COMFTF-13

Sentence Combining

Dr. David F. Maas

 Basic English Pattern
• Subject + Verb (SV)
• Subject+ Verb+Object (SVO)
• The baby sleeps.
• I see the baby.
• Kernel sentences
 COMFTF13
• (1) I swung the bat.
• (2) I missed the ball.
• *I swung the bat I missed the ball. (38)
• * I swung the bat, I missed the ball. (11)
• Like coupling 2 railroad cars together with
wire or twine string- not a strong enough
connector.
 COMFTF-13
• I swung the bat.
• I missed the ball.
• Choppy
• Primer style.
• Calls for combining.
 COMFTF13
• Coordination
• I swung the bat, and I missed the ball.
• I swung the bat, but I missed the ball.
• And, but, or, nor, for, yet, ;
• * I swung the bat; and I missed the ball.
 COMFTF13
• Subordination
• After, although, as, because, before, if, since,
that, unless, until
• WH- when, where, whether, which, while, who,
whom, whose
• Although I swung the bat, I missed the ball.
• Whenever I swung the bat, I missed the ball.
• Missing the ball- in main clause.
• Swinging the bat- in subordinate clause.
 COMFTF13
• Participles- (verbs converted to adjectives
by means of an ing ending)
• Swinging the bat, I missed the ball.
 COMFTF13
• Appositives- ( words that are equivalent to-
or synonyms for the words they describe or
name)
• Dr. Glenda Carter, Executive Vice
President, spoke to the Marshall Rotary
Club.
 COMFTF13
• Adjectives (single word qualifiers)
• The student was angry.
• The student tore his book.
• The angry student tore his book.
 COMFTF13
• Coordination
• Subordination
• Modification
 COMFTF13
• #58 Omit needless words.

• Words
• Phrases
• Clauses
 COMFTF13
• The man who was in the bleachers caught
the ball.
• The man sitting in the bleachers caught the
ball.
• The man in the bleachers caught the ball.
 COMFTF13
• The team that wore the uniforms which
were purple and gold.
• The team wore purple and gold uniforms.
 COMFTF13
• Aluminum cans to recycler.
• Getting rid of excess air.
 COMFTF13
• Coordination- couple items of like or
parallel significance together.
• I like both work and play, leisure and
activity.
• Equal attention to two or more ideas.
 COMFTF13
• 1. Use a coordinating conjunction( and, but,
or, for, so, yet)to combine words or phrases.
• Joe burst through the line and forced
Laettner to eat the ball.
• Laettner cried out for mercy and threw
himself at the referee’s feet.
 COMFTF13
• 2. Use a coordinating conjunction and a
comma to coordinate independent clauses
( word groups that can stand alone as
sentences)
• Laettner was about to receive a technical, so
he begged for mercy.
• Laettner cried out for mercy, but the referee
did not listen.
 COMFTF13
• 3. Use a semicolon to coordinate
independent clauses (but be careful not to
overuse the semicolon and never use it with
another and)
• Laettner cried out for mercy; the referee did
not listen.
• I swung the bat; I missed the ball.
 COMFTF13
• First (most basic) sentence combining
pattern child learns.
• I took my fish pole, and I took Rover, and I
took my Daddy, and I went fishing.
 COMFTF13
• Coordination- brings like things together.
• Parallelism- like grammatical units are brought together.
• Nouns are coupled with nouns: dogs, cats, and rabbits.
• Adjectives must be coupled with adjectives: The day was
cool, breezy, and damp.
• Verbs must be coupled with verbs: We came to fish,
hunt,and swim.
• Verbals(nouns or adjectives derived from verbs) must be
coupled with verbals –singing, hiking
 COMFTF13
• Lack of parallelism- mixing grammatical elements.
#30 on Dr. Maas’s chart.
• *Today a secretary has to be attractive in
appearance and a high intelligence.
• Today a secretary has to be attractive and
intelligent.
• Bad sentence mixes adjective and noun.
• Good sentence couples two adjectives.
 COMFTF13
• * Alice enjoys sewing, cooking, skiing and
exciting dates.
• Alice enjoys sewing, cooking, skiing, and
dating.
• Bad sentence- three verbal nouns and one
verbal adjective.
• Good sentence- all verbal nouns.
 COMFTF13
• Grammatical parallel but not logically parallel
• *On the first day of class, we visited the gym, the
cafeteria, the dormitory, and President Strickland.
• All nouns- but 3 buildings 1 person
• On the first day, we visited the gym, the cafeteria,
the dorm, and the president’s office.
• Now all are locations.
 COMFTF13
• 1. Coordinated elements must have parallel
grammatical form: clause with clause, verb with
verb, adjective with adjective, etc.
• 2. Coordinated elements appear in proper order-
usually in a series, with appropriate punctuation
• 3. Coordinated elements are joined with signal
words such as coordinating conjunctions-and, but,
etc.
• 4.Other signal words may be needed- such as of,
the in, if, who
 COMFTF13
• Subordination
• All things don’t have same significance or
importance.
• Levels of priority or importance
• Foreground and background.
 COMFTF13
• Subordination- To give unequal emphasis,express
the major idea in an independent clause and place
any minor ideas in phrases or subordinate clauses.
• Subordinate clauses, which cannot stand alone,
typically begin with one of the following words:
after, although, as, because, before, if, since,
that, unless, until, when, whether, which, while,
who, whom, or whose.
 COMFTF13

