1. Building Effective Sentences
Fragments vs. Complete Thoughts

2. What is a complete sentence?
A complete sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought.

3. How can I make sure my sentences are complete?
For a sentence to be complete, it needs two parts: a subject and a predicate.

4. What is a subject?
The subject is the noun that the sentence is mainly about.
A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples:
Jazmine raised her hand and asked to use the loo.
Anthony and Cristian accidentally farted in class.
When no one was looking, my teacher picked her nose.

5. What is a predicate?
The predicate is the verb or verb phrase that shows what the subject is doing or what is being done to the subject.
A verb is an action, like running, walking, or sneezing. Verbs also include different uses of the word be, like am, are, is, and were.
Verb phrases are two or more words that use a helping verb to show an action, such as “I was writing a book” or “My mom is walking to her car.”
Examples:
Jazmine raised her hand and asked to use the loo.
Anthony and Cristian accidentally farted in class.
When no one was looking, my teacher picked her nose.

6. Sentence Structure
Sentences can be made of independent and dependent (subordinate) clauses.
An independent clause can be a complete sentence on its own.
A dependent/subordinate clause cannot be a complete sentence on its own and needs the independent clause to complete its meaning.

7. Independent vs. Dependent/Subordinate Clause
After we finished our homework, we went to play Fortnite.
Independent clause: We went to play Fortnite.
This clause can be a complete sentence on its own.
Dependent/Subordinate clause: After we finished our homework,
This clause cannot be a complete sentence on its own.

8. Simple Sentence A simple sentence will contain one independent clause.
Examples:
Sushi is my favorite food.
Pennywise has a red balloon.
The fart smelled horrible.

9. Compound Sentence
A compound sentence contains more than one independent clause usually connected by a conjunction, like “and” or “but.”
Examples:
Sushi is my favorite food, but I also love burgers.
Pennywise has a red balloon and he looks like a clown.
The fart smelled horrible, so I gagged when the smell hit me.
These have more than one independent clause because they can make two complete sentences on their own when you remove the conjunction.

10. Complex Sentence
A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause and at least one dependent/subordinate clause.
Examples:
Although I love burgers, sushi is my favorite food.
Even though he is scary, people love Pennywise the Clown.
After he farted, the entire class gagged because of the smell.
Remember: dependent/subordinate clauses are not complete sentences on their own.

11. Compound-Complex Sentence
A compound-complex sentence contains more than one independent clause and at least one dependent/subordinate clause.
Example: After the smell of the fart passed, my friend claimed he did not poop his pants, but we knew by the stain on his pants that he was lying.

12. Fragments, Run-Ons, and Comma Splices
To be a good writer, express your thoughts with clear and complete sentences.
Sometimes, writers break a thought into too many parts. This creates incomplete sentences or sentence fragments.
Other times, writers string too many thoughts and clauses together. This creates run-on sentences.

13. Run-On Sentences
A run-on sentence happens when two or more sentences are joined together without correct punctuation.
A run-on sentence must be split into two or more separate sentences.
Example: Dora wants to release Gucci Peppa Pig from jail if she does nice things for others, Peppa will be released.
Correction: Dora wants to release Gucci Peppa Pig from jail. If she does nice things for others, Peppa will be released.

14. Sentence Fragment A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence.
Think of a sentence fragment like a broken mirror. When the mirror is complete, everyone can use it properly. When it is broken, it has fragments (pieces of glass) that need other pieces to make it complete.
Fragments are created when a writer incorrectly breaks a sentence into two or more pieces.
Using end punctuation (periods, exclamation points, question marks) and capitalization will help you avoid sentence fragments.

15. Sentence Fragment Examples
Fragment: If you need to fart. Go into the hallway.
Correction: If you need to fart, go into the hallway.
Fragment: Peppa and George still ate pork. After their mom warned them about being cannibals.
Correction: Peppa and George still ate pork after their mom warned them about being cannibals.

16. Comma Splice
Comma splices occur when you include a comma between two independent clauses without a conjunction.
To correct this you can:
Include a coordinating conjunction, like for, and, nor, but, yet, or so.
Eliminate the comma and use a semicolon ( ; ).
Make the independent clauses separate sentences.

17. Comma Splice Example
Comma Splice: Anthony and Cristian were messing around, they ended up getting their heads stuck in chairs.
Correction with coordinating conjunction: Anthony and Cristian were messing around, and they ended up getting their heads stuck in chairs.
Correction with semicolon: Anthony and Cristian were messing around; they ended up getting their heads stuck in chairs.
Correction with separate sentences: Anthony and Cristian were messing around. They ended up getting their heads stuck in chairs.