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How to Combine Sentences Using Adverbs

Short, separate sentences often create a choppy piece of writing. To strengthen and smooth an essay, short story or report, use adverbs -- adjectives that end in -ly -- bring cohesion. While adverb transition phrases, or "conjunction adverbs" such as "accordingly," "immediately" and "currently" are ideal for shifting from one topic to the next in a paper, these words cannot be used to connect clauses. When deciding on which adverbs to use to connect sentences, think about combining information by using the adverb, so that a reader can absorb more information in one sentence than a series of spotty sentences.

Instructions

    • 1

      Write or copy a list of adverbs to use in your writing. Refer to this list when writing or revising a paper. Choose which words you might plug in based on this list.

    • 2

      Identify choppy sentences. Look for places in your essay or report where you wrote two or three sentences where you could have written one. For instance, if you wrote in a story, "Vanessa looked at her brother. She had an angry expression on her face," you can bring the two sentences together by combining the sentences using the adverb form of the adjective "angry."

    • 3

      For longer, compound sentences that have more than one independent clause, use adverbs at the beginning or end of the sentences. An example of a compound sentence is, "Laura performed her violin solo last night and received a standing ovation." While you cannot add an adverb comfortably between the two clauses, you can preface the sentence with an adverb to add more information, instead of having to insert a new sentence. For instance, you might write "Surprisingly, Laura performed her violin solo last night and received a standing ovation." Or, "Laura performed her violin solo last night and received a standing ovation, briefly."

    • 4

      Use an adverb to signify time in the sentences. If you have two sentences, such as, "I believe war is wrong. I think governments should stop waging wars because they cause more conflict than peace," you can clean the sentence up by adding an adverb that inserts an awareness of time. For instance, "Believing war is wrong, I repeatedly think governments should stop waging wars altogether; they ultimately cause more conflict than peace."

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