The Best Ways to Make Longer Sentences

In some situations, you just have to make a sentence longer. For example, a longer sentence is ideal if you are short of ideas and still nowhere near the needed word count.

Indeed, you’ve read several articles about the need to write short, punchy sentences. However, this is not always the best route. Unless you’re composing a tweet with character limits, you shouldn’t restrict yourself to short sentences.

The problem many experts identify with longer sentences is how they often contain filler words. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t make a sentence longer without fluffs. This article shows you different effective means of fleshing out your sentences. 

How to Make a Sentence Longer

Making long sentences devoid of filler words is not as hard as you might think. We’ve gathered some effective tips to help you expand those short sentences. 

1. Be Descriptive

Try as much as possible to be descriptive in your use of language. This tip applies more to creative writing and other forms of informal writing.

Descriptive writing is more vivid than other forms of writing, and it often requires more words. For instance:

• The boy sauntered in.
• Wearing his new pair of white sneakers, the boy strolled in leisurely.

The second sentence above is more descriptive and contains more words. The idea is to include more words and phrases that provide more contextual information. Adverbs and adjectives are perfect for this. You can also throw in a few figures of speech. 

2. Give Examples

Giving examples is one of the simplest and easiest ways to make your sentences longer. You’re neither adding fluff nor redundancies. Just examples that help explain your points better. For instance:

• At a time when others are crumbling, some countries are beginning to thrive
• At a time when others are crumbling, some countries like Japan, Egypt, and Algeria are beginning to thrive. 

Can you see that’s simple? We made the sentence longer by adding relevant words that exemplify the point. Let’s check another.

• If you want to strengthen your heart, engage in aerobic exercises.
• Engage in aerobic exercises like cycling, swimming, and rowing if you want to strengthen your heart.

3. Break up Contractions

This is one tip that has been staring right at you, but you couldn’t pick it out. Contractions are counted as one word; breaking them up gives you at least one extra word. Do this for 20 contractions, and you have at least 20 extra words in your text. For instance:

• Couldn’t – could not.
• You’re – you are.
• Isn’t – is not.

4. Make Reference to Sources

This particular tip applies more to academic and more formal writing, where facts and figures elevate your writing. Instead of mentioning the fact only, attribute it to the source.

There are two benefits to this. The first is that you can chip in a few extra words to your writing. The second is that your writing has the needed authoritative backing to drive home your point. For instance:

• The population of the United States is projected to hit 438 million by 2050.
• According to Pew Research Center, the population of the United States is projected to hit 438 million by 2050.

5. Link Ideas With Conjunctions

Instead of littering your work with short sentences, you can use conjunctions to link ideas. You can use conjunctions such as but, and, for, and yet can link two sentences seamlessly. In most cases, you won’t even notice these changes, like in the sentence, “It was late, but we decided to stay out.”

6. Use Transitional Words and Phrases

Using transitional words is another easy way to make longer sentences. Instead of switching between ideas abruptly, transitional words make the switch seamless for your readers. They are not just filler words; they are meaningful words that quickly prepare your reader for what’s coming.

Transitional words like however, conversely, and alternatively are used to show contrast. Words such as furthermore, also, in addition, and additionally are used to add more information to the existing ones. You use in conclusion and finally to introduce a final point.

These are just a few examples of transitional words you can start adding to your work to create longer sentences. 

Tools for Making Longer Sentences

If these tips don’t work for you, or you’re short of time, you should consider some online tools. These tools relieve you of long hours of staring at the screen.

One of such tools is INK’s AI Expand. The tool uses artificial intelligence to expand your sentence. We used the tool to expand some sentences, and the results were impressive.

• It is projected that by 2050, the population of the United States will reach 438 million.
• If you want to strengthen your heart, then you should start going for aerobic exercises.
• A boy sauntered in from the house.

For each of these sentences, INK’s AI Expand added extra words that made them longer without altering the overall meaning. 

There are other tools that create lengthier sentences like Quillbot and LingoJam.

To Wrap Up

The tips in this article are enough to help you create longer sentences without unnecessary fluffs and fillers. The tool recommended above is a faster way to go around it all. A click of a button is all you need to expand your sentences.