SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 1: YOU CAN CALL ME AL

SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 1: YOU CAN CALL ME AL

Add the appropriate wwww.sub-a-beauti word in the following sentences.

1. Thanksgiving at my house this year was a blast because of my funny, lovable Uncle Alfred.
2. When Uncle Alfred came over, he was dressed in a turkey suit.
3. I immediately grabbed my camera before he strutted into the living room.
4. Before I could hug him, he began passing out candy to all the children.
5. Grandma chided, “Alfred, stop ruining the kids’ appetite!” _________ she kissed him on the cheek.
6. As he started telling jokes, everyone broke into fits of laughter.
7. Since Uncle Alfred is a bad magician, his silly tricks made us laugh even harder.
8. Whenever the turkey was done, and everyone was hungry, I had to put a halt to Uncle Alfred’s act.
9. The only time he is ever serious is when Grandpa says a prayer before the meal.
10. Because of Uncle Alfred, we are truly thankful for this Thanksgiving.

 SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 2: FAMILY THERAPY
Using the wwww.sub-a-beauti words either at the beginning or in the middle, combine the following clusters into complex sentences. Remember, the wwww.sub-a-beauti creates a dependent clause, and thus it is less important than the independent clause. Ask yourself: Which part of the sentence do I want to emphasize? Which part of the sentence do I want to de-emphasize (subordinate)?

1. The Gonzalez family was happy, once upon a time.
   Juan and Lupe constantly demonstrated their love for one another.
2. Juan often did the housework. Lupe worked on the car.
3. Juan wasn’t perfect. Lupe still loved him.

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4. Everything was great.

They had their first argument.

5. Lupe was surprised.
   Juan showed his dark side.
6. He continued acting this way. She would leave him.
7. Juan saw that Lupe was upset. He still acted like a jerk.
8. “You stop acting this way. I’ll leave you,” she told him.
9. He got worried. She said that.
10. She hugged him.
    He promised to take both an anger management class and an anti-depressant.

JJ SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 3: THUMBS UP
Using the wwww.sub-a-beauti words either at the beginning or in the middle, combine the following clusters into complex sentences.

1. Jonah gets home from school. He plays video games.
2. Grand Theft Auto is his favorite.
   He gets to act out his inner monster.
3. He’s a nice, quiet kid.
   His mom is worried that the game will make him violent.

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4. She’s made a new rule that he can’t start playing video games.

He gets his homework done.

5. He completes all his assignments. He can play for two hours.
6. Jonah thinks he can do homework. He plays Grand Theft Auto.
7. “You think I’m gonna fall for that one.” “You’re crazy,” she said.
8. He does admit that his mother is probably right about video games. Playing Grand Theft Auto makes him a little more aggressive.
9. “I’d rather listen to music at night.” “You fall asleep,” she said.
10. He plugs in his iPod.

He slips off to sleep, the soothing, non-aggressive sounds of death metal pulsing in his ears.

SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 4: TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

Underline the adjective clauses in the following sentences.

1. Last week, a guy who lives on Sesame St. in a town called Roswell swears aliens kidnapped him.
2. He says a spaceship, which was oval-shaped and black, hovered over his apartment and landed in his backyard.
3. Creatures that looked like Elmo slithered out of the ship’s back door.
4. The lady who lived across the street saw them, too.
5. The aliens that she saw, however, were yellow and looked more like Big Bird to her.
6. The guy and his neighbor couldn’t agree on the facts, which really made the authoritiess doubt their claims.
7. The town sheriff, who heard these stories all the time, just shook his head in disbelief.
8. These UFOs that people were seeing were figments of their imaginations.
9. That night as he was driving home, however, the sheriff saw an oval-shaped, black disc that landed in front of him.
10. A strange, blue, furry creature, who looked much like Cookie Monster, exited the spacecraft and asked the sheriff, “Can you tell me how to get … how to get to Sesame Street?”

JJ SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 5: THE QUEEN OF THE RODEO Using who, which, and that, combine each set of sentences into one sentence.

