Sentence Transformation
Rewrite a sentence in another form without changing its meaning.
1. Simple, compound, complex
- Simple: one finite verb (He is too weak to walk).
- Compound: two main clauses joined by and/but/or/so/yet (He is poor, but he is honest).
- Complex: a main clause + a dependent clause (Though he is poor, he is honest).
| Meaning | Simple | Compound | Complex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reason | Being ill, … | He was ill, so … | As he was ill, … |
| Contrast | In spite of being rich, … | He is rich, but … | Though he is rich, … |
| Condition | — | Work hard, or you will fail. | If you do not work hard / Unless you work hard, … |
| Purpose | He worked hard to pass. | — | … so that he might pass. |
| Result | too weak to walk | — | so weak that he cannot walk |
| Addition | Besides being a doctor, … | not only … but also | — |
2. Degrees of comparison
- Superlative: Ravi is the tallest boy in the class.
- Comparative: Ravi is taller than any other boy.
- Positive: No other boy is as tall as Ravi.
- "one of the": Mumbai is one of the biggest cities = Very few cities are as big as Mumbai = Mumbai is bigger than most other cities.
3. Affirmative ↔ negative, assertive ↔ interrogative/exclamatory
- always late = never on time; Everyone loves… = There is no one who does not love….
- Rhetorical question: Who does not love his country? = Everyone loves his country. Can anyone bear it? = No one can bear it.
- What a beautiful flower! = It is a very beautiful flower.
4. Special patterns
- As soon as … → No sooner did … than; Hardly had … when.
- Not only at the start → inversion: Not only does he sing, but he also dances.
- if … not → unless (no extra not).
- too … to ↔ so … that … not; too … for us to.