English Grammar

Transformation of a Compound Sentence into a Simple Sentence

We can convert a compound sentence into a simple sentence by reducing the number of clauses into one.

He got up and walked away. (Compound sentence)
Getting up, he walked away. (Simple Sentence)

Here we reduced the clause ‘He got up’ into the participial phrase ‘getting up’.

More examples are given below.

He gave them not only a house but some land also. (Simple Sentence)
Besides a house, he gave them some land also. (Compound sentence)

Here we reduced the clause ‘he gave them some land also’ into the prepositional phrase ‘besides a house’.

He ran away and thus escaped arrest. (Simple Sentence)
He ran away in order to escape arrest. (Compound Sentence)

Here the clause ‘thus escaped arrest’ is replaced by the infinitive phrase ‘in order to escape arrest’.

Now we have seen that to convert compound sentences into simple sentences, clauses have to be reduced to participial, prepositional or infinitive phrases.

Exercise

Convert the following compound sentences into simple sentences.

1. You must take your medicine, otherwise you cannot get well.
2. The storm subsided and we continued our journey.
3. Not only the crops, but cattle and sheep also were destroyed by the flood.
4. He is rich, yet he is not happy.

Answers

1. You must take your medicine in order to get well.
2. The storm having subsided, we continued our journey.
3. Besides the crops, cattle and sheep were also destroyed by the flood.
4. In spite of being rich he is not happy.

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