GRAMMAR QUICKGUIDE (friends don’t let friends miswrite.

RUN-ONs AND FRAGMENTs

Your goal is to repair all incomplete or incorrectly formed sentences.

A RUN-ON sentence is basically two or more sentences joined together without a semicolon
( ; ), a colon ( : ) or a conjunction like and, but, or or.
EX: I have a big problem when I write I use run-on sentences.
FIX: I have a big problem; when I write I use run-on sentences.

A FRAGMENT is an incomplete sentence. We are usually left thinking, huh?

EX: I cannot solve my fragment problem. That started early in life.
FIX: I cannot solve my fragment problem that started early in life.

SPELLING
Here, your task is to look for spelling errors. Use a dictionary if you are not sure about a word's
spelling. Remember, your classmates are counting on you to catch any words they have spelled
rwonged!

VERB CHECK
The next task is to check to make sure all verbs agree with each other (we don’t want fighting).
There should (typically) be one verb tense throughout the paper. And the present tense was is our
favorite tense.

Also, aim for ACTIVE VOICE. When the subject is the actor of the verb, the verb is in the
active voice (EX: I use active voice). When the subject is the patient, target or undergoer of the
action, it is said to be in the passive voice (EX: Passive voice is used by me.). Use active voice!

PUNCTUATION POLICING
Here, you’ve got a lot to work with. Make sure all commas ( , ), periods ( . ), apostrophes ( ’ ),
quotations ( ” ), dashes ( – ), hyphens ( - ), ellipses ( … ), semicolons ( ; ), colons ( : ), et
cetera are used correctly. If you’re not certain about something, but it looks awkward, circle it
and tell your classmate.