Two sentences that say almost the same thing can usually be one sentence. This is how you fold them together without losing anything.
Not started yet.
When two sentences say the same thing about different people, the subjects can be joined into one compound subject. When two sentences say different things about the same person, the predicates can be joined into one compound predicate. The joining word is almost always and, or, or but.
This is the first lesson in the unit that is about writing rather than about naming. Everything before it asked the student to point at a part of a sentence. This one asks him to build a better sentence out of two worse ones, which is the skill a paragraph is made of. It also sets up lesson 1-9, where the same fold is done on whole sentences instead of parts.
Joining two subjects and leaving the verb alone. He writes Rosa and Dell sells tomatoes, because sells was right in both sentences he started from. Two people need sell, not sells. Ask him to say it with they and the ear usually fixes it before the rule does.
Same predicate, different subjects: join the subjects. Same subject, different predicates: join the predicates.
Two short sentences that overlap can usually become one. If they say the same thing about different people, keep the said-part once and join the two subjects with a connecting word such as and or or. That is a compound subject. If they say different things about the same person, keep the subject once and join what he does with and, or, or but. That is a compound predicate. With three or more parts, commas separate them and the connecting word goes before the last one. ⚠️ Joining two subjects makes the subject plural, so the verb changes: Rosa sells and Dell sells become Rosa and Dell sell.
Run this test. Read the combined sentence back and look for a word you had to say twice. If nothing repeats and nothing is missing, the fold worked. Then start it with they: if they sells sounds wrong, your verb still needs fixing.
Press play to have it read to you. The line being read lights up, so you can follow along.
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The same sentences you just heard. Green is the simple subject and orange is the simple predicate.
Rosa and Dell set up their tables at the same end every week.
Two sellers, one thing said about both of them. Notice set, not sets. Two people made the verb change shape.
Two boys and an old brown dog work their way down the row hunting for samples.
A compound subject does not need both halves to be the same length. Two boys on one side, an old brown dog on the other.
A woman in a straw hat picks up a peach, turns it over twice, and puts it back.
One woman, three things she does. Commas between the first two, and before the last one.
Rain or a county fair can empty the whole lot before noon.
Or instead of and, because only one of the two has to happen. It is still a compound subject.
Four done for you. The line under each one says how you could have known.
The baker unloads her van, stacks her bread in a pyramid, and says nothing to anybody until she is finished.
Three sentences went in, all of them starting The baker. She survives once and her three jobs get strung behind her. Say The baker three times out loud and you will not want to write it that way again.
The last sellers fold their tables and sweep the gravel before they go home.
Same sellers, two jobs, so this is a compound predicate. Only two parts this time, which means no comma is needed. And is doing the whole join by itself.
Peaches and sweet corn sell out first in August.
A compound subject does not have to be people. Two crops, one thing true of both. And the verb is sell rather than sells, because there are two of them.
The old brown dog begs at every table but never gets anything.
But instead of and, because the second half pushes against the first. He tries, and it does not work. The join still makes a compound predicate.
Two parts. Part A asks you to find the two joined words in a sentence, and it is not finished until you have tapped both. Part B asks a single question about each sentence: was it the subject that got joined, or the predicate? A wrong answer tells you why and lets you go again, so nothing here counts against you.
Six sentences. Each one has two words joined together. Tap both of them, not just the first.
Six more sentences. Nothing is underlined this time. Decide whether the joined part is the subject or the predicate.