1. The rodeo is exciting.
   It is held every weekend in Laredo, Texas.
2. The star of the rodeo is Bouncin’ Bob Watkins.
   He has been a champion bull rider five years in a row.

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3. This year is not going to be easy because of the entry of Black Jack Barstow.

He is the California champion.

4. They both have to ride a bull.
   The bull is named “The Widowmaker.”
5. The Widowmaker has killed five riders in the last three years. It makes cowboys’ blood run cold.
6. Bouncin’ Bob went first. He lost the coin toss.
7. Bob was tossed off Widowmaker in five seconds. It was the shortest ride he ever had.
8. Black Jack went next.
   He lasted only five seconds, too.
9. Suddenly, there was a shout from the crowd from a skinny little girl. She said, “I’ll show you cowpokes what a real cowgirl can do.”
10. She jumped on the Widowmaker, twisted his ear, and rode him until he was as docile as a lamb.

It shocked the crowd.

11. Bouncin’ Bob and Black Jack saw Little Annie Oakley crowned queen of the rodeo. They looked stunned.

JJ SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 6: THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT

Using who, which, and that, combine each set of sentences into one sentence.

1. The haunted house scared all the children in the neighborhood, including me. It was the house on the corner.

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2. The house originally belonged to old Widow Black.

She had been married five times.

3. All of her husbands had died under circumstances. These circumstances were mysterious.
4. Rumor has it that the groans and screams of her former husbands could be heard by people.

These people walked by her house under the light of the full moon.

5. The year I turned 14, my friends and I dared each other to spend the night in the haunted house.

It was a stupid thing to do.

6. It was a horrific night.
   It was a night I will remember forever.
7. Jeannie, Ralphie, Shawna, and I huddled in a corner. It was covered with cobwebs.
8. As the full moon appeared from behind the clouds, we heard a series of painful moans.

The moans sent chills up and down our spines.

9. Suddenly, from behind the arched doorway, the ghosts of all five husbands ap- peared before us.

The husbands looked like rotted corpses.

10. In one loud, unified chorus, the husbands revealed the horrible truth.

The truth was something they were dying to tell the world: “Don’t eat her Stroganoff. It’ll kill ya!”

JJ SUBORDINATION EXERCISE 7: NO ROOM FOR ROOMIES

In sentences 1–10 below, underline the appositive.

1. Homer, Erik’s roommate, is a slob.
2. His bedroom, the Black Hole of Filth, stinks of dirty gym socks and greasy bags of old French fries.
3. A pit of moth-eaten rags and holey tennis shoes, his closet resembles the dressing room at Marshall’s during a 50% off sale.
4. Sweetie Pie, his twenty-year-old Persian cat, uses the carpet for a litter box.
5. An open sewer, the bathroom reeks of rotten eggs.
6. Cherrie, Homer’s squeeze, is another slob.
7. While Erik is studying for his SATs, Cherrie and Homer usually plop themselves down on the couch, their cat fur-covered sanctuary.
8. They click on the TV, a fifty-inch flatscreen, and watch cartoons all day.
9. Between commercials, Cherrie shuffles to the kitchen and peers into the refriger- ator, the horn of plenty, and roots around for leftovers.
10. The only thing that Erik, the most frustrated man in the world, can do to get rid of Homer and Cherrie is to move out.

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Combine the following using appositives.

1. Every year I go to the county fair with Pinky, my girlfriend.
2. The fair ,the freak show ,is an interesting place to people watch.
3. Dwane, the carny, winked at Pinky when we were on the Tilt-a-Whirl.
4. Rodger ,the corn dog king, barks at all passersby to “Come and get ’em!”
5. Clem ,the pig handler, resembles his swin.
6. Rodger, Clem’s sworn enemy, grunts like a pig every time Clem walks by.
7. Billy Jo manages the shooting gallery.
   The shooting gallery is a rip-off if there ever was one.
8. I won the top prize for Pinky, a moth-eaten panda bear.
9. One-armed Dale, the refuse manager, picks up the trash very slowly.
10. The fair, a place for people watching ,makes for a freaky night out.

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Combine the following sentences using appositives.

