Adding related events

Good writing is about adding the right kind of details.

We commonly use complex sentences to add extra detail and paint a clearer picture of an event.

But we don't need a complex sentence to do that, so to see how a complex sentence is different, let's begin with an event that has no detail:

Dickon came in.

You might notice this sentence has minimal structure—Subject-Verb-Object (and the object, 'in', showing where Dickon came, is not detailed).

Dickon walks through a doorway. Very little detail.

Write your own super basic event (using only Subject-Verb or Subject-Verb-Object).

This sentence is fine; it does the job!

But what if we wanted to paint a clearer picture of Dickon's attitude as he comes in?

There are all sorts of ways we could do this. The simplest way is to add an adverb as a modifier:

Dickon came in happily.

Dickon walks through a doorway. Looks energetic.

Write your own super basic (Subject-Verb or Subject-Verb-Object) event and add an adverbial detail.

That's okay too!

But what if we wanted to add even more detail?

We could add a prepositional phrase:

Dickon came in with his nicest wide smile.

Using a prepositional phrase as a modifier allows us to add more specific detail than using an adverb. Write your own version.

Again, not bad!

But maybe it sounds like he's carrying a smile in his hands? Like the smile is just a thing that he has.

Dickon walks through a doorway with a smile on a leash

What if we wanted it to sound more active? What if we wanted to show Dickon smiling? We could do that by creating a compound sentence:

Dickon came in as he smiled his widest smile.

Write your own compound sentence with two simple statements joined by a connector to show two events happening at the same time.

This compound sentence lets us add descriptive detail in the form of another event.

However, notice how both events appear equally important.

Dickon walks through a doorway pointing to the smile on his face

If you look at the clause component highlighting for the compound sentence version, you'll notice that it's different from the previous versions. Instead of 1 clause that includes detail as a modifier, there are 2 clauses (with 2 verb groups, representing 2 events).

(Keep this in mind when you look at the next version—you might notice something interesting!)

What if these events were not equally important? What if we wanted to emphasise one over the other?

Here's one way we could do that:

Dickon came in smiling his nicest wide smile.

The Secret Garden(1911)

Dickon came in smiling his nicest wide smile.

The Secret Garden(1911)

Dickon came in smiling his nicest wide smile.

The Secret Garden(1911)

This last version is a complex sentence. It lets us say Dickon is doing two things at once:

Dickon is coming in
And he's smiling his widest smile

Dickon walks through a doorway with a smile on his face

And it also suggests a hierarchy: the most important event is “Dickon coming in”. His smile is not the focus—it’s a bit of extra detail.

(Also, the power of clauses means the supporting event can inherit the subject ('Dickon') from the main event, which makes the sentence efficient.)

Mapping back to clause components, this supporting event is a modifier to the main clause (like the adverb "happily" and the prepositional phrase "with his nicest wide smile" in the examples from earlier on this page).

Remember: modifiers add more detail to the main event, but they aren’t required for the event to make sense. (Unlike objects, which are required for certain events.)

Write a similar complex sentence with a main event and a supporting event that adds more detail.

1. Simple, figure walks through a door. 2. Adverb, happily, walks in energetically. 3. Preposition, with his smile, walks in with a smile on a leash. 4. Compound, as he smiled, walks in with arrows pointing to smile. 5. Complex, Dickon walks in smiling

Compare all the versions of the snippet above. Do you think one of these descriptions is better than the other? If so, why? (There’s no right answer and it’s not a trick question.)

One possible response is that the complex sentence provides extra detail while remaining easy to read.

Here's another complex sentence, but this one has several supporting events to add detail.

Can you tell which is the main event? (In your mind, try deleting each one or swapping it for an adjective or some other non-verb word.)

Astrid was still calm, though, frowning, concentrating, trying to make sense of it all.

Gone(2008)

Astrid was still calm, though, frowning, concentrating, trying to make sense of it all.

Gone(2008)

Astrid was still calm, though, frowning, concentrating, trying to make sense of it all.

Gone(2008)

Try writing your own variation of this snippet, using the same verb tenses if possible.

You saw all along this page that there are many ways to add detail—adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and so on.

But we can also add detail by adding extra events, which can take us into the realm of complex sentences.

For more detail about how to write and use adverb groups and prepositional phrases, check out these lessons from the Word Groups lessons:

Once we're combining events, timing becomes important, so let's take a look at how timing and tense works in complex sentences.

Complex sentences

Adding related events