English Grammar

Transformation of sentences
Changing an exclamatory sentence into an assertive sentence
The transformation of a sentence means changing its form without altering its sense.
What a wonderful opportunity! (exclamatory)
It is a wonderful opportunity. (assertive)

O that I were young again! (exclamatory)

I wish I were young again. (assertive)

How kind of you to help him like that! (exclamatory)

It is very kind of you to help him like that. (assertive)

How noble he is! (exclamatory)

He is truly noble. (assertive)

What a great pleasure it is! (exclamatory)

This is indeed a great pleasure. (assertive)

What an extraordinary movie!

Oh that you traveled again!

How sweet she is!

What a great relaxing moment it is!

What a beautiful park!

How tall he is!

What a crazy weather!

Changing an interrogative sentence into an assertive sentence

Is not wisdom better than riches? (interrogative)
Wisdom is better than riches. (assertive)

Why worry about what people say? (interrogative)

It is foolish to worry about what people say. (assertive)

Did I ever ask you to do it? (interrogative)

I never asked you to do it. (assertive)

Is there any sense in doing that? (interrogative)

There is no sense in doing that. (assertive)

What does it matter whether we win or lose? (interrogative)

It matters little whether we win or lose. (assertive)

Changing an imperative sentence into an interrogative sentence

Stop talking. (imperative)
Will you stop talking? (interrogative)

Shut the door. (imperative)

Will you shut the door? (interrogative)

Please, get me a glass of water. (imperative)

Will you, please, get me a glass of water? (interrogative)

Get out of here. (imperative)

Will you get out of here or not? (interrogative)

The interrogative is a milder or more polite form of the imperative. However, the addition of or not (see the last
example) adds a touch of threat to the command.

Transformation of a Simple Sentence into a Compound

Sentence

F(for)a(and)n(nor)b(but)o(or)y(yet)s(so)
A Simple Sentence has only one subject and one predicate. A compound sentence must
have two or more co-ordinate clauses, each with its own subject and predicate.
Examples are given below.

Climbing up the tree, he plucked some mangoes. (Simple Sentence)

He climbed up the tree and plucked some mangoes. (Compound Sentence)

Here we changed the participial phrase Climbing up the tree into the clause He
climbed up the tree and connected it to the original clause with the coordinating
conjunction and. Thus a simple sentence can be converted into a compound sentence by
expanding a word or a phrase into a clause and by using the coordinating conjunction to
connect the clauses. More examples are given below.

Driven by rain, he took shelter under a tree. (Simple sentence)

He was driven by rain and took shelter under a tree. (Compound Sentence)
Besides being beautiful, she is intelligent. (Simple Sentence)
She is not only beautiful but also intelligent. (Compound Sentence)
In spite of his poverty he is happy. (Simple Sentence)
He is poor but he is happy. (Compound Sentence)

Exercise
Convert the following simple sentences into compound sentences.
1. Being innocent, he never thought of running away.
2.

Besides being thrown into jail, he was heavily fined.

3. The old man sat near the fire, smoking.

4.

By his pleasant manner, the boy became popular.

Transformation of a Compound Sentence

into a Simple Sentence
We can convert a compound sentence into a simple sentence by reducing the number
of clauses into one.
He got up and walked away. (Compound sentence)
Getting up, he walked away. (Simple Sentence)
Here we reduced the clause He got up into the participial phrase getting up.
More examples are given below.
He gave them not only a house but some land also. (Simple Sentence)
Besides a house, he gave them some land also. (Compound sentence)
Here we reduced the clause he gave them some land also into the prepositional phrase
besides a house.
He ran away and thus escaped arrest. (Simple Sentence)
He ran away in order to escape arrest. (Compound Sentence)
Here the clause thus escaped arrest is replaced by the infinitive phrase in order to
escape arrest.
Now we have seen that to convert compound sentences into simple sentences, clauses
have to be reduced to participial, prepositional or infinitive phrases.

Exercise
Convert the following compound sentences into simple sentences.
1. You must take your medicine, otherwise you cannot get well.
2. The storm subsided and we continued our journey.
3.

Not only the crops, but cattle and sheep also were destroyed by the flood.

4. He is rich, yet he is not happy.

Transformation of a Simple Sentence into a Complex

Sentences
A simple sentence can be converted into a complex sentence by expanding a word or
phrase into a subordinate clause which can be a noun clause, an adjective clause or an
adverb clause.
Noun clause
He liked my suggestion. (Simple sentence)
He liked what I suggested. (Complex sentence)
His advice did not prove successful. (Simple sentence)
What he advised did not prove successful. (Complex sentence)
Note that it is usually a noun or a noun equivalent that can be changed into a noun
clause.
Adjective clause
There I saw a beautiful girl. (Simple sentence)
There I saw a girl who was beautiful. (Complex sentence)
A wounded tiger is very fierce. (Simple sentence)
A tiger that is wounded is very fierce. (Complex sentence)
You can notice that it is adjectives or adjective equivalents or appositional words or
phrases that are generally converted into adjective clauses.
Adverb clauses
She was too poor to educate her children. (Simple sentence)
She was so poor that she could not educate her children. (Compound sentence)
On being challenged they ran away. (Simple sentence)
When they were challenged they ran away. (Complex sentence)
You will have noticed that it is adverb phrases and adverbs that are converted to adverb
clauses.
Exercise
Convert the following simple sentences into complex sentences by changing the
italicized words or phrases into clauses.
1. John admitted his guilt.
2. The principal is likely to punish him.
3. I have informed him of his success.
4. Alice is a said to be a good doctor.

Transformation of a Complex Sentence into a Simple

Sentences
A complex sentence can be converted to a simple sentence by changing noun clauses,
adjective clauses and adverb clauses to a word or phrase.
Noun clauses
He admitted that he was guilty. (Complex sentence)
He admitted his guilt. (Simple sentence)
Tell me when the meeting will be held. (Complex sentence)
Tell me the time of the meeting. (Simple Sentence)
Adjective clauses
I have no money that I can lend you. (Complex sentence)
I have no money to lend you. (Simple sentence)
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. (Complex sentence)
People living in glass houses should not throw stones. (Simple sentence)
This is the place where the meeting will be held. (Complex sentence)
This is the venue of the meeting. (Simple Sentence)
Adverb clauses
When he saw the police he ran away. (Complex sentence)
On seeing the police he ran away. (Simple sentence)
I was surprised when I saw his obstinacy. (Complex sentence)
I was surprised to see his obstinacy. (Simple sentence)