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Step 1
A rambling sentence is one that is too long and has too many independent clauses. An independent clause is a complete thought that has a subject and a predicate. Some students string together many independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions, such as or, and, but, for, so and yet. Coordinating conjunctions connect or link independent clauses.
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Step 2
A sentence should have one idea or a small group of related ideas. A rambling one has too many ideas, and they are not related. In addition, the writer will use too many coordinating conjunctions. Example: Brandy took her dog on a walk, and they were going to get the paper, but the dog saw a squirrel, and the squirrel looked like the one that visited their bird feeder, and it was so cute.This is how children sometimes talk, especially when they are excited. However, this written sentence appears disorganized.
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Step 3
The easiest way to fix this problem is to remove most of the coordinating conjunctions that separate the independent clauses and make separate sentences.Example: Brandy took her dog on a walk. They were going to get the paper, but the dog saw a squirrel. The squirrel looked like the one that visited their bird feeder. It was so cute.
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Step 4
It is important to note that coordinating conjunctions can be used correctly in writing. Joining two sentences by using one is called a compound sentence. The key is to make sure that the two sentences fit together. The general rule is to combine no more than two sentences. Combining more than two can make the writing confusing. Example: John likes pizza. It was too hot to eat.To link these two sentences with a coordinating conjunction, write it as the following: John likes pizza, but it was too hot to eat.These two sentences have ideas that are related and now form a compound sentence.
