HOW-TO-IMPROVE-SENTENCE-VARIETY

HOWTOIMPROVESENTENCEVARIETYIfyoursentencestendtorepeatthesamepatternoverandover,consistingonlyofsimplystructuredclauses,trythesesuggestionsforsentencecombining.Thereareseveralexampleslistedwitheachofthesuggestions.RelativeClausesIfthesamesubjectisrepeatedintwosentences,eliminatetherepetitionbyembeddingonesentenceinsidetheother.Useaclausestartingwithoneofthefollowingrelativepronouns:which,who,whom,that,whose.Example:Indianausedtobemainlyanagriculturalstate.Ithasrecentlyattractedmoreindustry.Revision:Indiana,whichusedtobemainlyanagriculturalstate,hasrecentlyattractedmoreindustry.ParticiplesTheparticipleofaverbistheformthatendsin-edor-ing.Eliminatearepeatedsubjectandtheprogressivepartofaverb(“was,”“is,”“were”)byusingtheparticipleatthebeginningorendofthesentence.Example:TheHomecomingQueenwavedenthusiasticallyatthecrowdwhenhernamewascalled.Shewassurprisedandteary-eyed.Revision:Surprisedandteary-eyed,theHomecomingQueenwavedenthusiasticallyatthecrowdwhenhernamewascalled.Example:Hewasdrivingwithoutalicense.Heranaredlight,andthesheriffarrestedhim.Revision:Drivingwithoutalicense,heranaredlight,andthesheriffarrestedhim.AppositivesAnappositiveisapartofasentencethatdefinesordescribesanoun.Insteadofwritingasentencewhoseonlypurposeisprovidingtheappositiveforanoun,jointhesentencewithamoreactiveone,reducingtheemphasisontheappositive.Example:ProfessorMarxisapoliticalscienceteacher.Hefrequentlygiveslecturesinthecommunityoncurrentevents.Revision:ProfessorMarx,apoliticalscienceteacher,frequentlygiveslecturesinthecommunityoncurrentevents.Example:IplantovisitSanFrancisco.Ithasawidevarietyoftouristattractions.Revision:IplantovisitSanFrancisco,acitywithawidevarietyoftouristattractions.AbsolutesAnabsolutephraseconsistsofasentence’ssubjectandpartofitspredicate.Turnasentenceintoanabsolutephraseatthebeginningorendofanothersentence.Example:Williamstaredatthemusicbeforehim.Hisfingersrestedonthepianokeys.Revision:Hisfingersrestingonthepianokeys,Williamstaredatthemusicbeforehim.orRevision:Williamstaredatthemusicbeforehim,hisfingersrestingonthepianokeys.PrepositionalPhrasesInsteadofafullclause,substituteaprepositionalphrase,aphrasebeginningwithaprepositionsuchas:in,to,for,at,from,on,becauseof,inadditionto,under,through,between.Example:Thepoliticianwhowasontelevisionspokefortwentyminutes.ThespeechwasonFridayafterthenewsat6:00.Revision:Thepoliticianspokefortwentyminutesontelevisionafterthe6:00newsonFriday.SubordinatesMakeonesentencedependonanother.Beginthedependent(subordinate)sentencewithawordthatshowstherelationship,awordsuchasoneofthefollowing:after,although,because,if,until,when,while,since.Example:Heoversleptyesterdaymorningandmissedclass.Hedidnotheartheannouncementoftheexam.Revision:Becauseheoversleptyesterdaymorningandmissedclass,hedidnotheartheannouncementoftheexam.Example:Americaisoverlydependentonforeignoil.Alternatesourcesofenergyarenowbeingsought.Revision:SinceAmericaisoverlydependentonforeignoil,alternativesourcesofenergyarenowbeingsought.SubstitutesInthesubjectslotofthesentence,substitutepronouns,verbforms,phrasesandclauses.Example:Johnlikestohuntgrouse.Revision:Huntinggrouseishisfavoritesport.orRevision:Tohuntgrouseintheearlymorningmistsistoknowtherealjoyofthesport.orRevision:Thatgrousehuntingisenjoyableisevidentfromthenumberofpeopleaddictedtothesport.CoordinatesJoinonecompletesentencetoanotherwithoneofthefollowingwords:and,but,or,for,nor,so,yet.Alternatively,useapairofcoordinatorstostrengthentheconnectionbetweentwocoordinateelements,suchasboth...and,either...or,neither...nor,whether...or,notonly...but.Example:Alejandrowasheshiscardaily.Itstillgetsdirty.Revision:Alejandrowasheshiscardaily,butitstillgetsdirty.Example:KenspendsSundaysandMondaynightswatchingfootballontelevision.Revision:KenspendsbothSundaysandMondaynightswatchingfootballontelevision.SentenceVarietyForshort,choppysentences1.Coordination:and,but,or,nor,yet,for,soJoincompletesentences,clauses,andphraseswithcoordinators:example:Doonesburycartoonssatirizecontemporarypolitics.Thevictimsofpoliticalcorruptionpaynoattention.Theyprefertodemandthatnewspapersnotcarrythestrip.revision:Doonesburycartoonslaughatcontemporarypoliticians,butthevictimsofpoliticalcorruptionpaynoattentionandprefertodemandthatnewspapersnotcarrythestrip.2.Subordination:after,although,as,asif,because,before,evenif,eventhough,if,ifonly,ratherthan,since,that,though,unless,until,when,where,whereas,wherever,whether,which,whileLinktworelatedsentencestoeachothersothatonecarriesthemainideaandtheotherisnolongeracompletesentence(subordination).Useconnectorssuchastheoneslistedabovetoshowtherelationship.example:Thecampusparkingproblemisgettingworse.Theuniversityisnotbuildinganynewgarages.revision:Thecampusparkingproblemisgettingworsebecausetheuniversityisnotbuildinganynewgarages.example:TheUShasbeenoverlydependentonforeignoilformanyyears.Alternatesourcesofenergyareonlynowbeingsought.revision:AlthoughtheUShasbeenoverlydependentonforeignoilformanyyears,alternatesourcesareonlynowbeingsought.Noticeintheseexamplesthatth