nobody cares whether work is useful or useless, productive or parasitic; the sole thing demanded is that it shall be profitable.
(George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London)

Dr. Robert Harris, water specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund, suggests that before you make a major investment in bottled water, check with the manufacturer as to its source, the type of processing, and results of tests of its content and purity.
(Jane E. Brody, “How to Make Sure Your Water Is Fit to Drink”)

Nonverbal communications signal to members of your own group what kind of person you are, how you feel about others, how you’ll fit into and work in a group, whether you’re assured or anxious, the degree to which you feel comfortable with the standards of your own culture, as well as deeply significant feelings about the self, including the state of your own psyche.
(Edward T. Hall, “The Sounds of Silence”)

The teacher’s job is not to implant facts, but to place the subject to be learned in front of the learner and, through sympathy, emotion, imagination, and patience, awake in the learner the restless drive for answers and insights that enlarge and give meaning to the personal life.
(Nathan Pusey)

From “New York Is a City of Things Unnoticed”

By Gay Talese

New York is a city of things unnoticed. It is a city with cats sleeping under parked cars, two stone armadillos crawling up St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and thousands of ants creeping on top of the Empire State Building. The ants probably were carried up there by wind or birds, but nobody is sure; nobody in New York knows any more about the ants than they do about the panhandler who takes taxis to the Bowery; or the dapper man who picks trash out of Sixth Avenue trash cans; or the medium in the West Seventies who claims, “I am clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsensuous.”

New York is a city for eccentrics and a center for odd bits of information. New Yorkers blink twenty-eight times a minute, but forty when tense. Most popcorn chewers at Yankee Stadium stop chewing momentarily just before the pitch. Gum chewers on Macy’s escalators stop chewing momentarily just before they get off–to concentrate on the last step. Coins, paper clips, ballpoint pens, and little girls’ pocketbooks are found by workmen when they clean the sea lions’ pool at the Bronx Zoo.

A saxophone player stands on the sidewalk.
He stands there each afternoon.
He is in New York.
He is rather seedy.
He plays Danny Boy.
He plays in a sad way.
He plays in a sensitive way.
He soon has half the neighborhood peeking out of windows.
They toss nickels, dimes, and quarters at his feet.
Some of the coins roll under parked cars.
Most of them are caught in his hand.
His hand is outstretched.
The saxophone player is a street musician.
He is named Joe Gabler.
He has serenaded every block in New York City.
He has been serenading for the past thirty years.
He has sometimes been tossed as much as $100 a day.
This $100 is in coins.
He is also hit with buckets of water.
He is hit with beer cans.
The cans are empty.
He is chased by wild dogs.
He is believed to be the last of New York’s ancient street musicians.*

*Notice that the seventh set contains just one sentence. Because most paragraphs are made up of both long and short sentences, you will sometimes find one-sentence sets in the exercises. You have the choice of either copying these sentences just as they are or combining them with the sentences in another set.

Correct Answers and Sample Combinations

Here, along with two alternate versions, is the paragraph that served as the basis for the sentence combining exercise on page one. Countless combinations are possible in these exercises. Read the three sample combinations below, and compare each of them with your own paragraph.

Combination A
A rather seedy saxophone player stands on the sidewalk each afternoon in New York playing Danny Boy. He plays in such a sad, sensitive way that he soon has half the neighborhood peeking out of windows tossing nickels, dimes, and quarters at his feet. Some of the coins roll under parked cars, but most of them are caught in his outstretched hand. The saxophone player, Joe Gabler, is a street musician. He has serenaded every block in New York for the past thirty years, and he has sometimes been tossed as much as $100 a day in coins. He is also hit with buckets of water and empty beer cans and eggs, and he is chased by wild dogs. He is believed to be the last of New York’s ancient street musicians.

Combination B
Each afternoon in New York a rather seedy saxophone player stands on the sidewalk playing Danny Boy in such a sad and sensitive way that he soon has half the neighborhood peeking out of windows tossing nickels, dimes, and quarters at his feet. Some of the coins roll under parked cars, but most of them are caught in his outstretched hand. The saxophone player is a street musician named Joe Gabler; for the past thirty years he has serenaded every block in New York and has sometimes been tossed as much as $100 a day in coins. He is also hit with buckets of water, empty beer cans and eggs, and chased by wild dogs. He is believed to be the last of New York’s ancient street musicians.

Combination C
Each afternoon in New York a rather seedy saxophone player, Joe Gabler, stands on the sidewalk playing Danny Boy in a sad and sensitive way. For the past thirty years he has serenaded every block in New York and has sometimes been tossed as much as $100 a day in nickels, dimes, and quarters. Some of the coins roll under parked cars, but most of them are caught in his outstretched hand. He is also hit with buckets of water, empty beer cans and eggs, and chased by wild dogs. Joe Gabler is believed to be the last of New York’s ancient street musicians.

Evaluating Combinations

As seen in our Introduction to Sentence Combining, we can evaluate our combined sentences according to the same criteria that we use to judge our own writing: meaning, clarity, coherence, emphasis, conciseness, and rhythm. Let’s briefly consider the effectiveness of the three combinations just seen.

Most readers would agree that paragraphs A, B, and C are fairly clear, concise, and smooth. The seven sentences in paragraph A follow the order of the seven sets in the exercise; the sentences are logically ordered and clearly related to one another. Paragraph B is similar to A, but here there are just five sentences as a result of joining sets 1 and 2 and sets 4 and 5. Paragraph C also contains five sentences, but the information has been rearranged, and a couple of details have been omitted.

As it happens, Combination B appears in Gay Talese’s original essay. That makes it good–but not the only “correct” answer.