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 Fr a gments, Comma
Splices, and Fused
Sentences

How do I know And how can

if I have too I tell if I have
little in a too much?
sentence ...
 You presentation
This will learn to
recognize
covers avoiding
complete
sentence
sentences, employ
fragments,
appropriate
comma splices,
punctuation, and
and fused
use subordination
andsentences
coordination . .
A fragment, comma splice,
and/or fused sentence item
on an objective test might
look like this ...
 Sample Item

At the pizzeria,
pizzeria,Jolene
Joleneeavesdropped
eavesdroppedon onthe
the
A
argument at the next table,
table,while
table hot
hotcheese
cheese
hot cheese
B
cascaded over
cascaded overherherslice
sliceofofpizza
pizzaontoontoher
herbare
bare
C
The comma
Is the
between
lap. table and hot
punctuation (or
makes
lack of
a it) at A,
comma
B, or
splice, an C that
error
A. pizzeria; Jolene option B fixes.
incorrect?
B. table while
table whilehot
hot
C. pizza. OntoOver
cascaded.
D. No change is necessary.
A s e n te n c e m u s t h a ve a
s u b je c t , ve rb , a n d c o m p le te
th o u g h t .

Andre practiced jump shots to impress

Coach Nelson.

Andre = subject,
practiced = verb,
and the thought =
complete, so you
have a sentence.
Recogni z e a fr a gment
w hen you s ee one.

Andre
As
And spun
spinning
spun
Andre spun
the
theball
the
ball
the
to
ball
to
ball
show
show
totoshow
off
show
offhis
his
offoff
skills.
his
skills.
his
skills.

Now Finally
there’s ! Ano
Yikes
Spinning ! Now≠the a
subject, asoverb, you
thought is
verb, so you have not
and stilla have
completea
a fragment
complete! !
fragment
thought! .
Recogni z e fus ed s entences
and comma s pl i ces .

Andre sank a perfect basket from half court

court
unfortunately
unfortunately the the coach’s
coach’s backback
waswas turned.
turned.

Andre sank a perfect basket from half court,

court,
unfortunately
unfortunately the the coach’s
coach’s backback
waswas turned.
turned.

You cannot
Youcannot run
join two
together two
sentences with
sentences with
noa punctuation!
comma!
Fi x the er r or wi th a peri od
and a capi tal l etter .

Andre sank a perfect basket from half court.

court
Unfortunately, the coach’s
unfortunately the coach’s backback
was was turned.
turned.

Swish
goes the
period!
Fi x the er r or wi th a comma
and a coor di nati ng
conj uncti on .

Andre sank a perfect basket from half court,

court
but the coach’s
unfortunately theback wasback
coach’s turned.
was turned.

Be my
FANBOYS —
for, and, nor,
but, or, yet,
and so.
Fi x the er r or wi th a
s emi col on .

Andre sank a perfect basket from half court;

court
unfortunately, the coach’s
unfortunately the coach’s backback
was was turned.
turned.

Use the
semicolon
sparingly — 3
to 4 times per
essay, max.
Fi x the er r or wi th a
s ubor di nate conj uncti on .

Andre sank a perfect basket from half court after

unfortunately
the coach’s back
the was
coach’s
turned.
back was turned.

Reduce one
of the two
clauses to an
incomplete
thought.
T hes e ar e the s ubor di nate
conj uncti ons .

§ after § since
§ although § so [that implied], so that
§ as § than
§ because § that
§ before § though
§ even though § unless
§ if, even if § when, whenever
§ in order that § where, wherever, whereas
§ once § whether
§ provided that § while
Remember thes e gener al
punctuati on r ul es w hen
s ubor di nati ng one of the
cl aus es i n the er r or.

Subordinate clause +,+ main clause.

Main clause +Ø+ subordinate clause.

 Her e’s our sample:

Although Andre sank a perfect basket from half

court, the coach’s back was turned.

Andre sank a perfect basket from half court after the

coach’s back was turned.

Adding an
unnecessary
Dropping the comma
after courtisislike
comma like a
grandstanding
championship game
whenturnover
a teammate ! is
open!
 Quick Test

Directions: In the items that follow, choose

the option that corrects an error in the
underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose
“No change is necessary.”

Show me
you got
game!
 Item 1

The dogs drooled

drooledwhilewhilewe
weate
ateslices
slicesofofhot
hot
A
pizza but
pizza
pizza,but
butthe
the
thecat
cat
catfeigned
feigned
feignednonchalance
nonchalance
nonchalance even
even
even
B C
though we knew that she wanted a pepperoni.

A. drooled. While
B. pizza, but
pizza, but
C. nonchalance. Even
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 2

Mary Ellen screamed,

screamed,her
herroommate’s
roommate’spet
pet
tarantula crawled out of the bag of popcorn.

A. screamed her
B. screamed; because, her
C. screamed
screamed as
asher
her
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 3
Running late with dinner,
dinner,Elizabeth
Elizabethfussed
fussedwith
with
A
seasonings and
seasonings andwiped
wipedspots
spotsoff
offthe
the
B
glasses. while
glasses.
glasses While
Whilethe
thefamily
familystared
staredatattheir
theirempty
empty
CC
plates.

A. dinner; Elizabeth
B. seasonings, and
C. glasses while
glasses while
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 4

Everyone scrambled off the lakeside patio.

patio. When
When
the 10-foot alligator lumbered onto shore.

A. patio
patio when
when
B. patio; when
C. patio, when
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 5
The glass of iced tea promised thirst-quenching

refreshment.Roseanne,
refreshment
refreshment Roseanne,
Roseanne, however,
however,
however, had
had
had
to to
beat
tobeat
beat
A BB
Maria to the refrigerator
refrigeratorasasthey
theyraced
racedthrough
through
C
the front door.

A. refreshment.Roseanne
refreshment. Roseanne
B. however; had
C. refrigerator; as
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 6

Warren wanted to make a good impression on

Melody but
Melody butthe
thesoda
sodaexplosion
explosionthat
thatsoaked
soakedhis
his
shirt ruined their first meeting.

A. Melody; but, the

B. Melody;
Melody; however,
however,the
the
C. Melody, however, the
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 7

Because of the hot sun,

sun, ice
icecream
creamran
randown
downthethe
A
cone and
cone andcoated
coatedRandall’s
Randall’sfingers,
fingers,his
his
fortongue
his
tongue
tongue
B CC
couldn’t keep up.

A. sun; ice cream

B. cone, and
C. fingers, for
fingers, forhis
his
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 8

Wanda took a deep breath and got ready to yell.

yell.
Because Paul
Because Paulwas
was about
aboutto
to explain
explainwhy
why his
his half
half of
of
the rent would be late again.

A. yell, because
B. yell
yell because
because
C. yell for
D. No change is necessary.
 Item 9
After Simon bought roses for Emily,
Emily,hehespotted
spotted
A
Derek’s car in her driveway
drivewayand
andrealized
realizedthat
thatthis
this
B
gesture would not repair the relationship
relationshipororwin
win
C
back her love.

A. Emily. he
B. driveway. And
C. relationship; or
D. No change
changeisisnecessary.
necessary.
 Item 10

Since Larry had studied for hours;

hours;hehewas
was
relieved to find a big red A at the top of his
grammar quiz.

A. hours he
B. hours. He
C. hours,
hours, he
he
D. No change is necessary.
 Grammar Bytes!
provides additional
handouts and exercises on
fragments, comma
splices, and fused
sentences. Go to
chompchomp.com!
The End.