Complex Sentence - from Simple Sentence to Complex

Sentence
Combing simple sentences to make complex sentences is an important exercise to help
you advance in your writing abilities. This writing exercise focuses on taking simple
sentences and transforming them into complex sentences which are then combined into a
paragraph.
Simple Sentence -> Complex Sentence
Example: Tom is a boy. He is eight years old. He goes to school in Philadelphia.
Complex Sentence: -> Tom is an eight-year old boy who goes to school in Philadelphia.
Here are some simple rules to remember when combining simple sentences into complex
sentences:
 Don't repeat words
 Change words if necessary
 Add words to connect ideas

Complex Sentence Exercise

Combine the following sentences into complex sentences.

Remember that a number of answers may be correct. Click on the following page to compare your answers
with two possible paragraphs.
His name is Peter. Every week he plays a home game.
He's a famous professional athlete. The game is played in Glover Stadium.
He's a baseball player. The game is usually sold out.

He has a large house in Miami. Glover Stadium is old.

The house is beautiful. Glover Stadium doesn't have enough seats for all
the fans.
He often travels around the US.
He plays away games in different cities in the US. The fans wait in line to buy tickets.
He travels by airplane. The fans often pay more than $60 dollars for a
ticket.
He usually sleeps on the plane.
He stays up late after games. The fans are unhappy about the ticket prices.
The fans love Peter.
He is an excellent pitcher.
Fans love his abilities.
Coaches love his abilities.
Complex Sentence Answers
Here are two possible paragraph answers to this exercise. Compare your answer with these examples.
Remember that there is more than one possible correct answer for each sentence.

Complex Sentence - Possible Paragraph 1

Peter is a famous baseball player. He lives in a beautiful house in Miami. He often flies around the United
States to play away games. Both fans and coaches love his excellent pitching abilities. Every week he plays
home games in Glover Stadium which is usually sold out. Glover Stadium is an old stadium without enough
seats for all the fans. Fans wait in line to buy the tickets which often cost more than $60. Even though the
fans are unhappy about ticket prices, they love Peter.

Complex Sentence - Possible Paragraph 2

He often flies to different

Peter is a famous baseball player who lives in a beautiful house in Miami.
cities around the United States to play away games. His excellent pitching is loved by
both fans and coaches. Old Glover Stadium doesn't have enough seats for the fans who
want to come to home games. Even though they are unhappy about ticket prices, the wait
and line and pay more than $60 to see Peter play.

Most Common Nouns in English in Alphabetical Order

with Example Sentences - Numbers 51 - 100

These most common nouns include an example sentence to help students learn. I
have tried to use the most common usage of each noun, and, when possible,
contextual clues to help you learn common collocations (words that often go with
each other).

While this list is helpful for a strong beginning, more advanced vocabulary building
will help you quickly improve your English. These vocabulary books will further help
you build your vocabulary, especially at advanced levels.

age The age of my daughter is three.

