Transformation of Sentences - Rules, Examples and Exercises

Transformation of sentences includes transforming sentences from among affirmative, interrogative, simple, complex, or compound sentence types into any of these. In this article, you will learn the rules regarding the transformation of sentences along with examples. There are also exercises based on each type of transformation that you can use to practise and learn. Check them out.

Table of Contents

• Transformation of Sentences – What Is It and Why Is It Important?
• Rules of Sentence Transformation
• Frequently Asked Questions on Transformation of Sentences in English

Transformation of Sentences – What Is It and Why Is It Important?

Transformation of sentences is the process by which a sentence in a particular form is transferred to another without altering its meaning, unless asked to do so. If you are wondering what makes learning how to transform sentences so important, here is your answer. There might come various instances in which you would have to structure your sentences differently to make your writing look better, to sound positive or just because you are asked to.

Imagine you have written a paragraph and you are looking for ways to make it more assuring, how would you do it? You sure have to retain the meaning of the sentences. Sometimes, you will have to break compound sentences and compound-complex sentences to make your writing clear and easily comprehensible. These are the kind of situations where sentence transformation will help you greatly. However, in order to transform sentences accurately, you should know how exactly it is done. Check out the next section for the rules regarding transformation of sentences.

Rules of Sentence Transformation

To make your learning process a lot easier, here are the rules to be followed and points you can keep in mind when transforming sentences. Once you finish reading through each category of sentence transformation, check out the detailed articles to learn the ways in which transformation is done and the examples given along with it to understand clearly and to be able to use them effectively.

The general rules of sentence transformation is as follows:

• To transform an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence, the common rule is to add ‘not’ to the principal verb in the sentence.
• To convert an assertive sentence into an interrogative sentence, the first thing you will need to do is to invert the position of the subject and the auxiliary verb, while the rest of the sentence mostly remains unchanged. Also, do not forget to insert a question mark after the interrogative sentence.
• To convert a simple sentence into a compound sentence, you will have to alter the infinitive phrase or the participle phrase into an independent clause while the remaining clause in the simple sentence remains unchanged. Once you do that, use a coordinating conjunction to link the two clauses.
• To transform a simple sentence into a complex sentence, you will have to change the infinitive/participle phrase into a dependent clause using a subordinating conjunction while the rest of the simple sentence remains the same.
• To convert a compound sentence into a complex sentence, you will just need to convert one clause into a dependent clause with the addition of a subordinating conjunction and remove the coordinating conjunction.
• To convert a complex sentence into a compound sentence, all you have to do is convert the dependent clause into an independent clause and replace the subordinating conjunction with a suitable coordinating conjunction.
• To transform a conditional sentence into a negative sentence, you can add ‘not’ to the principal verbs in both the clauses if it is a complex sentence. In other cases, you will be required to change the pronoun or use the opposite of the verb to make it negative.