Sentences Combination

WRITING 1
Sentences Combination
Sentences have to be combined to avoid the monotony that would surely result if all sentences were brief and of equal length. We will explore some of the techniques that are often used to combine sentences.
Compounding Sentences
Using Coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, so, for, and yet). This is the simplest technique we have for combining ideas:
Meriwether Lewis is justly famous for his expedition into the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and beyond, but few people know of his contributions to natural science.
Lewis had been well trained by scientists in Philadelphia prior to his expedition, and he was a curious man by nature.
Compounding Sentence Elements
Within a sentence, ideas can be connected by compounding various sentence elements: subjects, verbs, objects or whole predicates, modifiers, etc. Notice that when two such elements of a sentence are compounded with a coordinating conjunction (as opposed to the two independent clauses of a compound sentence), the conjunction is usually adequate and no comma is required.
Subjects: When two or more subjects are doing parallel things, they can often be combined as a compounded subject.
Working together, President Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis convinced Congress to raise money for the expedition.

Objects: When the subject(s) is/are acting upon two or more things in parallel, the objects can be combined.
   President Jefferson believed that the headwaters of the Missouri reached all the way to the Canadian border.
   He also believed that meant he could claim all that land for the United States.
President Jefferson believed that the headwaters of the Missouri might reach all the way to the Canadian border and that he could claim all that land for the United States.
Notice that the objects must be parallel in construction: Jefferson believed that this was true and that was true. If the objects are not parallel (Jefferson was convinced of two things: that the Missouri reached all the way to the Canadian border and wanted to begin the expedition during his term in office.) the sentence can go awry. Click here to review the principles of parallelism.
Verbs and verbals: When the subject(s) is/are doing two things at once, ideas can sometimes be combined by compounding verbs and verb forms.
   He studied the biological and natural sciences.
   He learned how to categorize and draw animals accurately.
He studied the biological and natural sciences and learned how to categorize and draw animals accurately.
Notice that there is no comma preceding the "and learned" connecting the compounded elements above.
   In Philadelphia, Lewis learned to chart the movement of the stars.
   He also learned to analyze their movements with mathematical precision.
In Philadelphia, Lewis learned to chart and analyze the movement of the stars with mathematical precision.
OR — In Philadelphia, Lewis learned to chart the stars and analyze their movements with mathematical precision.

(Notice in this second version that we don`t have to repeat the "to" of the infinitive to maintain parallel form.)
Modifiers: Whenever it is appropriate, modifiers such as prepositional phrases can be compounded.
   Lewis and Clark recruited some of their adventurers from river-town bars.
   They also used recruits from various military outposts.
Lewis and Clark recruited their adventurers from river-town bars and various military outposts.
Notice that we do not need to repeat the preposition from to make the ideas successfully parallel in form.
Subordinating One Clause to Another
The act of coordinating clauses simply links ideas; subordinating one clause to another establishes a more complex relationship between ideas, showing that one idea depends on another in some way: a chronological development, a cause-and-effect relationship, a conditional relationship, etc.
   William Clark was not officially granted the rank of captain prior to the expedition`s departure.
   Captain Lewis more or less ignored this technicality and treated Clark as his equal in authority and rank.
Although William Clark was not officially granted the rank of captain prior to the expedition`s departure, Captain Lewis more or less ignored this technicality and treated Clark as his equal in authority and rank.
   The explorers approached the headwaters of the Missouri.
   They discovered, to their horror, that the Rocky Mountain range stood between them and their goal, a passage to the Pacific.
As the explorers approached the headwaters of the Missouri, they discovered, to their horror, that the Rocky Mountain range stood between them and their goal, a passage to the Pacific.
When we use subordination of clauses to combine ideas, the rules of punctuation are very important. It might be a good idea to review the definition of clauses at this point and the uses of the comma in setting off introductory and parenthetical elements.
Using Appositives to Connect Ideas
The appositive is probably the most efficient technique we have for combining ideas. An appositive or appositive phrase is a renaming, a re-identification, of something earlier in the text. You can think of an appositive as a modifying clause from which the clausal machinery (usually a relative pronoun and a