1. Janie,my sister ,is my best friend,.
2. We agree on just about everything—everything except for the caring of our little brother, Sam

3. Sam’s bad habit is annoying. Sam’s bad habit is biting his nails.
4. Janie says we should get our brother some therapy.
   Therapy is a way to get Sam to think about something other than his gross habit.
5. I think another method would be more effective. Another method would be something less severe.
6. I’ve talked to Sam’s teacher about the problem. Her name is Ms. Dworzak.
7. Dworzak’s solution will keep Sam from biting his nails.
   Ms. Dworzak’s solution involves snow mittens and electrical tape.
8. Sam is too old for this type of behavior, everyone says. Sam is a boy of sixteen.
9. It is a disgusting habit.
   Biting his nails will cause others to want to avoid him.
10. I think Sam needs only one thing.
    The thing he needs is a pair of nail clippers.

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SUBORDINATION TEST (METHODS 5–7)

PART I .

Combine the following sentences using Method 5, adverb clauses (wwww.sub-a-beauti). Be sure to punctuate correctly.

1. My brother turned sixteen.
   I wanted to throw him a surprise party.
2. My sister wanted to invite only his close friends.
   I thought we should invite at least the whole neighborhood.
3. We didn’t have a whole lot of money.
   We decided to compromise and invite only his close friends and a few neighbors.
4. We went to the store.
   We needed to find out how many people were coming.
5. We found out how many people were coming. My sister bought all the food and drinks.
6. My sister prepared the food. I decorated the patio.
7. Everything was ready.
   We waited for the guests to arrive.
8. Guests came.
   We told them to hide in the kitchen.
9. Everybody was quiet.
   My brother would be surprised.
10. We remembered everything. We forgot to arrange for one of my brother’s friends to bring him.

What a surprise for us!

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PART II .

Combine the following sentences using Method 6, adjective clauses (who, which, that). Be sure to punctuate correctly.

1. Carlos was in love with Janet.
   He was the smartest boy in the fifth grade.
2. Carlos would always follow Janet to her house every day after school. Her house was at the end of a long dirt road.
3. There was a big old hound dog in her front yard. It barked incessantly.
4. Janet never saw Carlos following her. She wore thick black glasses.
5. Even though Janet couldn’t see very well, Carlos would hide behind a big rose bush.

It was covered with thorns.

6. One day when Carlos was hiding behind the bush, he saw a huge snake. It looked like a rattlesnake.
7. As Janet obliviously passed by the bush (and the snake), the snake struck. It had ignored Carlos.
8. Carlos threw his body between the snake and Janet. Carlos was deeply afraid of snakes.
9. The snake slithered away into the grass. It had missed Carlos by a mere inch.
10. Carlos lay still. He had fainted.

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11. He was awakened by a kiss.

He thought the kiss was from Janet.

12. Carlos opened his eyes and stared into big brown eyes. The eyes belonged to the big old hound dog.

PART III .

Using Method 7, combine the following sentences using appositives. Be sure to punctuate correctly.

1. Timmy loved Lassie. Lassie was Timmy’s dog.
2. Timmy lived on a big farm.
   The farm was a perfect place to romp with Lassie.
3. Timmy and Lassie romped for many years. They were a time of pure perfection.
4. When Timmy and Lassie turned fifteen, the romping stopped. Lassie was an old geezer.
   Timmy was an immature lad.
5. Timmy did not want the romping to stop. Timmy was a juvenile delinquent.
6. He wanted to continue to climb in old mine shafts, to clown around on railroad tracks, and pluck the tail feathers of old roosters.

These were all mindless acts.

7. Lassie had come to the end of his patience. Patience was her best quality.
8. She was sick of Timmy and plotted his demise.
   It was a plan to get rid of Timmy once and for all.

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9. The next day Timmy and Lassie went on a romp.

It was the last one as far as Lassie was concerned.

10. As Timmy and Lassie passed Old Man Jameson’s well, Lassie swished Timmy with her tail, and Timmy fell headfirst all the way to the bottom of the well.

The well was a crusty old hole.

11. Lassie headed home, her head held high, fur rippling in the wind. Her home was a place of peace and quiet.