Seven Ways To Combine Sentences

Short sentences demand attention, so they should be used primarily for emphasis.

Too many short sentences, one after the other, create a choppy style.

If an idea is not important enough to deserve its own sentence, try combining it with a sentence close by.

Coordination

Coordination draws equal attention to two or more ideas.

How to coordinate:

1. Use a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, 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.

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.

3. Use a semicolon to coordinate independent clauses (but be careful not to overuse the semicolon):

Laettner cried out for mercy; the referee did not listen.

Subordination

4. To give unequal emphasis to two or more ideas, 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, where, whether, which, while, who, whom, whose:

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.

Subordinate word groups

Subordinate word groups cannot stand alone. They function within sentences usually as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.

5. Participles

Bursting through the line, Joe forced Laettner to eat the ball.
Having burst through the line, Joe forced Laettner to eat the ball.

6. Appositives
Appositive phrases describe nouns or pronouns. In form they are nouns or noun equivalents.

Alex, a bitter, lonely, and disillusioned man, shuffled into the bus station.
A bitter, lonely, and disillusioned man, Alex shuffled into the bus station.

7. Absolute Phrases
An absolute phrase modified a whole clause or sentence, not just one word. It consists of a noun or noun equivalent usually followed by a participial phrase.

His words dipped in honey, the senator mesmerized the crowd.