Download Writing Correct Sentences

A sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and that expresses a complete
thought. And of course you all know that a sentence should begin with a capital letter and end
with a period (.), a question mark (?), or an exclamation point (!). A group of words that
either does not contain a subject or verb (a phrase) or does not express a complete thought (a dependent
clause) is called a sentence fragment because it is just a piece of something—not a whole (in other
words—a fragment).
Fragment
Sentence
What a clever plan! (No verb)
What a clever plan he had!
Fragment
When the Montagues and the Capulets learned of the deaths of Romeo and
Juliet. (It has a subject and a verb, but is not a complete thought. When is
a clue word that often begins a dependent clause – See #1 under proofreading below.)
When the Montagues and the Capulets learned of the deaths of Romeo and
Juliet, they ended their feud.
Sentence
Time for a bit of practice—EXERCISE A
Decide whether each of the following word groups is a sentence or a sentence fragment. REMEMBER:
a sentence contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. If the word group is a
sentence, write S on the line provided. If it is a sentence fragment, write F.
_________ 1. Taking a canoe trip in Canada.
__________2. Others had camped there before us.
_________ 3. Ashes indicated the place.
_________ 4. Where their fire had been.
_________ 5. The group spent the morning together.
_________ 6. Talking over plans for the afternoon.
_________ 7. As we rounded a bend in the river.
REMEMBER: a Sentence Fragment is a part of a sentence that has been punctuated as if it were a
complete sentence. IT IS NOT!
You should always check for sentence fragments when you are proofreading and
editing your writing. There are a few different ways you can do this.
1. Look for clue words that often begin dependent clauses, such as: who, whose, which, that,
where, when, although, because, if, so that, what, whether, and why, as well as words ending
in –ing. Remember, a dependent clause is a Sentence Fragment because it is NOT a
complete sentence on its own; it is dependent upon something else for help.
2. Read your composition backwards, beginning with the last sentence, then the sentence prior
to that, etc. Often, when reading in the normal manner—top to bottom—if a phrase or clause
naturally follows another, it might appear to be complete; yet that is not always the case. An
example would be
I made a lot of money last summer. Babysitting for the Smiths.
It appears that since the second part naturally follows the first, they
are both complete; however, babysitting for the Smiths is not complete; it
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is a fragment. If you read that last part first, you would realize it is
incomplete. Also, note that the first word babysitting ends in –ing (a clue)
3. One more way to tell, if you are not sure, is to write the words I Believe That on a note card.
Then read the note card in front of the questionable phrase or clause. Usually, if it makes
sense, it is complete. If not, it is probably a fragment. For example, if you read I Believe
That before the phrase babysitting for the Smiths, it should not make sense. That is because it
is a fragment.
There are two ways to correct Sentence Fragments. One way is to add words that will make the
thought complete.
EXAMPLE: Fragment – Odysseus a great hero of the Greeks. (the verb
is missing. What about Odysseus?)
Sentence – Odysseus became a great hero of the Greeks.
Fragment – For the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. (The subject and the verb are missing.
What about the balcony scene?
Sentence – The actors are preparing for the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet.
The second way to correct a Sentence Fragment is to attach it to an already complete sentence
that comes before or after it.
EXAMPLE: One of my favorite stories by Edgar Allan Poe is “X-ing a Paragrab.”
(sentence) A comic tale of a feud between two newspaper editors. (fragment).
REVISED: One of my favorite stories by Edgar Allan Poe is “X-ing a Paragrab,” a
comic tale of a feud between two newspaper editors.
EXAMPLE: Odysseus figured out a way for his men and him. (sentence) To escape
from the Cyclops. (fragment)
REVISED: Odysseus figured out a way for his men and him to escape from the Cyclops.
EXERCISE D – REWRITE each of the Sentence Fragments below as a complete sentence by
adding a subject, a verb and/or a complete thought. Be sure to use appropriate capitalization and
end punctuation.
EXAMPLE: A display about fruit bats. Sentence: We saw a display about fruit bats.
1. Lost the car keys again.
2. Ran ten miles before breakfast.
3. When the canoe overturned.
4. The new film about pirates.
5. According to ancient legend.
EXERCISE E – The paragraph below contains ten Sentence Fragments. Join each fragment to a
sentence by crossing out the unnecessary period and by crossing out the incorrect capital letter and
replacing it with a lowercase letter. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REWRITE THE PARAGRAPH.
