Combining Two Short Sentences Into One Longer Sentence (Grade 12 NSC Matric English FAL): Revision Notes
Combining Two Short Sentences Into One Longer Sentence
Why is sentence combining important?
Learning to join short sentences together is a valuable writing skill that will help you create more sophisticated and flowing text. When you combine sentences effectively, you can:
- Improve your writing flow - Your essays, reports, and exam responses will read more smoothly and professionally
- Avoid choppy writing - Instead of having many disconnected short sentences, you'll create more complex and interesting sentence patterns
- Show relationships between ideas - Combining sentences helps you demonstrate how different thoughts connect to each other
Mastering sentence combination techniques is essential for developing mature academic writing. Students who practice these skills consistently show marked improvement in their overall writing quality and exam performance.
Key methods for joining sentences
Using 'but' to show contrast
The word 'but' is perfect when you want to join two sentences that present contrasting or opposing ideas. When you combine sentences this way, remember to use pronouns instead of repeating the same subject.
Worked Example: Combining Contrasting Ideas
Original sentences: The mother loved her child dearly. Poverty forced the mother to give the child up for adoption.
Combined sentence: The mother loved her child dearly, but poverty forced her to give him/her up for adoption.
Notice how we replaced "the mother" with "her" and "the child" with "him/her" to avoid repetition and create smoother writing.
Using 'who' to describe people
When you have two sentences about the same person, you can often combine them using 'who'. This creates what we call a complex sentence, which has both a main clause and a subordinate clause.
Worked Example: Describing People with 'Who'
Original sentences: Miriam Makeba was one of the greatest performers South Africa has ever produced. Miriam Makeba spent many years in exile.
Combined sentence: Miriam Makeba, who was one of the greatest performers South Africa has ever produced, spent many years in exile.
Understanding complex sentences
Complex Sentence Structure
A complex sentence contains two types of clauses:
- Main clause - This part can stand alone as a complete sentence
- Subordinate clause - This part cannot stand alone and depends on the main clause for meaning
In our Miriam Makeba example:
- Main clause: "Miriam Makeba spent many years in exile"
- Subordinate clause: "who was one of the greatest performers South Africa has ever produced"
Using 'when' for time relationships
The word 'when' is useful for combining sentences that are related to time or sequence of events.
Worked Example: Showing Time Relationships
Original sentences: I saw Mark again after his graduation. Mark was feeling great.
Combined sentence: When I saw Mark again after his graduation, he was feeling great.
This method helps you show the timing relationship between two events in a single, flowing sentence.
Using 'if' for conditions
When you want to express a condition or a cause-and-effect relationship, 'if' is an excellent connector to use.
Worked Example: Expressing Conditions
Original sentences: Your health improves. You stop eating junk food.
Combined sentence: If you stop eating junk food, your health will improve.
This type of combination is particularly useful when you're explaining consequences or making predictions in your writing.
Exam tips
Examination Strategy Tips
- Practice identifying which connector works best for different types of relationships between ideas
- Remember to use appropriate punctuation when combining sentences
- Don't forget to replace repeated subjects with pronouns to avoid redundancy
- Check that your combined sentences still make logical sense
Key Points to Remember:
- Combining sentences improves writing fluency and creates more sophisticated text
- Use 'but' for contrasting ideas, 'who' for describing people, 'when' for time relationships, and 'if' for conditions
- Complex sentences have main clauses (can stand alone) and subordinate clauses (cannot stand alone)
- Always use pronouns to avoid repeating the same subjects unnecessarily
- Practice these techniques regularly to improve your overall writing quality