Sentence Compression Examples

The examples below demonstrate several rewrite operations for compressing sentences. Most of them are transformation rules which are triggered by syntactic constructions and are thus independent of the specific content of the sentence being compressed.

Example 1 (light verb construction)

• Steven made an attempt to stop playing Hearts.
• Steven attempted to stop playing Hearts.

Example 2 (light verb construction)

• Peter's subsequent triumph bore a strong resemblance to gloating.
• Peter's triumph strongly resembled gloating.

Example 3 (light verb construction)

• Darell's parents were supportive of his decision to become a drag queen and world famous diva.
• Darell's parents supported his decision to become a drag queen.

Example 4 (light verb construction)

• Even though we were in competition for the grand prize, it seemed unfair.
• We were competing for the prize but it seemed unfair.

Example 5 (NP modified by relative clause)

• We objected to the way he moved the chess pieces.
• We objected to his movement of of the chess pieces.
• We objected to how he moved the chess pieces.

Example 6 (NP modified by relative clause)

• I was amazed by the fact that he rapidly drew the picture.
• I was amazed by how rapidly he drew the picture.
• I was amazed by his rapid drawing of the picture.

Example 7 (adverbial NP)

• She used to look at me in a pensive manner.
• She used to look at me pensively.

Example 8 (relative clause)

People who speak Spanish have a weird accent in English.
• Spanish speakers have a weird English accent.
• Spanish-speaking people have a weird English accent.

Example 9 (relative clause)

• The examiner who was kind let the student finish his lunch before disqualifying him.
• The kind examiner let the student eat before disqualifying him.

Example 10 (relative clause)

• He was warned by a light that flashed repeatedly.
• He was warned by a flashing light.

Example 11 (prepositions)

• The gamekeeper preferred to make television documentaries about wildlife.
• The gamekeeper made wildlife documentaries.

Example 12 (prepositions)

• George gave his wife as a birthday present a cat from Persia.
• George gave his wife a Persian cat.

Example 13 (genitives)

• The arrival of the train was unexpected.
• The train's arrival was unexpected.

Example 14 (active/passive voice)

• The retreating guerrillas were soon pursued by the government forces.
• Government forces soon pursued the guerrillas.

Example 15 (cleft sentence)

• It was John who wore his best suit to the dance last night.
• John wore his best suit to the dance.

Example 16 (pseudo-cleft sentence)

• What Andrew wants most is to find a nice cover for his book.
• Andrew wants to find a cover for his book.

Example 17 (existential sentence)

• There are plenty of people getting promotion.
• Plenty of people are getting promotion.
• Many people are getting promotion.

Example 18 (subordinate clause)

• When a satellite passes through the belt, it is subject to bursts of gamma rays as the positrons annihilate electrons in its outer skin.
• A satellite passing though the belt is subject to bursts of gamma rays.

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