A System for Writing Complex Sentences

The cat slept in the basket.

After a huge dinner of fish and milk, the cat slept soundly in a large wicker basket, filled with soft pillows.

By adding detail and elaborating you can turn a simple sentence into a Masterpiece

Identify your simple subject and simple predicate. The birds flew in the sky.

Paint your Predicate This means to tell more about what happened using phrases and/or adverbs. How ? (with wings outstretched, swiftly) When ? (at sunset) Where ? (over the waves) The birds flew with wings outstretched at sunset over the waves.

Move the Predicate Painters Make the sentence sound right by moving the painters to different parts of the sentence. The birds flew over the waves with wings outstretched at sunset. Over the waves at sunset, the birds flew with wings outstretched. With wings outstretched, the birds flew over the waves at sunset.

Paint your Subject Tell more about your subject by describing it using adjectives, phrases, and clauses. What kind of? giant, white, singing How many? Some, thousands, many, several Which? those, that emerged from the clouds At sunset,with wings outstretched, a thousand giant white birds that emerged from the clouds flew over the waves.

Paint your Words Replace ordinary words with precise, descriptive words. Strengthen subject and predicate as well as subject and predicate painters. Birds= sea gulls, eagles Flew= soared, floated Waves= thundering tide, crashing surf Over= above, on top of At sunset, with wings outstretched, a thousand giant white sea gulls that emerged from the clouds soared above the thundering tide.

Finishing Touches Move sentence parts around to find the best fit. Refine your wording one last time.The final sentence should be pleasing to your ear ! At sunset, a thousand giant white sea gulls burst through the clouds with wings outstretched and soared above the thundering tide.

Masterpiece Sentences Made Easy Create complex sentences by asking how, when, where, which, what kind, and how many. Use the answers to elaborate and add detail to each sentence. Move parts of the sentence around until it sounds right. Refine your sentence by using descriptive words.