Exercises of linking and taking sentences apart further the students‘ linguistic competence in terms of syntax, stylistics and language repertoire. These exercises should be conducted repeatedly to further understanding and consolidation. The terms “conjunction/combining words” or “subordinate clauses” need not be introduced at this time, as only the practical application is important.
Variants:
The instructor distributes a piece of paper with several pairs of shorter sentences. Example: “I am hungry. I would like to eat something.”; “I am tired. I have not slept in a long time.”; “He promised me. He goes to the movies with me.”; “I am intrigued. Did you really understand it?”; “You have to be fast. You win the race.”; “It was late. We arrived in our home country.” After an initial discussion, the class collects possible conjunctions that can be used to link the sentences together, such as: and,then, also, because, so, that, before, during, since, in case, in spite of, although, etc. The students then join the sentence pairs together with an appropriate conjunction and write them down. Extension: the students write their own sentences with the conjunctions (underlined in red color) from the list they created in class. Alternatively: individual students write pairs of sentences for each other, which then must be linked and joined together.
Taking sentences apart: in this exercise, the students receive longer sentences which they have to separate into two individual sentences. Example: I was unable to swallow a bite, because I can‘t stand spinach” → “I was unable to swallow a bite. I can‘t stand spinach”.