In Grammar Effects you can learn how to analyze sentences.
Analyzing a compound sentence is easy!
Here is a compound sentence:
A robin is a bird, and a cat is a mammal.
This sentence can be analyzed as two sentences.
You simply...
A robin is a bird. A cat is a mammal.
That is super easy, don't you think?
Here is another example:
A horse is a kind of mammal, and"And" is a conjunction. a crocodile is a kind of reptile.
Again, you just...
A horse is a kind of mammal. A crocodile is a kind of reptile.
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In Grammar Effects you can learn how to compose sentences. It's just the opposite of analyzing sentences.
Here are two sentences:
Mammals breathe with lungs. Fish breathe with gills.
These sentences can be composed as one compound sentence.
Here is what you do:
Mammals breathe with lungs, and"And" is a conjunction. fish breathe with gills.
That's super easy, too, don't you think?
Here is another example:
Frogs often have color patterns that make them hard to see. Some insects have shapes that make them look like sticks or leaves.
These are longer sentences. Do they make you nervous? Just remember these simple directions:
Frogs often have color patterns that make them hard to see, and some insects have shapes that make them look like sticks or leaves.
We changed the period to a comma.
We added "and."
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Sometimes a sentence has three or more clausesA clause is a part of a sentence that can stand by itself as a complete sentence.:
A monkey is a mammal that climbs in trees, a dolphin is a mammal that swims in the ocean, and a bat is a mammal that flies through the air.
Now it is easy to see that the compound sentence was really just a list of sentences.
A compound sentence with three or more clauses is easy to analyze:
A monkey is a mammal that climbs in trees. A dolphin is a mammal that swims in the ocean. A bat is a mammal that flies in the air.
A sentence can also have four, five, or more sentences.
If you focus on just one of those sentences at a time, it will be easier to understand.
Now let's think about why writers use compound sentences. Did you notice anything about the three sentences that were joined together to make one sentence?
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Sometimes you have three or more sentences that go together:
Whales migrate between the tropics and the arctic. Salmon migrate between streams and oceans. Elk migrate between mountains and valleys.
Do you see why these sentences go together?
It depends on your point of view.
It is easy to compose a compound sentence using these three sentences. Here is what you do:
Whales migrate between the tropics and the arctic, salmon migrate between streams and oceans, and elk migrate between mountains and valleys.
Notice that we use commas where the first two periods went.
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Before we talk about this next sentence, why don't you count to see how many clausesA clause is a part of a sentence that can stand by itself as a complete sentence. it has.
Frogs hibernate in lake bottoms, turtles hibernate in ponds, chipmunks hibernate in nests of leaves, and black bears hibernate in burned out logs.
How many clauses did you count? Hover here for the answer.It's four clauses.
Look back and see whether you think each clause is difficult.
Here is that same sentence analyzed into four sentences:
Frogs hibernate in lake bottoms. Turtles hibernate in ponds. Chipmunks hibernate in nests of leaves. Black bears hibernate in burned out logs.
If you read each sentence one at a time, they are pretty easy to understand.
The sentences all do the same thing: each sentence names an animal and tells where it hibernates. Authors often join together a list of similar sentences to make a compound sentence. It is a very common grammar effect.
Using this grammar effect, you can break some pretty large sentences into smaller sentences that are easier to understand.
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How many clausesA clause is a part of a sentence that can stand by itself as a complete sentence. are listed here?
Fish are covered with scales. Frogs are covered with soft skin. Birds are covered with feathers. Mammals are covered with hair.
Did you say four? Was that because you counted or because your read it in the C-3 heading?
Either way, good job!
Each of the clausesA clause is a part of a sentence that can stand by itself as a complete sentence. is about a kind of animal and what it is covered with. So all of the clauses go together. It makes sense to join them into a compound sentence:
Fish are covered with scales, frogs are covered with soft skin, birds are covered with feathers, and mammals are covered with hair.
Each of the clausesA clause is a part of a sentence that can stand by itself as a complete sentence. is short, but the compound sentence we made out of them has 22 words. That makes it a pretty long sentence.
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So far we have been writing compound sentences that use "and" as the conjunction. These sentences have been showing how things are similar.
Now we will think about compound sentences that emphasize how things are different.
Frogs have soft, moist skin, but lizards have dry, scaly skin.
This compound sentence is showing how frogs are different from lizards.
It may be easier to notice the contrast if we analyze the sentence into its clauses:
Frogs have soft, moist skin. However, lizards have dry, scaly skin.
Did you notice that word, "However"? We can use it to replace the word, "but."
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The two sentences below make a contrast:
Most reptiles have four legs. However, snakes do not have legs.
The contrast is between most reptiles and snakes (which are a type of reptile).
The word "However" is used to show the contrast. If we join the two sentences, we will use "but" as the conjunction. The word "but" shows contrast.
Most reptiles have four legs, but snakes do not have legs.
"However" and "but" have the same grammar effect of showing contrast.
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This is a longer compound sentence. Does it make a contrast?
Some poisonous snakes have teeth with grooves for injecting venom, but most of the really dangerous poisonous snakes have hollow fangs that work like hypodermic needlesA nurse or doctor gives you a shot with a hypodermic needle. .
Did you skip right to the conjunction to see whether the sentence makes a contrast? If you did, congratulations!
This sentence is a little longer, and it only has two clauses. Each of those clauses is longer and more complicated than the ones you have dealt with so far.
That's okay. We will just do the same things we've been doing:
Some poisonous snakes have teeth with grooves for injecting venom. However, most of the really dangerous poisonous snakes have hollow fangs that work like hypodermic needlesA nurse or doctor gives you a shot with a hypodermic needle. .
It doesn't matter that the clauses are long. You just treat them the same way you do shorter compound sentences—you make separate sentences. Then you can focus on one shorter sentence at a time.
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The second of these two sentences is pretty long, isn't it?
A boy or a girl can climb up a birch tree and make it bend to the ground until they jump off. However, ice storms can load birch trees with so much ice that they bend to the ground for good.
We will do the same things as usual:
A boy or a girl can climb up a birch tree and make it bend to the ground until they jump off, but ice storms can load birch trees with so much ice that they bend to the ground for good.
I'll bet you are getting the hang of this so well that you don't need the reminders when you try the grammar effect yourself. What do you think?
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See if you can find immediately where to break this sentence and whether it makes a contrast:
Most birds are able to fly with their wings, but ostriches, emus, and penguins do not use their wings for flying.
You probably found the word "but" right away. That shows us where to break the sentence. It also shows us that a contrast is being made.
See if you can list the things we have done to analyze the sentence.
Most birds are able to fly with their wings. However, ostriches, emus, and penguins do not use their wings for flying.
Comma to period? Check.
"However" instead of "but"? Check.
Comma after "However"? Check.
Are you ready to try this grammar effect yourself? No reminders this time!
These two sentences are a little complicated, especially the second one:
A cat crouched in the grass patiently watching a chipmunk for a long time. However, the chipmunk darted into its den before the cat could grab it.
See if you can list the things we do to compose a compound sentence from them.
A cat crouched in the grass patiently watching a chipmunk for a long time, but the chipmunk darted into its den before the cat could grab it.
Are you ready to try this grammar effect yourself?