Sentence Combining
Each of the lists of sentences below was developed from a single sentence written by a professional writer.
Combine all the sentences in each set into just one sentence. Punctuate correctly. After completing the exercise,
compare your sentence with the sentence by the professional writer (next page).
1a. The eyes rolled wide their lids.
b. The eyes were made of marble.
c. The lids were made of rubber.
From a sentence by Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles
2a.
b.
c.
d.
The boy watched.
During the watching, his eyes did something.
His eyes were bulging.
All of this occurred in the dark.
From a sentence by Edmund Ware, “An Underground Episode”
3a. One of the dogs had done something
b. It had disappeared.
c. The dog was the best one of all the dogs.
From a sentence by Fred Gipson, Old Yeller
4a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
The huge eye glittered before me.
The eye was on the right side of its head.
The head was anguished.
The eye was like a cauldron.
I felt that I might drop into that cauldron-eye.
As I dropped, I would be screaming.
From a sentence by Ray Bradbury, “The Fog Horn”
5a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
This land was waterless.
It was furred with cacti.
The cacti could store water.
In addition, the land was furred with the great-rooted brush.
The brush could reach deep into the earth.
The brush would do this to get a little moisture.
The brush could get along on very little moisture.
From a sentence by John Steinbeck, The Pearl
6a. It glided through.
b. As it glided, it brushed the twigs.
c. The twigs were overhanging.
d. It disappeared from the river.
e. It disappeared like some creature.
f. The creature was slim.
g. The creature was amphibious.
h. The creature was leaving the water.
i. The creature was going for its lair.
j. The lair was in the forests.
From a sentence by Joseph Conrad, “The Lagoon” from Tales of Unrest
7a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
It happened in the frosty December dusk.
Their cabins looked neat and snug.
The smoke rose from the chimneys and doorways.
The chimneys and doorways glowed amber.
The glowing was from the fires.
The fires were inside the cabins.
From a sentence by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mocking Bird