DIAGRAM THIS SENTENCE

Mom washed the dirty nasty clothes.

Mom

the

clothesdirty

washed nasty

Writing Complete Sentences Page 268

• A complete sentence• • has a subject• • has a verb• • expresses a complete thought

Writing Complete Sentences • Two common errors get in the way of writing

complete sentences: • sentence fragments and run-on sentences. • Once you learn how to recognize fragments and run-

ons in your writing, you can revise them to form clear, complete sentences.

Writing Complete Sentences • Sentence Fragments• A run-on sentence is actually two complete

sentences punctuated like one sentence. In a run-on, two separate thoughts run into each other. The reader cannot tell where one idea ends and another one begins.

Writing Complete Sentences • Sentence Fragments

Was the first African American man to win the Wimbledon tennis championship.

• What is missing?• The subject is missing. • Arthur Ashe was the first African American man to

win the Wimbledon tennis championship.

Writing Complete Sentences • Sentence Fragments

Ashe the Wimbledon singles title in 1975.• What is missing?• The verb is missing. • Ashe won the Wimbledon singles title in 1975.

Writing Complete Sentences • Sentence Fragments

While he was a student at the University of California.• What is missing?• The complete thought is missing. • Ashe also won several championships in college

tennis while he was a student at the University of California.

Writing Complete Sentences • Sentence Fragments• As you can see form the first two examples, you can

correct some sentence fragments by adding a subject or verb.

• Other times a sentence fragment just needs to be attached to the sentence next to it.

• The crowd cheered wildly. When Leon scored the winning touchdown.

• The crowd cheered wildly when Leon scored the winning touchdown.

Writing Complete Sentences • Use this simple three-part test to find out which of the

following word groups are sentence fragments and which are complete sentences.

• 1. Does the group of words have a subject?• 2. Does it have a verb?• 3. Does it express a complete thought?• If the group of words is a complete sentence, write S. If it is a

fragment, write F.

Writing Complete Sentences • 1. Does the group of words have a subject?• 2. Does it have a verb?• 3. Does it express a complete thought?• If the group of words is a complete sentence, write S. If it is a

fragment, write F.• 1. Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady of the United States from

1933 to 1945.• 2. Raised by her grandmother because both of her parents

had died by the time she was ten.

S

F

Writing Complete Sentences • 1. Does the group of words have a subject?• 2. Does it have a verb?• 3. Does it express a complete thought?• 3. Wrote a popular newspaper column entitled “My Day.”• 4. As First Lady, worked for the rights of the poor and• underprivileged.• 5. Because she felt strongly about the struggles of children

and minorities.

F

F

F

Writing Complete Sentences • 6. Eleanor Roosevelt traveled all over the world.• 7. Press conferences at which she discussed important issues.• 8. Important role in forming the United Nations.• 9. Chairperson of the United Nations Commission on Human• Rights.• 10. After a long life of public service, died in 1962.

• Do Exercise on page 269-270

SF

FF

Do Exercise on page 269-2701. A flying squirrel a squirrel that can gracefully glide through the air.

• 2. Some Asian flying squirrels three feet long.• 3. Skillfully leaps from one tree to another.• 4. The squirrel glides downward, then straight, and finally

upward.• 5. Some flying squirrels more than fifty feet.• 6. If they use a higher starting point.• 7. Flying squirrels live in the forests of Asia, Europe, and North

America.• 8. To eat berries, birds’ eggs, insects, and nuts.• 9. Nesting in the hollows of trees.• 10. Notice how this squirrel stretches out its legs to help it glide.

FF

F

SS

F

SF

FS

Some of the following groups of words are sentence fragments. Revise each fragment by (1) adding a subject, (2) adding a verb, or (3) attaching the fragment to a complete sentence. You may need to change the punctuation and capitalization, too. If the word group is already a complete sentence, write S.

• 1. Before the sun rose.• 1. We awoke before the sun rose.• 2. Felt tired because we did not get much sleep the night

before.2. Jim felt tired because we did not get much sleep the night before.

• 3. A bear growling in the bushes outside the tent at 2:00 A.M.

• 3. A bear growling in the bushes outside the tent at 2:00 A.M. scared Mike

• 4. Because we had left food on the fire.• 4. Our dinner burned because we had left food on the fire.• 5. Came from the bushes and circled the campfire.• 5. A roar came from the bushes and circled the campfire.

• 5. Our eyes grew large as the bear stood up and revealed its teeth.

• 6. When my friend let out a screeching yell.• 7. Put my hand over his mouth.• 8. Then growled at us menacingly.• 9. We stood still.• 10. Dropping to all fours, ran back into the forest.

• Do Exercise 2 on page 270 for homework• Be ready for a quiz over sentence fragments

QUIZ• Decide whether each group of words is a sentence or a sentence

fragment. Write S if the group of words is a sentence or F if the group of words is a sentence fragment.

• ______ 1. Water supports the gigantic body of the whale.• ______ 2. Unable to survive on land.• ______ 3. A beached whale’s lungs may be crushed.• ______ 4. Prevented by its tremendous weight.• ______ 5. Blue whales are the largest mammals.• ______ 6. The blue whale, which can weigh over 150 tons.• ______ 7. Although some whales have simple teeth.• ______ 8. Others have no teeth.• ______ 9. The sievelike whalebone in the roof of their mouths.• ______10. Straining krill from the water for food.

SFSFSFFSFF