If you have read How to Build Sentences With Appositives and Practice in Identifying Appositives, you should be well prepared for these sentence combining exercises.

Instructions

Combine the sentences in each set below into a single clear sentence with at least one appositive. Omit words that are needlessly repeated, but don't leave out any important details. If you run into problems, you may find it helpful to review the following pages:

• Introduction to Sentence Combining
• What Is an Appositive?
• Practice in Identifying Appositives

When you are done, compare your new sentences with the sample combinations on page two. Keep in mind that many combinations are possible, and in some cases you may prefer your own sentences to the original versions.

1. Monroe and I strolled through the graveyard.
   The graveyard is the most peaceful spot in town.
2. St. Valentine is the patron saint of lovers.
   St. Valentine was never married.
3. We were waiting outside the prison cells.
   The cells were a row of sheds fronted with double bars.
   The cells were like small animal cages.
4. My father was outside.
   My father was beneath the window.
   My father whistled for Reggie.
   Reggie was our English setter.
5. We saw the stream in the valley.
   The stream was black.
   The stream was halted.
   The stream was a tarred path through the wilderness.
6. We arrived at a group of peasant houses.
   The group was small.
   The houses were low yellow constructions.
   The houses had dried-mud walls.
   The houses had straw mats.

1. A great many old people came.
   They knelt around us.
   They prayed.
   They included old women with jet-black faces.
   The women had braided hair.
   They included old men with work-gnarled hands.
2. One of the Cratchet girls had borrowed the books.
   She was a hatchet-faced girl.
   She was thin.
   She was eager.
   She was a transplanted Cockney.
   She had a frenzy for reading.
3. It was the kind of home that gathers memories like dust.
   It was a place filled with laughter.
   It was filled with play.
   It was filled with pain.
   It was filled with hurt.
   It was filled with ghosts.
   It was filled with games.
4. I led a raid on the grocery.
   It was the grocery of Barba Nikos.
   The grocery was small.
   The grocery was shabby.
   Barba Nikos was old.
   Barba Nikos was short.
   Barba Nikos was sinewy.
   Barba Nikos was a Greek.
   Barba Nikos walked with a slight limp.
   Barba Nikos sported a flaring handlebar moustache.

When you are done, compare your new sentences with the sample combinations on page two.