Joining Simple Sentences

https://medium.com/the-brave-writer/10-ways-to-combine-2-simple-sentences-455d8482f9ce

10 ways to put together two simple sentences

Let’s look at 10 ways to put together two simple sentences, the basic building blocks of everything we write. A simple sentence, just for clarity, has at least one subject, one verb, and often very little else. The bird flew. I cried. It’s happy as a clam all by its independent little self.

A simple sentence isn’t necessarily short but it often is. Simple sentences don't give away much in terms of context or relationship but do keep the action moving forward. Too many though, and you start to sound a little simple yourself.

So here are our two simple sentences:

• I rode my bike down the road. I was hit by a car.

What different ways can we put them together? What happens when we do?

Let’s start with the basics and work our way out.

1. Subordinate one sentence

• While riding my bike down the road, I was hit by a car.

Adding the “while” at the start lets the reader know that there will be a change of state. One thing was ongoing, and another collided with it (literally). It creates a small amount of anticipation that is quickly resolved.

• I was riding my bike down the road when I was hit by a car.

Here, the second sentence is subordinated instead of the first. This puts the main character out front. It generally makes for more action-oriented writing than having the subordinated sentence first. Read the two sentences side-by-side to feel the difference.

2. Compound them

• I rode my bike down the road and then I was hit by a car.

Compounding the sentence loses some of the energy of two simple sentences, but it can help emphasize the temporal (or other simple) relationship between the two events. This may be important depending on the context.

3. Punctuate them

• I rode my bike down the road; I was hit by a car.

The semicolon creates a closer relationship between the two sentences but leaves the relationship ambiguous. It’s a small pause and can be used to build connection and suspense but can be alienating to a less sophisticated reader.

• I rode my bike down the road and then — I was hit by a car.

The ever-so-amazing dash adds emphasis and pause in a way that no other punctuation can. But it creates a dramatic look on the page and should be used judiciously or writing can start to feel too choppy or broken up.

• I rode my bike down the road and then . . . I was hit by a car.

The ellipses creates suspense, like a slow motion scene in a movie. Also to be used sparingly.

Notice too, how I’ve combined punctuation with compounding, but you could use subordination instead:

• I was riding my bike down the road — when suddenly I was hit by a car.

4. Add causality

• Because I was riding my bike down the road, I was hit by a car.

• If I hadn’t been riding my bike down the road, I wouldn’t have been hit by the car.

Notice how both sentences add causality (because this, that) but the second is more formal. It also suggests an element of guilt or blame. It might even hint at the possibility of an alternative: something else could have happened, but didn’t.

You can even reverse the sentences:

• I was hit by a car because I was riding my bike down the road.

The most important information in a sentence — what the reader will take away — is generally at the beginning and at the end. When we reorder the sentences this way, notice how the car all but disappears into the context. If you want to say more about that car, leave it at the end, or it might become confusing for your reader.

5. Change the emphasis

• The car hit me as I rode my bike down the road.

Let’s say we want the car to become even more important, so we put it at the front. Notice I’ve changed two things here to make this happen. I reversed the sentences, then I changed the second sentence from the passive voice to put the actual actor (the car) out in front. When we first started out, the story was mostly about the main character, the “I”.

Generally speaking, a sentence starts with the “known” information and ends with “new”. Out of context, a reader sees this first example and expects something in a previous sentence about the car. You can add a twist of surprise by putting a new piece of information at the start, but use this tactic too often and you break the “known-new” contract with your reader.

Or, we can emphasize other things:

• It was my favourite bike that I rode when the car hit me.

• Before the day a car hit me, I’d never biked down that particular road.

In the second example, it’s the bike. In the third, the emphasis becomes the road. It’s now the road — scene of the accident — that the reader might expect to hear more about.

6. Fruit basket upset

• Down the road, a car. It hit me and my bike.

• I saw the car down the road moments before it hit me. I was on my bike.

Just because you put the elements together one way to start, doesn’t mean you can’t shake it up. Or stir it. Whichever you prefer.

7. Up the uncertainty and suspense

• Little did I know as I rode my bicycle down the road that all too soon a car would hit me.

• I never expected it would be the last time I ever rode my bike down that road, but then the car hit me. And it changed everything.

Obviously the grammar begins to get more complex at this point so we won’t worry about that part too much. Notice, though, that the first example is essentially just the first sentence subordinated with more of a flourish. The second example, a compound sentence. There aren’t actually any more “details” here, yet the same event carries a lot more import. It shows the reader: this simple event has big meaning.

8. Add even more meaning

• Riding my bike was my favourite thing; that is, until one day I was hit by a car.

• I rode my bike down the road without a care in the world; and then I was hit by a car.

• I rode my bike down the road. Just before it hit me, the car revved its engine.

In these examples it isn’t so much about changing their grammatical structure, but how adding a layer of significant relationship combines them, relates them in a deeper way.

9. Get paratactic

• My bike. A road. The car — I never saw it coming.

Parataxis offers more punchy style, though it isn’t always quite so brief. The words collide, mimicking the experience of shock and disruption.

10. Put it all together

• I rode my bike down that same stretch of road to work every damn day; yet I never predicted a car would hit me that bright summer morning.

• The car hit my bike and sent me sprawling down the road.

• From way down the road, I saw the car. I peddled as fast I could . . . seconds later it hit me and sent my bike flying.