09 – Generating a sentence with multiple clauses

Phrases joined by a conjunction

Like in SimpleNLG English, several options of creating a more complex sentence containing more than one clause exist. You can either create a so-called CoordinatedPhraseElement, as below, or simply add one sentence as a complement to another sentence.

    SPhraseSpec s1 = nlgFactory.createClause("meine Katze", "mögen", "Fisch");
    SPhraseSpec s2 = nlgFactory.createClause("mein Hund", "mögen", "Knochen");
    SPhraseSpec s3 = nlgFactory.createClause("mein Pferd", "mögen", "Gras");

    CoordinatedPhraseElement c = nlgFactory.createCoordinatedPhrase();
    c.addCoordinate(s1);
    c.addCoordinate(s2);
    c.addCoordinate(s3);

    String output = realiser.realiseSentence(c);
    System.out.println(output);

Per default, elements of the CoordinatedPhraseElement are separated by comma, and the last element is separated by "und":

    Meine Katze mag Fisch, mein Hund mag Knochen und mein Pferd mag Gras.

If you want to use another conjunction than "und", for instance "oder", you can specify this with:

    c.setConjunction("oder");

Subordinate clauses

In order to add a subordinate clause to a main clause, simply add the subordinate clause as a complement. By default, a clause set as a complement to another clause is added with a preceding comma. Optional, you can specify a complementiser, such as "während" in the following example:

    SPhraseSpec p = nlgFactory.createClause("die Sonne", "scheinen");
    SPhraseSpec q = nlgFactory.createClause("es", "regnen");
    
    q.setFeature(Feature.COMPLEMENTISER, "während");
    p.addComplement(q);
            
    String output = realiser.realiseSentence(p);
    System.out.println(output);

The output is:

    Die Sonne scheint, während es regnet.

If "und" is set as complementiser, no comma is added:

    SPhraseSpec p = nlgFactory.createClause("die Hund", "bellen");
    SPhraseSpec q = nlgFactory.createClause("die Katze", "miauen");
    
    q.setFeature(Feature.COMPLEMENTISER, "und");
    p.addComplement(q);
            
    String output = realiser.realiseSentence(p);
    System.out.println(output);

The output here is:

    Der Hund bellt und die Katze miaut.