Combine Your Ideas in Correct Sentences

You should now have some idea of how to organise your ideas at the paragraph level using different organisational patterns, transition words and repeated nouns and pronouns to connect your ideas to show support for the topic sentence.

Of course, you need to combine your ideas at the sentence level too. One way you can do this is by using coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

Join sentences using coordinating conjunctions

Compound sentences contain two or more independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions. Both clauses have equal importance. Example:

The lecturer sat down.The student remained standing.

These two sentences can be joined by using the coordinating conjunction but and written as:

The lecturer sat down but the student remained standing.

 

Notice that but not only joins the two sentences but also indicates the relationship between them.

The most common coordinating conjunctions are and, but and or. Some examples of their usage are shown below.

 

Coordinating conjunctions	Function	Examples
and	addition	The research project started last January and ended in May.
but	contrast	There has been much politics in discussion on global warming but much less effort is exerted to use solid scientific evidence.
or	alternative	You can do primary research or go to the library and find some data.

 

Join sentences using subordinating conjunctions
In addition to coordination, you can also use subordinating conjunctions to connect sentences. The only difference is that subordinating conjunctions link a main clause and a dependent or subordinate clause. Example:

Juliana went shopping – a main clause
she got her monthly salary – subordinate clause

Juliana went shopping as soon as she got her monthly salary.

You can see in the above example that the main clause makes complete sense on its own but the subordinate clause does not. Thus, it needs the main clause to make meaning, which is why it is called the subordinate clause.

Below is a list of some subordinating conjunctions, their functions and examples of their usage.

 

Subordinating conjunctions	Function	Examples
while, whenever, after, etc	time	The lobby group opposed all proposed measures after its leader was reprimanded by the lower court for illegal protest.
where, anywhere	place	There is heavy breeding of mosquitoes where the patients live.
because, since, as	reason	Those in the category of non-obese claim to walk briskly every evening because they know the importance of exercise.

 

Conclusion
Remember that every essay must have a thesis statement, which controls all the ideas in it. Likewise, every paragraph is controlled by a topic sentence, which is supported by ideas arranged in a logical organisational pattern. The connections between these ideas are made clear by transitions and the repetition of nouns and pronouns and, within sentences, by coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. The key thing to remember is that, in developing your academic essay, you must present your ideas in a logical and organised way.

 

Further reading
Harris, J., & Moseley, A. (2000). Strategies for college writing. USA: Allyn and Bacon. Jordan, R.R. (1999). Academic writing course. United Kingdom: Pearson.

Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2006). Writing academic English. New York: Pearson. Raimes, A. (2004). Grammar troublespots. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.