Remember to look for those CLUE words, read the paragraph backwards beginning with the last
sentence, or use your “I Believe That” card.
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EXAMPLE:
Clean-up Day has been an annual event at our school. Ever since it
was introduced seven years ago.
At our school, everyone looks forward to Clean-up Day. Even though it means hard work for all
of us. All ninth-grade classes are excused for the afternoon on Clean-up Day. Which is observed every
spring. Members of the student council supervise the work. After they have met previously to decide the
area for which each class will be responsible. Some students are equipped with rakes and spades. That are
lent by trusting parents who are interested in the project. Trash baskets, wheelbarrows, bushel baskets,
hedge clippers, and even lawn mowers are rushed into action. When the time for work arrives at the
beginning of the sixth period. After Clean-up Day ninth-graders are naturally interested in keeping the
grounds neat. Because they have worked hard to get them that way. Of course, they don’t want to see
them littered with paper. You don’t dare throw a gum wrapper or a lunch bag anywhere but in the trash
baskets. Unless you want to have trouble with ninth-graders. Almost everyone enjoys Clean-up Day.
Probably because most of us like to get out of going to classes. There are always some loafers. Who are
more interested in getting out of work than in helping. Even the loafers, however, get busy. When they
see how seriously most of the students take the work.
The second sentence error we are going to discuss is the dreaded Run-on Sentence. A Run-on Sentence
is two or more complete sentences that run together as if they were one complete sentence. In other
words, they keep going on and on and on and on, just like the Energizer Bunny.
There are two kinds of run-on sentences.
A Fused Sentence has no punctuation between the complete sentences. Yikes!
A Comma Splice (which is the most common) has only a comma between the complete sentences. A
comma by itself is never strong enough to separate two complete sentences. Think of it like a tiny little
person trying to separate two sumo wrestlers from fighting each other—wouldn’t work very well, would
it? If you have seen ‘CS’ on your papers, you have a problem with this type of run on sentence.
Fused Sentence:
Della sold her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch Jim sold his
watch to buy Della combs for her hair.
Comma Splice:
Della sold her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch, Jim sold his
watch to buy Della combs for her hair. (watch and Jim would be
the sumo wrestlers—too strong for the tiny little comma.)
NEITHER OF THESE SENTENCES IS WRITTEN CORRECTLY.
Here are five different ways to correct a Run-on Sentence:
1. Make two sentences.
REVISED:
Della sold her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch. Jim sold his
watch to buy Della combs for her hair.
2. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so—you remember
“fan boys”.
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REVISED:
Della sold her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch, and Jim sold
his watch to buy Della combs for her hair.
3. Use a semicolon (;) if the two independent clauses are close in meaning.
REVISED:
Della sold her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch; Jim sold his
watch to buy Della combs for her hair.
4. Use a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb, such as therefore, instead, meanwhile, still, also, or
however. (you know—all those great transitional words). ***Follow a conjunctive adverb with
a comma.***
REVISED:
Della sold her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch; however, Jim
sold his watch to buy Della combs for her hair.
(Be sure, however, that you choose an appropriate conjunctive adverb, as it can sound
really bad if you don’t .)
5. Change one of the complete thoughts into a subordinate (dependent) clause.
REVISED:
Della sold her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch while Jim sold
his watch to buy Della combs for her hair.
***For more information about combining sentences, see 10a—e p. 1067-1068.***
TIPS FOR WRITERS: Identifying Run-on Sentences
One way to spot Run-on Sentences is to read your writing aloud. A natural, distinct pause in
your speech often means that you need to separate sentences in some way. When you pause,
check your paper to be sure you have appropriate punctuation. REMEMBER though—do
NOT use a comma to separate two complete sentences. You can also check for run-ons by
identifying subjects and verbs. Checking for clauses will help you find where one complete
thought ends and another begins.
EXERCISE F
Revise the following run-on sentences to make them correct. Use a different
method ( 1 – 5 above) for each of the sentences.
EXAMPLE: Dogs are barking they aren’t ours. Dogs are barking, but they
aren’t ours. (comma and coordinating conjunction)
1. Leonard gave an impromptu speech it actually sounded prepared.
2. You can join us for supper you have to help with the dishes.
3. The art club is going to the exhibit of African masks I want to go.
4. The house has a mansard roof the place looks nice.
5. Jake was removed from the hockey game he sat in the penalty box.
For more information on sentence structure, see Lit book pp 1062-1067
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