air The air is quite clear today.
anger His anger knows no limits.
animal I'm not sure of the name of that animal over there in that cage.
answer He provided an excellent answer to my question.
apple I love a good red apple after dinner.
area This area is intended for recreation
arm He put his arm out for inspection.
art It would be difficult to live without art.
atom One of the smallest elements is the atom.
baby She put her baby into its crib.
back I turned my back on that outrageous man.
ball He hit the ball out of the park.
band The band played until three in the morning.
bank The bank closes at three in the afternoon.
bar Let's go to the bar and get a beer.
base He works at the base on the otherside of town.
bat If you look up there you can see a bat flying between the trees.
bear The bear is a dangerous but playful animal.
beauty The countryside is splendid in its beauty.
bell He rang the bell to signal the end of class.
bird Do you know the name of that bird on that branch?
bit Could you hand me that bit for this drill?
block He picked up the block of wood and began to work on it.
blood Look at the blood on the floor! What's happened?
blow He received a mighty blow from his opponent in the boxing match.
board Use that board over there to cover up the window.
boat He bought a new boat for his birthday.
body He left the body at the side of the road.
bone I found a prehistoric bone in the desert.
book You should read this book!
bottom You will find the coin at the bottom of the lake.
box I put the extra clothes into that box.
boy Do you see that boy over there?
branch There is a bird on that branch.
bread Could you get some bread when you go to the supermarket?
break I'll take a five minute break and then get back to work.
brother My brother lives in Seattle.
call Give me a call when you arrive.
camp I set up camp at the edge of the wood.
capital The capital of Washington state is Olympia.
captain The captain told his crew to raise the sail.
car He drove his car very fast.
card Let me give you my business card.
care She received excellent care at the hospital.
case You will find the bottle of wine in that case over there.
cat My cat is four years old.
cause I'm sure his lack of understanding was the cause of his failure.
cell The cell is one of nature's wonders.
cent If I had every cent I have wasted I would be a very rich man indeed.
century Last century was at times horrific and at times marvelous.
chair Let me get a chair and sit down.
chance If you just give him a chance you will see how capable he really is.
change I need a change in my life!
character Her character can be very frustrating at times.
chick He picked up the little chick that had just been born.
chief Just a moment, I need to speak to the chief.
child He gave the child a dime.
children We have five children!
chord The pianist played the marvelous chord.
circle Draw a circle on a piece of paper and write your ideas in it.
city Life in a city can be both wonderful and frustrating.
class He came to class late.
climb The climb to the top of the peak was challenging.
clock We need a new clock for the livingroom.
cloud The cloud appeared on the horizon and I knew it would rain soon.
coast Let's go to the coast for the weekend.
coat It's cold outside! Make sure to put your coat on.
cold The cold in this room is unbearable.
colony The British established the colony in 1876.
color That is it's true color!
column I read his latest column in the New York Times.
company He's worked for that company for over five years.
condition Has his condition improved?
consonant That is a consonant that you don't have in your language.
continent She lives on a different continent.
copy Can you give me a copy of that report?
corn This corn is so sweet! Where did you get it?
cost You can buy a used car at a low cost.
cotton Cotton is used to make many different types of clothes.
country He lives in a country where free speech is not allowed.
course I'm taking a computer course at the local college.
cover The cover of this week's issue is really shocking.
cow He has a cow that he milks every day.
crop This year's crop was excellent.
cross He hang a cross over his desk.
crowd That crowd went wild at his last statement.
cry Her cry could be heard above the crowd.
current The current is really strong in that river.
cut How did you get that cut?
dad I visited my dad last week.
dance Would you like to go to the dance with me this Saturday?
danger There is great danger in those woods.
day What a great day!
dead Many people belive the dead come back to haunt.
deal I made a deal with Smith's.
death His death disturbed her greatly.
decimal The decimal was 5/6.
degree He will soon receive his degree.
design Her design won the best project of the year award.
dictionary Look that up in the dictionary if you don't understand.
division I work in the sales division.
doctor You'd better see a doctor about that cough.
dog My daughter would love to have a dog.
dollar He paid top dollar for that car.
door Let me open the door for you.
double He was Clint Eastwood's double.
draw I lost the draw and so I have to go last.
dream She same him clearly in her dream last night.
dress She wore that pretty blue dress to the party.
drink Would you like a drink? - Maybe a gin and tonic?
drive The drive up to the canyon was beautiful.
drop The drop was almost 500 meters straight down!
duck Do you see that cute duck swimming over there?
ear Lend me an ear and I will tell you an interesting story.
earth He moved about two tons of earth this weekend.
ease The ease with which he plays tennis shows how often he plays.
east The east will always be different from the west.
edge Be careful! Don't get too close to the edge!
effect We still don't know the long term effect his actions will have.
egg Would you like your egg boiled or fried?
eight There are eight in the room.
element One important element is hard study.
end We are nearing the end of the journey.
enemy His enemy Jed attacked him.
energy She has so much energy! Just think of all the different things she does.

Guided Writing Exercise Students - Helping Students

Write a Creative Story
Once students have become familiar with the basics of English and have begun
communicating, writing can help open up new avenues of expression. These first steps
are often difficult as students struggle to combine simple sentences into more complex
structures. This guided writing lesson is intended to help bridge the gap from simply
writing sentences to developing a larger structure. During the course of the lesson
students become familiar with the sentence connectors 'so' and 'because'.
Aim: Guided Writing - learning to use the sentence connectors 'so' and 'because'
Activity: Sentence combination exercise followed by guided writing exercise
Level: lower intermediate

Outline:
Write a sentence with 'so' and a sentence with 'because' on the board: Example: We
needed some food so I went to the supermarket. | He studied all night because he had a
difficult test the next day.
Ask students which sentence expresses a reason (because) and which sentence expresses
a consequence (so).
Now, write these variations of the sentences on the board: Example: I went to the
supermarket because we needed some food. | He had a difficult test so he studied all
night.
Ask students to explain what has changed in the sentences. Check the students
understanding of the differences between 'so' and 'because'.
Give the students the sentence matching exercise. Students should match the two
sentences that logically go together.
Once students have completed this exercise, ask them to combine the two sentences in
each pair using 'so' or 'because'. Check their answers as a class.
Read the example story to the class as a listening exercise which also sets the tone for the
follow-up exercise. Ask students some comprehension questions based on the story.

Example Story:

A young Swedish man named Lars met a beautiful young French

woman named Lise. They met in a cafe in Amsterdam during the
afternoon. As soon as Lars saw Lise, he fell hopelessly in love
because she was so beautiful and sophisticated. He wanted to meet
her, so he introduced himself and asked her if he could speak to her.
Soon, they were talking about their two countries and having a
wonderful time. They decided to continue their discussion that
evening so they made a date to have dinner in a wonderful
restaurant. They continued to see each other every day because they
had such a wonderful time together. Five months later, Lars moved to
France and they married and lived happily ever after.

