Sentence Building

Hello again. Today I’m going to give you some simple sentence-building examples and show you how you can practice making complex sentences. We will start with a very short, simple sentence and build it up using adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions.

First, let’s take a look at a list of words we can use when building sentences.

Adverbs
Maybe, never, always, luckily, probably, unfortunately, also, therefore, still, actually

Conjunctions
And, then, so, and then, or, but, because, despite, even though, while

Adjectives
Lovely, bad, poor, boring, secret, good, old, new, big, little, sweet, cute, ugly, hairy, crazy, insane, sad

Let’s look at some examples.

Example 1
I have a dog.

I have a big dog.

I, unfortunately, have a big dog.

I, unfortunately, have a big dog that eats a lot.

I, unfortunately, have a big dog that eats a lot of food.

I, unfortunately, have a big dog that always eats a lot of food.

I, unfortunately, have a crazy big dog that always eats a lot of food.

Example 2
I’m working

I’m working on a project.

I’m working on an exciting project.

I’m working on an exciting project right now.

I’m working on an exciting project right now and it’s a secret.

I’m working on an exciting project right now and it’s a big secret.

I’m working on an exciting project right now and it’s a big secret, so I mustn’t say more.

I’m working on an exciting project right now and it’s a big secret, so I mustn’t say more, even though I want to.

I’m working on a super exciting project right now and it’s a big secret, so I mustn’t say more, even though I really want to.

Nice. So you can see how we can go from a very short sentence to a long and complex sentence very easily when we outline it in this way.

In the second example, notice how we go from saying, “a project,” to, “an exciting project.” That is a changes to an. This is a very simple grammar rule. When the word following the article starts with a vowel, you need to use an: an orange, an open door, an interesting article, etc.

Let take one more example and see how crazy we can make it.

He’s playing guitar.

He’s playing an old guitar.

He’s playing an old, white guitar.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating pizza.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge pizza.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge, tasty pizza.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge, tasty pizza right now.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge, tasty pizza right now, while he’s watching TV.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge, tasty pizza right now, while he’s watching boring, daytime TV.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge, tasty pizza right now, while he’s watching boring, daytime TV with his dog.

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge, tasty pizza right now, while he’s watching boring, daytime TV with his fluffy dog.

Okay, last one. I’m gonna try and do this without breathing. 

He’s playing an old, white guitar and eating a huge, tasty pizza right now, while he’s watching boring, daytime TV with his fluffy dog because he doesn’t have a job.

Now it’s your turn. See how far you can go with a simple sentence. Here are some ideas to get you started.

My dog is barking.

He has a brother.

I’m waiting.

She’s making food.

The clock is ticking.

The clown is dancing.

Enjoy!

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