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Structural Variety

Independent clauses contain a subject and a verb and makes a complete statement.
Sentences contain at least one independent clause.
**The guns rumbled. **The people wept.

Conjunctive adverbs mark independent clauses and may be used to join independent clauses (they're great transition words!). The most common conjunctive adverbs are:
as a result, consequently, finally, first, for example, for instance, furthermore, hence, however, indeed, in fact, likewise, moreover, now, nevertheless, similarly, still, therefore, thus, unfortunately.

There are three ways to join independent clauses with conjunctive adverbs (note the punctuation in these examples; independent clauses may NOT be joined with only a comma).

The guns rumbled; therefore, the people wept. IC; CA, IC
The guns rumbled. Therefore, the people wept. IC. CA, IC
The guns rumbled; the people, therefore, wept. IC; ½ IC, CA, ½ IC

Dependent clauses make an incomplete statement and cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses must be connected to independent clauses to avoid sentence fragments.
**Example: Although the guns rumbled . . . .

Subordinating conjunctions mark dependent clauses; two independent clauses may be combined for variety by turning one of them into a dependent clause (achieve the transformation by adding a subordinating conjunction to one of the independent clauses). The most common subordinating conjunctions are:
after, although, as, because, before, even though, if, since, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, whether, which, while, who, whom, whose.

**Because the guns rumbled, the people wept. DC, IC (if the dependent clause
comes first, use a comma)
**The people wept because the guns rumbled. IC, DC (if the independent clause
comes first, no comma is needed)

To achieve structural variety, independent clauses may also be transformed into nominal phrases (these can become the subjects of a sentence).

**That something is milking 78 Holsteins every day.

**Milking 78 Holsteins every day is a big job. [the second sentence is transformed into the subject of the first]

Adjectival phrases: Adjectives modify nouns and provide additional information about a noun already in the sentence (beautiful blue pool). Words like that, who, whom, which, where, when, and why can be used to create adjectival phrases out of independent clauses; they may also be edited out of the construction. Adjectival phrases need to placed immediately next to the nouns they modify.

**Example:Marvin had definite ideas concerning in-flight meals. He lectured the attendant on the skimpiness of ours.

**Marvin, who had definite ideas concerning in-flight meals, lectured the attendant on the skimpiness of ours.
**Having definite ideas concerning in-flight meals, Marvin lectured the attendant on the skimpiness of ours.
**Marvin, having definite ideas concerning in-flight meals, lectured the attendant on the skimpiness of ours.

Adverbial Phrases: Adverbs modify verbs and other modifiers (run quickly; speak slowly), answering questions like when, where, why, how, and how much. Subordinating conjunctions create adverbial phrases-see above examples.

1. Combine the following independent clauses with conjunctive adverbs and coordinating conjunctions (and, or, nor, for, but, so, yet) to achieve sentence variety.

Inexperienced writers believe in inspiration. Professional writers believe in hard work.

2. Combine the following independent clauses with subordinating conjunctions (adverbial clauses) to achieve sentence variety and appropriate emphasis. Put the least important idea in the subordinate clause.

Howard Head invented the oversized tennis racket. He wanted more power in his tennis game. This was in 1976.

3. Combine the following independent clauses by creating nominal (noun) or adjectival phrases to achieve sentence variety:

Federal, state, and local governments spent money. They spent $8, 921 per person. This was in 1990. The figure is approximate.

4. Combine the following independent clauses using a variety of techniques (conjunctive adverbs, subordinating conjunctions, nominal or adjectival phrases, parallel constructions) to create interesting sentences:

In June 1995 IBM made a bold move. The company planned a hostile takeover. They planned to take over Lotus Development Corporation. Lotus had things IBM wanted. Lotus had a successful spreadsheet program. But one thing was better. Lotus had Notes. Notes is a groupware program. It allows networked workers to share data. It is the most successful program in this area. It is used by hundreds of companies. It has 1.6 million licensed users. To get Notes IBM took a chance. The gamble may prove worthwhile.

Examples taken from Joe Glaser, Understanding Style: Practical Ways to Improve Your Writing. Oxford, 1999.

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