Combining Sentences
With Conjunctions (FANBOYS)
1. The president failed to explain the cause of the crisis. He did not offer any solutions.
2. Akira’s wife was due to give birth to their first child in the next several days. He still worked overtime.
3. Rekha had an intense headache all morning. She smiled and remained alert throughout the entire meeting.
4. The last storm to come through the area ripped some of the siding off George’s garage. He visited the hardware store and invested in storm-proofing materials.
5. Enrollment in the university has been dropping in recent years. Its facilities have been lacking proper maintenance.
Using Coordination (comma + conjunction OR semicolon)
1. Plans for renovating downtown into an upscale shopping center were finalized. Discussions began on budgeting city funds for the project.
2. The nearest supermarket started to carry produce and spices that specifically matched the diets of many people in the community. Shoppers continued to be lured to the big-box store out on the highway.
3. The main office has cut our printing and copying budget. We will need to rely more heavily on e-mail, Skype, and instant messaging.
4. The professor suspected that the student was plagiarizing on the final paper. The student may have been plagiarizing since the beginning of the semester.
5. Please respond to this e-mail at your earliest convenience, so that I can get started here. Include your notes as an attachment.
6. According to the Greek writer Plato, the people of Atlantis were very ambitious and warlike. They planned to conquer all of the Mediterranean.
7. Camels can walk easily on soft sand and carry heavy loads. They are useful pack animals.
Using Subordination (make one sentence dependent using a word below)
1. I had to hand the project over to Max. You did not respond to any of my e-mails.
2. Another candidate with more qualifications applies in the next forty-eight hours. You should get the position without any difficulties.
3. Viktor had prepared and practiced for the presentation thoroughly. The projector died and the presentation was not successful.
4. Keep calling our customers from last year. You make your sales quota.
5. The instructor copies his lesson directly from the textbook. The students lose interest and doze off.
Subordinating Words: These words make a clause “subordinate” or “dependent
after
although
as
because
before
even if
even though
if
in order that
once
provided that
rather than
since
so that
than
that
though
unless
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
whether
while
why
Revise for Conciseness
Change the sentence wording and grammar to produce a less wordy, more concise sentence. Keep the meaning the same.
1. Controlling the quality and level of the television shows that children watch is a continuing challenge to parents that they must meet on a daily basis.
2. Someone who is analyzing magazine advertising can find hidden messages that, once uncovered, are seen to be clever and persuasive.
3. The greatest mistake that the author made was to assert his point without acknowledging other opinions that might have been in opposition to his own ideas.
4. In today’s uncertain economic climate, it is clear that people, namely, average middle-class working people, have great difficulty saving much money or putting anything aside for emergencies.
5. I thought that the television program that was on last night was clever, but some viewers might have reacted with dislike to the content of the show.
6. Because of the bad weather, the school district felt it would be safer to cancel classes and let everyone stay home rather than to risk people having accidents on the way to school.
7. It seems obvious to me, and it should be to everyone else too, that people can be harmed as much my emotional abuse as by physical abuse, even if you do not lay a hand on them.
8. The argument of this paper is about keeping your cool as you hear remarks or offensive comments about someone’s nationality or past; this paper is intended for varied audience, it has serious tone and context, and it has purpose for her country.