Sentence Combining

Sentence combining helps you get a feel for some of the choices available to you in written English. I'm going to supply lists of short "basic" sentences (called "kernal" sentences). The idea is to combine each group into one sentence. Different combining choices will result in a different emphasis or suggested relationship. When you have made each group into one sentence, you will end up with a sequence of sentences that makes a little story--a story that has considerably better flow and emphasis than the original (with its short, choppy sentences) had.

Here is a sample group of kernals to be combined into one sentence:

1. The shoes were floppy.

2. The shoes were old.

3. The shoes looked abandoned.

Here are four possible combinations of these kernals:

1. The floppy old shoes looked abandoned.

2. The shoes, old and floppy, looked abandoned.

3. The shoes looked old, floppy, and abandoned.

4. The shoes flopped there, abandoned and old.

As you can see, even a short cluster of kernals offers several possibilities; perhaps you can think of even more. The point is to choose the option that sounds best in the context (puts the emphasis where you want it and relates to what's around it). Combining these kernals will increase your sense of the possibilities available. (Look back at the exercise we did on getting more information into a single sentence and use some of those techniques.)

The rules of the game are that you:

1. Use all the information in the kernals. (Feel free to insert connectives and change the forms of words. Also, you can delete words that are not providing information.)

2. Have no more than one sentence per group of kernals. (When you combine kernals, try to compress and subordinate rather than using words like and.)

3. Punctuate your sentence boundaries appropriately.

In class, you will exchange papers in a group and

1. Check to see that there is only one sentence per group of kernals. (Also check to see that sentence boundaries are appropriately punctuated.) (Do this silently and make any notes necessary on the paper.)

2. Read the different versions out loud and consider the differences between them; then write a brief explanation (a joint effort) of what each different version emphasizes or relates.

Directions: Combine each group into one sentence. You will end up with a little story. You want the arrangement of your sentences to increase the sense of "climax" in this little story. (Also, read through the "rules" on the previous page.)

I. Ashtray (this story will be 4 sentences long)

1. The ashtray squats.

2. The ashtray is fat.

3. The ashtray is ugly.

4. The ashtray is in the middle of the table.

5. It is a monstrosity.

6. The monstrosity is porcelain.

7. The insides are blackened.

8. The blackening is with millions of ashes.

9. Into it have been heaped cigarettes.

10. Into it have been heaped crusts of food.

11. Into it have been heaped poems.

12. The poems are written on paper napkins.

13. It accepts all offerings.

14. The acceptance is with indifference.

II. Hair (this story will be three sentences long)

1. Jeff eyed himself in the mirror.

2. He began combing his hair.

3. It was long.

4. It was wavy.

5. It flowed over his ears.

6. He worked the bangs to one side.

7. He stroked them over his eyebrows.

8. Then he pressed his fingertips against his temples.

9. His fingers dug in.

10. They tugged.

11. They straightened the wig.

Sentence Combining:

Directions: Combine the kernals in each group into no more than one sentence. (You may leave out and add words and change word form, as long as you use all the information given.) Try to make each version into a "good story" (as entertaining as possible).

A VERY SAD STORY, VERSION 1       A VERY SAD STORY, VERSION 2

1. The princess saw a toad.                         1. A toad sat near a path.

2. She was lonely.                                       2. He was green.

3. She was lovely.                                       3. He was warty.

4. The toad was spotted.                             4. He was minding his own business.

5. It squatted near a path.                            5. The sun warmed his body.

6. The path was inthe garden.                      6. The sun was in the afternoon

7. Her heart pounded.                                 7. The sun was mellow.

8. The pounding was in her chest.                8. The sun relaxed his muscles.

9. The pounding was excitement.                 9. His body was hunched.

10. She bent down.                                    10. He closed his eyes.

11. Her bending was quiet.                         11. The closing was languid.

12. She kissed the toad.                             12. He let himself drift.

13. Her kissing was gentle.                         13. The drifting was on a tide.

14. The toad was ugly.                               14. The tide was sleep.

15. It was sleeping.                                    15. The sleep was shimmering.

16. The sleeping was in the sun.

                                                                16. A flash awoke him .

17. There was a flash.                               17. The flash was crashing.

18. It was blinding.                                   18. The flash was sharp.

19. It was sudden.                                    19. The awakening was unexpected.

20. There was a sound.

21. It was thundering.                               20. He glanced up.

21. He saw a princess.

22. The princess touched her mouth.         22. She was poised over him.

23. She parted her lips.                            23. She was wide-eyed.

24. Her lips were sensuous.                     24. She was startled.

25. She murmured, "Ribbit, ribbit!"

                                                               25. Then the toad felt a tickle.

26. The tickle was slight.

27. The tickle was in his throat.

28. The toad knew something.

29. He had contracted a cold.

30. A cold is the most basic social disease