Sentence Errors

1. Sentence Errors Fragments and Run-Ons Misplaced and Dangling Faulty Parallel Structure and Faulty Coordination

2. Fragments • A fragment is not a sentence because it cannot stand alone. • They may lack a subject, verb, or complete thought • When I thought I was mistaken. (What?) • Eating hot dogs, sitting in the sun on a warm day, and feeling the cool of the ocean on my toes. (What about those three things?)

3. Run-On Sentences • A run-on sentence is a sentence containing two or more independent clauses (sentences) punctuated incorrectly. • Ex: I ate an entire ice cream cone by myself but Jerry ate nothing. This sentence needs the comma before the conjunction to make it correct. • Ex: Everyone likes concerts, there is nothing better than feeling the drum beat inside my chest. This is two sentences joined by a comma. They need to be separated by a period to be correct. This is called a COMMA SPLICE

4. Run-On Sentencescontinued • Ways to properly punctuate two sentences: • I love teaching; helping someone to master a new skill gives me great joy. Two content related sentences can by joined by a semicolon. • I ran too far; however, Jon ran even farther. • When I ate too much, I didn’t feel well. This is one dependent and one independent clause.

5. Misplaced Modifiers • Misplaced modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that modify the wrong noun. • Ex: Turning green, I watched the lights. “Turning green” is closest to the noun “I”. As stated the person is turning green, not the lights. • Corrected: I watched the lights turning green.

6. Misplaced Modifiers • Example: I watched a heron trimming its feathers while driving past the reservoir. • In the sentence, the heron is the closest noun to “while driving past the reservoir”. As it is worded, the heron is driving past the reservoir. • TIP: If you read the sentences literally instead of interpreting them (figuring them out), it is easier to pick out the mistakes.

7. Dangling Modifiers • In sentences with dangling modifiers, the noun the modifier should modify is missing or implied instead of stated. • EX: Playing football all afternoon, my homework went unfinished. • “Playing football all afternoon” should modify a person, but it modifies the word “homework”. • Corrected: Playing football all afternoon, Jeff left his homework unfinished. • NOTE: THE SENTENCE MUST BE ENTIRELY REWORDED TO FIX THESE!

8. Dangling Modifiers • Example: After careful calculations, the lab was improved. • Who is carefully calculating? The closest noun is “lab”. • Corrected: After Sue made careful calculations, she improved the lab. NOTE: THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO CORRECT EACH DANGLING MODIFIER. BE CERTAIN TO ADD SPECIFIC NOUNS.

9. Parallel Structure • Items listed in a sentence must be grammatically identical. • I need to run to the store, pick up my groceries, and be home by noon. (To run, to pick, to be – are all infinitives mainly followed by prepositions. The parallel structure is appropriate here). • The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner. (owl website) • The two adverbs are followed by a preposition. “Thoroughly” is an appropriate substitution for “in a detailed manner”. • An easy way to ensure this is to compare openings, word count, and endings.

10. Faulty Coordination • Faulty coordination is the incorrect use of a coordinating conjunction like “and”. • I will go, and Mickey will stay. (CORRECT) • To use “and” the ideas connected must be related and of equal importance. • I saw The Wizard of Oz on television, and the movie was filmed in 1939. (INCORRECT) What does its date of filming have to do with a person viewing it on television.

11. Faulty Coordination • Many times clauses can be joined more appropriately in another way – by using a different coordinating conjunction, making one a subordinate clause, or simply by making two different sentences. • I watched the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz on television.