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Expand and Combine Sentences is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on building sentences that show how ideas relate, aligned to Common Core standard W.5.4. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 7 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Expand and Combine Sentences

W.5.4

NameDate

Tick the right answer.

1."He would rather not say." Why might a writer report this instead of quoting it?
  • A.To save space
  • B.Because quotations are banned
  • C.To keep the focus on the refusal rather than the words
2.Why does a report avoid the first person?
  • A.Because it presents events rather than one person's experience of them
  • B.Because "I" is informal
  • C.Because reports must be long
3.Combine: "The bell hung in a barn. It was green with damp." Which is best?
  • A.The bell hung in a barn and it was green with damp and it was there a long time.
  • B.Green with damp the bell hung in a barn.
  • C.The bell, green with damp, hung in a barn.
4.You are writing dialogue for a character from a particular place. What should guide you?
  • A.Formal written standard, always
  • B.How that person would really speak
  • C.The shortest possible words
5.Which shows a difference between spoken and written English?
  • A.Speech can trail off; writing usually finishes the thought
  • B.Speech uses more commas
  • C.Writing is always formal
6.Which sentence is expanded most usefully?
  • A.The mill, which was a mill, closed.
  • B.The mill closed on Friday, and it was a Friday.
  • C.The mill, which had run since 1868, closed on Friday.
7.Why combine two short sentences into one?
  • A.To show how the ideas relate rather than just listing them
  • B.To make the writing longer
  • C.To use fewer full stops
8.Which is a dialect difference rather than an error?
  • A.Spelling "their" as "there"
  • B."I were sat there" in some northern English varieties
  • C.Leaving out a full stop

LessonPrint · W.5.4 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Expand and Combine Sentences

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.To keep the focus on the refusal rather than the words
  2. 2.Because it presents events rather than one person's experience of them
  3. 3.The bell, green with damp, hung in a barn.
  4. 4.How that person would really speak
  5. 5.Speech can trail off; writing usually finishes the thought
  6. 6.The mill, which had run since 1868, closed on Friday.
  7. 7.To show how the ideas relate rather than just listing them
  8. 8."I were sat there" in some northern English varieties

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to W.5.4 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.