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Unpacking a Long Sentence
Use this page when you read a sentence two or three times and still cannot find the main idea.
Why college sentences are long
Textbooks and articles often use long sentences. A writer adds details, reasons, and examples to one main idea, and the sentence grows. The main idea is still there, but it is hidden among the extra parts.
You can unpack a long sentence the way you unpack a bag: take the extra things out, find the main thing, and then put the rest back one piece at a time.
- Core:
- the main subject and the main verb of a sentence, and the words they need to make sense.
- Extra part:
- words that add information but are not the core, such as a phrase between commas.
- Main verb:
- the verb that goes with the main subject.
Five steps to unpack a sentence
- Put brackets around the extra parts. Look for words between commas, parts that start with which, who, or that, and opening phrases such as In 2020 or According to the report.
- Find the main verb in what is left.
- Find its subject. Ask: who or what does this?
- Read the core alone. It is often a short, simple sentence.
- Add the extra parts back, one at a time. Ask what each one adds: when, why, which one, or an example.
Then say the whole sentence in your own words, in two or three short sentences.
Example: unpacking one sentence
This sentence comes from a health textbook. Each number matches a note below.
According to the study,1 adults2 who sleep fewer than six hours a night,3 a group that includes many shift workers,4 have5 a higher risk of heart disease because their bodies do not have enough time to recover.6
- An opening phrase. It tells you the source. Bracket it.
- The subject. Who has the risk? Adults.
- A who part. It tells you which adults. Bracket it.
- A part between commas. It gives an example of the group. Bracket it.
- The main verb. It matches the plural subject adults, not a group.
- A because part. It gives the reason. Bracket it.
The core, and the sentence in short pieces
- Core: Adults have a higher risk of heart disease.
- In your own words: A study looked at adults who sleep less than six hours. Many of them are shift workers. They have a higher risk of heart disease, because their bodies cannot recover.
Language focus: who, which, and that
Parts that describe a noun
A part that begins with who, which, or that usually describes the noun just before it. It has its own verb, but that verb is not the main verb.
| Word | Describes | Example (the describing part is in bold) |
|---|---|---|
| who | people | Students who work full time need flexible classes. |
| which | things | The report, which was published last year, uses new data. |
| that | things or people | The study that the author describes was small. |
Do not stop at the first verb you see. In Students who work full time need flexible classes, the first verb is work, but it belongs to the who part. The main verb is need.
Notes you can write
Use these to take notes on a difficult sentence. Fill in each blank with your own words.
- The coreThe main idea is that .
- The extra partsThe sentence also tells me when: .It tells me why: .
- In your own wordsIn other words, .
Practice
Find the core (the main subject and the main verb) of each sentence.
- In many rural counties, clinics that once served whole towns have closed.
- The author, who worked as a nurse for twenty years, argues that hospitals need more staff.
- Workers who receive training, according to the survey, stay longer at their jobs.
Then say this sentence in two or three short sentences: “Because the cost of textbooks has risen quickly, many colleges, including community colleges, now offer free online books that students can use on any device.”
Show suggested answers
- Clinics have closed. In many rural counties is an opening phrase. That once served whole towns describes the clinics.
- The author argues (that hospitals need more staff). The part between commas describes the author. Worked is not the main verb.
- Workers stay (longer at their jobs). Who receive training describes the workers, and according to the survey gives the source.
One possible answer: Textbooks cost much more than before. Because of this, many colleges now offer free online books. Students can read them on any device. The core is colleges offer free online books. Other answers are possible.
Next step
Try this with your next reading
- Find one sentence that you had to read twice.
- Copy it, and put brackets around the extra parts.
- Write the core as a short sentence.
- Write the whole idea in your own words.