Have students write a similar story using the guided writing prompts provided on their
worksheet. Tell them they should be a creative as possible as that will make their story all
the more enjoyable.
Circulate around the room helping students with their short compositions.
As a follow-up listening exercise which can be a lot of fun, have students read their
stories aloud to the class.
Results and Reasons

I had to get up early. I needed some fresh air.

I'm hungry. She takes evening courses.
She wants to speak Spanish. Their friend had a birthday.
We needed a vacation. We went to the seaside.
They're going to visit us soon. I had an early meeting at work.
I went for a walk. He bought a new house.
Jack won the lottery. We haven't seen them in a long time.
They bought a CD. I'm cooking dinner.
Writing A Short Story
Quickly answer the questions below and then use the information to write
your short story. Use your imagination to make the story as enjoyable as
possible!

Which man? (nationality, age)

Loved who? (nationality, age)
Where did they meet? (place, when, situation)
Why did the man fall in love?
What did he do next?
What did the two do together that day?
What did they do after that day?
Why did they continue to see each other?
How does the story end? Do they get married, do they separate?
Is your story a sad or happy story?

Have to / Don't Have to Must and Mustn't

Many students often confuse the usage of the modals 'must' and 'have to'. While meaning
is generally maintained in incorrect usage in the positive forms, a mix-up in the negative
forms can cause confusion. This lesson uses daily routines and an interviewing game to
help students master these important modal forms.

Aim: Learn the modal forms 'have to' and 'must'

Activity: Grammar introduction/review, talking about daily routines and interview game

Level: Lower levels

Outline:

 Ask students to talk about their daily routines. Have them make a list of five
things that they have to do every day.
 Introduce the grammar by having the students take a look at the grammar sheet
below.
 Discuss the differences between 'have to' and 'must' in the positive form. Make
sure to point out that 'have to' is used for daily routines while 'must' is used for
strong personal obligation.
 Discuss the differences between 'don't have to' and 'mustn't'. Make sure to stress
the idea that 'don't have to' expresses the idea that the person isn't required to do
something but may do so if he/she would like while 'mustn't' expresses the idea of
prohibition.
 In order to encourage students to favor the use of 'have to', spend the rest of the
lesson focusing on daily responsibilities in the following exercises.
 Ask students to take out the list they created earlier and re-write the list using
'have to'.
 Ask students to choose a job from the list provided (you might want to first check
that students are familiar with the jobs listed) and think about what a person
working in that profession has to do.
 Once you have given students a chance to think a while, play a variation on the 20
questions game. You can begin by choosing a profession and having students ask
 you 10 or 15 questions about what you have to do in this job. Questions can only
be answered by 'yes', 'no' or 'sometimes'.
 The student who guesses the name of your profession should be the next to be
asked the 15 questions. Another variation on this game is for students to play the
game in pairs.

Have to - Must
Study the Use of 'Have to' and 'Must' in the Chart Below

Must / Have To - Mustn't / Not Have To

Listed below are examples and uses of must / have to / mustn't / not have to

Examples Usage

We have to get up early.

She had to work hard Use 'have to' in the past, present and future to express
yesterday. responsibility or necessity. NOTE: 'have to' is
They will have to arrive conjugated as a regular verb and therefore requires an
early. auxillary verb in the question form or negative.
Does he have to go?

Use 'must' to express something that you or a person

I must finish this work feels is necessary. This form is used only in the
before I leave. present and future.
Must you work so hard?

You don't have to arrive The negative form of 'have to' expresses the idea that
before 8. something is not required. It is however, possible if so
They didn't have to work so desired.
hard.

She mustn't use such The negative form of 'must' expresses the idea that
horrible language. something is prohibitied - this form is very different in
Tom. You mustn't play with meaning than the negative of 'have to'!
fire.
Did the have to leave so
early?
IMPORTANT: The past form of 'have to' and 'must' is
He had to stay overnight 'had to'. Must does not exist in the past.
in Dallas.

Choose a profession from the list below and think about what a person
doing that job has to do every day.

Professions and Jobs - What do they have to do?

accountant actor air steward

architect assistant author

businessman / businesswoman /
baker builder
executive
butcher chef civil servant

computer operator /
clerk cook
programmer

dentist doctor driver bus / taxi / train driver

garbageman (refuse collector) electrician engineer

farmer hairdresser journalist

judge lawyer manager

musician nurse photographer

pilot plumber police officer

politician receptionist sailor

salesman / saleswoman
scientist secretary
/salesperson

soldier teacher telephone operator