10 Ways to Combine 2 Simple Sentences
You don’t need to be a grammar nerd to play with your words
To the uninitiated, grammar is a set of rules that you either follow or break. But the more I write, the more I realize that understanding grammar is basically the same as being a wizard who learns more about how to cast magic spells. You don’t have to be able to parse a sentence to know grammar in a way that you can learn to wield it like a wand.
Grammar is choice. Grammar is rhetoric. Grammar is persuasive.
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.
The ones below just so happen to have a prepositional phrase as well, which allows us to play with it more. A simple sentence isn’t necessarily short but it often is. Think of it as the Ernest Hemmingway of sentences. It doesn’t give away much in terms of context or relationship. It keeps 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…
