1. Sentence Errors & How to Fix Them Mr. Eble CP1 Junior English

2. 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.

3. Types of Sentences  Simple  A sentence with one independent clause and no dependent clauses.  Mr. Buckley shaves his head every week.  Compound  A sentence with multiple independent clauses but no dependent clauses.  Mr. Buckley shaves his head every week, and Mr. Eble mocks him for it.

4. Types of Sentences (cont’d)  Complex  A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.  Because Mr. Buckley shaves his head every week, Mr. Eble mocks him.  Complex / Compound  A sentence with multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.  Mr. Buckley shaves his head every week, and because Mr. Eble mocks him (which is funny), the two engage in a fistfight just as often.

5. Two Main Sentence Errors Run-on Sentence  A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are combined without correct punctuation. 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 )

6. Examples: Run-ons / Fragments Run-on Sentence  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. Fragment  “Hurry, I urge my country. Before it’s too late.”  Yeah, right.  When he went to the grocery store.

7. 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.

8. 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…  F or, A nd, N or, B ut, O r, Y et, S o

9. 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): A fter, A lthough, A s, W hen, W hile, U ntil, B efore, B ecause, I f, S ince

10. 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.

11. 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 sale today.  COMMA SPLICE (NO-NO): The grocery store was really packed with people, there must have been a big sale today.

12. Fixing Sentence Fragments A  Add a subject or a verb (whatever is missing)

13. 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): A fter, A lthough, A s, W hen, W hile, U ntil, B efore, B ecause, I f, S ince  FRAG : When he went to the grocery store.  FIXED: When he went to the grocery store, his credit card didn’t work.

14. Works Consulted  University of North Carolina Writing Center: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fr agments-and-run-ons/ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fr agments-and-run-ons/  Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL): http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engageme nt/index.php?category_id=2&sub_catego ry_id=1&article_id=33 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engageme nt/index.php?category_id=2&sub_catego ry_id=1&article_id=33