3 Strategies for Combining Sentences

One approach to making prose more concise is to stitch together two related sentences by revising one so that it serves as a subordinate clause to the other rather than an independent statement. Here are three ways to accomplish this goal.

1. Firms are increasingly susceptible to noncompliance, as demonstrated by the stream of regulatory enforcement actions seen over recent years. These regulatory enforcement actions could have been avoided by taking an agile approach to managing the compliance requirements inventory.

When a sentence repeats a noun phrase from a previous sentence, those statements are candidates for combination. Convert the second sentence to a subordinate clause, as shown here: “Firms are increasingly susceptible to noncompliance, as demonstrated by the stream of regulatory enforcement actions seen over recent years—actions that could have been avoided by taking an agile approach to managing the compliance requirements inventory.”

2. Crafting and managing these agreements is a unique and valuable skill. This is the case because the financial risks of violating their terms can be substantial.

When an assertion is supported in a subsequent sentence by a statement that provides an explanation, splice the sentences by deleting the subject from the second one, as shown here: “Crafting and managing these agreements is a unique and valuable skill because the financial risks of violating their terms can be substantial.”

3. Uber continues to disrupt other geographies internationally, including London’s taxicab industry. Uber is now often also cited as an example of how disruptive technology is affecting established industries.

When a subject is repeated in two consecutive sentences, it’s often possible to transform the first sentence into a parenthetical subordinate clause of the second one, as shown here: “Uber, which continues to disrupt other geographies internationally, including London’s taxicab industry, is now often also cited as an example of how disruptive technology is affecting established industries.”