Sentence Fixing

Run-on Sentences A run-on sentence has two or more main clauses incorrectly punctuated as a single sentence. For example: Mountain climbers need years of training, good judgment is essential. The hazardous terrain includes sheer rock walls taller peaks also have snow and ice.

Correcting the Run-on There are 3 ways to correct a run-on sentence. 1. Divide the main clauses into separate sentences, using periods and capital letters. 2. Add a semicolon between the main clauses. 3. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction between them.

Corrected Sentence Wrong: Mountain climbers need years of training, good judgment is essential. The hazardous terrain includes sheer rock walls taller peaks also have snow and ice. Right: Mountain climbers need years of training. Good judgment is essential. The hazardous terrain includes sheer rock walls; taller peaks also have snow and ice.

Sentence Fragments A group of words that is punctuated like a sentence but lacks a subject, verb, or both and fails to express a complete thought. For example: Intrepid mountain climbers scaling a tall peak. Climb higher and higher. Up frozen slopes. When they reach the top.

Correcting a Fragment Add the necessary subject, verb, or both to complete the thought. Sometimes you can do this by combining the fragment with a nearby sentence or another fragment

Corrected Sentence Wrong: Intrepid mountain climbers scaling a tall peak. Climb higher and higher. Up frozen slopes. When they reach the top. Right: Intrepid mountain climbers are scaling a tall peak. They climb higher and higher up the frozen slopes. When they reach the top they can look forward to an even more treacherous descent.

Stringy Sentences Contains too many ideas connected by words like and, so, then, and so, or, and then. Stringy sentences are repetitious and hard to follow because the relationships between ideas are unclear.

Example of Stringy Sentence Mount Everest is in Asia’s Himalaya mountain range, and it is the world’s tallest mountain, and so climbing it was a great challenge, and Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first climbed it in 1953, and then all the world celebrated their triumph.

Correcting Stringy Sentences Decide which ideas are closely related and which are not. When they are not, place them in separate sentences. When they are, combine them into one sentence by adding a subordinating conjunction that clarifies their relationship.

Corrected Sentence Mount Everest is in Asia’s Himalaya mountain range. Because it is the world’s tallest mountain, Mt. Everest was a great challenge. When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first climbed it in 1953, all the world celebrated their triumph.

Unnecessary shifts An unnecessary change in verb tense or in the person, number, or gender of pronouns often confuses and distracts readers. For example: According to local legends, a mysterious creature dwells in the Himalayas. Its local name is Yeti; some call it the Abominable Snowman. Judging from his footprints, he was a creature of monstrous size.

Shift Corrected According to local legends, a mysterious creature dwells in the Himalayas. Its local name is Yeti; some call it the Abominable Snowman. Judging from its footprints, it is a creature of monstrous size.