• Although Duke is favored to win the

championship, they have choked before.
• When Duke chokes,we will celebrate.
• As Grandmother lost her sight,her hearing
sharpened.
• Though her hearing
sharpened,Grandmother gradually lost her
sight.
 COMFTF13
• Subordinating conjunctions not interchangeable:
• Although she was his wife, she stayed at the hotel.
• Because she was his wife, she stayed at the motel.
• Before she was his wife, she stayed at the hotel.
• Whenever she was his wife, she stayed at the
motel
 COMFTF13
• Periodic Sentence- The subordinate
clause comes first maintaining the
tension until the final punctuation.
• Loose Sentence- main clause comes first
followed by a subordinate clause.
 COMFTF13
• Periodic sentence- generally seem more
emphatic:
• After Thello entered the game, Texas
College gained 20 points.
• After the tornado appeared, the farmer lost
his grain crop.
 COMFTF13
• Loose sentences with main clause coming
first makes for un -emphatic sentences:
• Texas College gained 20 points after Thello
entered the game.
• The farmer lost his grain crop after the
tornado appeared.
 COMFTF13
• Archery Metaphor- periodic sentence-
making the reader wait for the main clause
at the end is like creating tension by
drawing back on the bow string.
• The tension makes the arrow strike the
target with more emphasis.
 COMFTF13
• Bowling metaphor- writing a loose sentence
resembles bowling through a cow-yard.
• After the initial impact, the ball loses
momentum as it picks up qualifiers.
COMFTF-13

Primer English
 COMFTF13
• Symptoms of Inadequate Subordination
• 1. Strings of short choppy sentences:
• Beachwood is a park.
• It is in my home town.
• It is a cool, shady park.
• I knew it as a child.Then I went on many
picnics there.
 COMFTF13
• Subordination combines 5 choppy clauses
into one subordinated sentence:
• When(subordinating conjunction) I was a
child, I went on many picnics to
Beechwood, a cool shady park (appositive)
in (preposition) my home town.
 COMFTF13
• 2. Excessive use of and and so to join
sentences (or to begin sentences).
• *Louise was tired of listening to the concert
and it was dark enough that her
grandmother couldn’t see her, and so she
slipped out into the lobby.
 COMFTF13
• Since[subordinating conjunction] Louise
was tired of listening to the concert, she
slipped past her mother [preposition] the
dark, into [preposition] the lobby.
• Subordination gets rid of the excessive
ands.
• One part selected as main clause.
• Other elements subordinated to it.
 COMFTF13
• Annoying example
• The machine has keys and the pressure on
the keys makes them strike the ribbon and
strikes the paper and an imprint remains on
the paper and it is that of the key.
 COMFTF13
• The machine has keys and a tape of
carboned ribbon. When(subordinating
conjunction) the keys are struck,they rise,
hitting (participle) the ribbon. The impact
carries the ribbon to the paper, leaving
(participle) the imprint of (preposition ) the
key on (preposition) the paper.
 COMFTF13
• Repeated use of This and That as subjects
suggests another symptom of inadequate
subordination.
• This, It, That, and Which are often used
colloquially to refer to a general idea.
 COMFTF13
• There is a girl.
• She is wearing a green hat.
• The girl in the green hat .(The second
clause subordinated to first by means of
prepositional phrase.)
• The girl wearing a green hat. (The second
clause subordinate to first by means of
participial phrase.
 COMFTF13
• The girl who wears a green hat. (The
second sentence subordinated to first by
means of relative or wh clause.)
• The green hat on the girl. (The first clause
subordinated to second by means of a
prepositional phrase.)
 COMFTF13
• The girl’s green hat. The first clause subordinated
to second by means of an apostrophe. Whole
clause wiped out by one little punctuation.
• The green hat which the girl is wearing. (The first
clause subordinated to second by means of a
relative wh clause.
• Depends on what one wants to use as figure and
what wants to emphasize as the ground.
 COMFTF13

Aluminum Test

Aluminum is a metal. It is abundant. It has many uses. It comes from Bauxite. Bauxite is an ore. Bauxite
looks like clay. Bauxite contains aluminum. It contains several other substances. Workers extract these other
substances from the bauxite. They grind the bauxite. They put it in tanks. Pressure is in the tanks. The other
substances form a mass. They remove the mass. They use filters. A liquid remains. They put it through
several processes. It finally yields a chemical. The chemical is powdery. It is white. The chemical is
aluminum. It is a mixture. It contains aluminum. It contains oxygen. Workers separate the aluminum from the
oxygen. They use electricity. They finally produce a metal. The metal is light. It has a luster. The luster is
bright. The luster is silver.