Chapter 7 Avoiding Common Sentence Errors

Fragment: Is an incomplete sentence that does not make sense and cannot stand on its own and has the following errors:

Sentence that is missing a subject.

Sentence that is missing a verb.

Sentence that is missing both a subject and a verb.

Sentence that is missing a helping verb.

Sentence that is a dependent clause and therefore cannot stand alone.

Run-On: Are sentences that are made up of two side-by-side independent clauses that have no punctuation between them. Comma Splices: Occurs in sentences with two side-by-side independent clauses when a stronger pause is required. Comma Use:

Notice that when a dependent/subordinate clause precedes the main/independent clause, the dependent/subordinate clause is separated from the main/independent clause by a comma.

When the dependent/subordinate clause follows the main/independent clause, no comma is used to separate the clauses.)

Correcting Run-On Sentences:

Use a period.

Use a semicolon.

Use a comma and one of the 'FANBOYS'.

Make one sentence a dependent/subordinate clause. Correcting Run-Ons Using a Comma and One of the 'FANBOYS' Another common way to correct run-ons is to use a comma and one of the 'FANBOYS'. The 'FANBOYS' are more formally known as coordinating conjunctions. However, the term 'FANBOYS' is a way for you to remember the seven words that you can use to correctly connect two or more independent clauses into one entire sentence. The 'FANBOYS' are given below: F FOR → A AND → N NOR → B BUT → O OR → Y YET