How to Fix Sentence Errors

How to Fix Sentence Errors Mr. Eble CP1 Junior English

First of All: A complete sentence… • …has a subject and a verb • Incomplete: Went to the store to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. • Complete: Ben went to the store to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. • …expresses a complete thought • Incomplete: When he went to the checkout counter to pay for the zombie repellent. • Complete: When he went to the checkout counter to pay for the zombie repellent, Ben warned the cashier.

Two Main Sentence Errors Run-on Sentence Sentence Fragment Sentences are considered fragments when they are missing either a subject or a verb or they don’t express a complete thought and stand alone (dependent clause) • A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are combined without correct punctuation.

Examples: Run-ons / Fragments Run-on Sentence Fragment “Hurry, I urge my country. Before it’s too late.” Yeah, right. When he went to the grocery store. • The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale today. • The book we had to read for class was really long my teacher doesn’t seem to understand that we have other classes to read for too.

Fixing Run-on Sentences A • Break it into two sentences. • RUN-ON: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale today. • FIXED: The grocery store was really packed with people. There must have been a big sale today.

Fixing Run-on Sentences B • Add a coordinating conjunction and a comma to make a compound sentence. • RUN-ON: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale today. • FIXED: The grocery store was packed with people, so there must have been a big sale today. • COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS: Remember the acronym FANBOYS… • For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

Fixing Run-on Sentences C • Add a subordinating conjunction and a comma to make a complex sentence. • RUN-ON: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale today. • FIXED: Because the grocery store was really packed with people, there must have been a big sale. • SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS—AAAh-Whoo-Bus! (AAAWWUBBIS): After, Although, As, When, While, Until, Before, Because, If, Since

Fixing Run-on Sentences D • Use a semicolon • RUN-ON: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale. • FIXED: The grocery store was really packed with people; there must have been a big sale.

Fixing Run-On Sentences NO-NO • You cannot simply add a comma; this is a comma splice. • RUN-ON: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big saletoday. • COMMA SPLICE (NO-NO): The grocery store was really packed with people, there must have been a big sale today.

Fixing Sentence Fragments A • Add a subject or a verb (whatever is missing)

Fixing Sentence Fragments B • Make your fragment a complete thought • Keep an eye out for subordinating conjunctions: When you find one, combine the fragment with a nearby sentence that connects with it logically. • SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS—AAAh-Whoo-Bus! (AAAWWUBBIS): After, Although, As, When, While, Until, Before, Because, If, Since • FRAG: Whenhe went to the grocery store. • FIXED: When he went to the grocery store, his credit card didn’t work.

Works Consulted • University of North Carolina Writing Center: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fragments-and-run-ons/ • Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL): http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_category_id=1&article_id=33

How to Fix Sentence Errors