EF 5/6 Sentence combining "Dad at Home/Backstage"

Dad at Home
1. Jackie's dad is a truck driver who has driven for twenty years, but he is taking a year off to be with her.
Jackie's dad who has been a truck driver for twenty years is taking a year off to be with her.

2. He now works at home with Jackie as a parent which is a full-time job.
His full-time job is at home with Jackie as a parent.

3. They clean and repair the house, cook the meals, shop and have fun.
They have fun cleaning and repairing the house, cooking the meals, and shopping.
We had fun walking in the park.

4. In the afternoon, they paint, picnic, go to movies, and cycle.

In the afternoon, they either paint, picnic, go to movies, or cycle.

5. Jackie, who is four, enjoys each day that is spent with her dad.

Jackie is four, and she enjoys each day that is spent with her dad.

Jackie is four, and she enjoys each day spent with her dad.

Fewer words make denser sentences.- more meaning, more meat, to the point
Jackie, a four-year-old, enjoys each day spent with her dad.

- hyphen
-- dash, informal
: colon

I have two kids: a boy and a girl. FORMAL
I have two kids-- a boy and a girl. INFORMAL

-- one line, not two lines


Jackie, Joan, Jesse, and Dave, who are all four-year-olds, like to play tennis.

four-years-old XX

four-year-olds  many kids

Backstage

1. We were preparing for the second performance of our play, and the dressing room was in a state.

"in a state" messy, very messy
" a pig sty" sty-
Your bedroom is a pigsty.
Your bedroom looks like a bomb hit it.

"My face is a mess."

Because/ While we were preparing for the second performance of our play, the dressing room was in a state.

2. Costume racks
Racks that were for costumes and makeup trays were scattered about/ all over the room.

3. Helpers were dressing cast members and applying their makeup; everyone was nervous.

Everyone was nervous while helpers were dressing cast members and applying their makeup.

4. The female lead could not do something get her wig to stay on properly; also, the male lead was having a tug-of-war with a pair of suspenders that would not cooperate. 

toupee

sock suspenders

5. We wondered if the production would ever come together.
We wondered whether the production would ever come together or not.
We wondered whether or not the production would ever come together.