For many English learners, getting to a point where you’re stringing complex sentences typically signals a major advancement in your mastery of the language. Spouting simple sentences, for the most part, is a dead giveaway that you’re new to the vernacular, while complex sentences easily make you sound like a native speaker – whether you’re still only a quarter of the way in your language software or not.
From Simple Sentences To Complex
“I owned a camel. His name was Hank. That animal ate more food than my pig.”
While there is nothing grammatically wrong with the above series of sentences (even your grammar software might approve), they have one distinct problem: they don’t sound natural. People, during actual interactions, don’t pause after expressing each of those ideas in that manner. If you want your text to sound well, try turning it into a complex sentence, such as the following:
“I owned a camel named Hank who ate more food than my pig.”
Basic Rules
When combining simple sentences to form complex ones, always follow the following guidelines for an easier time:
1. Add or change words to connect each idea. In the above example, we used “name” as a verb instead of a “noun” as in the original. Similarly, we introduced the word “who” to connect the last idea with the rest of the statements.
2. Eliminate duplicate ideas. If two sentences express the same idea, ditch one of them when combining into a complex sentence.
3. Avoid repeating words. Words repeated across consecutive sentences sound bad enough (though, sometimes unavoidable). Repeating them in the same sentence sounds even less ideal – avoid it, if you can.