Are you bored of simple, short, direct, sentences that take forever to fill up a page?
Do you need to increase word counts?
First, I want you to know the types of sentence patterns that succinctly convey your ideas and thoughts.
Simple sentences: These are basic phrases with one independent clause
(complete thoughts that stands on their own).
Example: I like medicine.
Compound sentences: These have two or more independent clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction. The coordinating conjunctions are “yet,” “but,” “and,”, “for,” “or,” “so”, and “nor.”
Example: I like medicine, but it is a vast subject.
Complex sentences: These have an independent clause with one or more dependent clauses (a subject and verb that does not convey a complete thought) linked by a subordinating conjunction. Subordinating conjunctions include “although,” “when,” “because,” “so,” “that,” and “until.”
Example: I spend a lot of time studying medical textbooks when I have exams.
Compound-complex sentences: These have many independent clauses as well as one dependent clause.
Example: When I have exams, my lecturers support me greatly, and help me score well.
Ways to Elaborate Sentences
In English, the schema for sentence expansion is as rich and diverse as the grammatical structures. Here are a few ways to express more complex thoughts by elaborating sentences.
Expanding with Adverbs and Adjectives
Adverbs and adjectives are descriptive words that add layers to the writing, adding imagery to the action for the reader to visualize.
Example:
Original: The _ dog rested _ on the doormat.
Expanded: The old dog rested fitfully on the doormat.
Expansion Using Prepositional Phrases
Expand sentences using parts of a preposition.
Example:
Original: The dog jumped and pounced.
Expanded: The dog jumped over the fence and pounced on the visitor.
Expanding with Appositives
An appositive is a single or group of words that renames or identifies another name in a sentence.
Example: Elsa, a good countrywoman, has a sister named Anna.
Appositive: A good country woman
Expanding with Adjective Clauses
Adjective clauses serve purposes similar to those of simple adjectives in that they modify nouns. Adjectives and adjectival phrases can specify color, size, shape, purpose, about their associated nouns.
Example: A doctor who smokes, drinks, and overeats has no right to condemn the personal habits of his patients.
Expanding with Adverb Clauses
An adverb clause is a dependent clause used as an adverb within a sentence. These types of phrases can reshape the whole sentence and depict time, reason, concession, or condition.
Example: Everything is funny, as long as it is happening to somebody else.
Expanding with Absolute Phrases
This is a group of words that reshapes an independent clause as a whole.
Example: Five girls came over the hill. The girls were running hard. Their forearms were swinging. Their heads were down. Their exhales were explosive.
Five girls came over the hill, running hard, their forearms working, their heads down, their exhaled breaths explosive.
Practice, Practice…
Start with writing simple sentences and then write them to more elaborate pieces. With hard work and gradual improvement, you will become more efficient.
Need help constructing sentences? I can help.