Sentence Combining: An Online Tutorial

Mr. Maite

(special thanks to all the sites represented in this tutorial)

STOP! Before you go any further, please remember to READ everything. This tutorial is completely based on reading and understanding all the material at each step. Thank you!

Of all the skills you can develop to improve both your grammar and style, perhaps the most effective and useful is sentence combining. The following tutorial allows you to study each of the most common combining techniques through activities, brief but informative text, and lots of interactive exercises and quizzes. Simply complete the step-by-step lessons below, and you’ll soon find that you not only understand grammar better, but your writing will become more focused, readable, and clear.

1. Create a complex sentence activity: Rearrange a rather large collection of words to create an actual sentence. This activity is intended for you to “play” with the language and discover how words can be arranged in several different ways – all in one sentence.

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_writing.html

2. Background notes on compounding whole sentences: Read and take notes as needed to understand this concept. You’ll recognize this one.

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_compounding.html

Complete Application 1 (5 exercises):

combine whole sentences

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_app1.html

3. Notes on four other types of sentence combining: Read and take notes as needed to understand these concepts. You may find it easier to read each one-by-one and then do the Application Exercise for each. I know I found it easier that way!

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_sentence.html

Complete Application 2 (3 exercises):

compounding two or more sentence parts that play the same sentence role

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_app2.html

Complete Application 3 (3 exercises):

combine sentences by embedding one within another

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_app3.html

Complete Application 4 (3 exercises):

embedded verbals

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_app4.html

Complete Application 5 (3 exercises):

This will be review for you but it’s worth it: compound sentences

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_app5.html

4. Putting it all together – Read and take notes as needed to understand how to us all methods to create sophisticated, clear sentences

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_mixing.html

Do print out the copy of “Clause Connectors” as suggested on that page!

Complete Application 6 (5 exercises):

Combining Sentences: Mixing Methods to Combine Sentences

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_app6.html

Complete Review and Practice (10 exercises):

The name says it all! Be ready: #10 is an extensive, two paragraph model.

http://cctc.commnet.edu/sensen/part1/seven/combining_review.html

5. Quiz time – Fill out this SCORE SHEET to record your results.

Quiz 1: http://cctc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/combining_quiz2.htm

Quiz 2: http://cctc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/combining_quiz1.htm

Quiz 3: http://cctc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/primer_quiz.htm

Note: When they mention “primer language” in this quiz – as in you are to AVOID it – they are talking about the short, choppy sentences we are working on eliminating.

Supplemental Extensive Notes: http://cctc.commnet.edu/grammar/combining_skills.htm