Lesson 5: Common Sentence Errors

Different common sentence errors:

• Parallelism Errors / Faulty Parallelism

• Run-on Sentences
• Sentence Fragments
• Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
*Squinting Modifiers

1. Parallelism
- means that words, phrases, and clauses used in pairs or groups must all have the same
form.
-verbs must match with verbs, nouns must match with nouns, etc.
Examples:
I have been to Beijing and saw the Summer Palace.
>I have been to Beijing and have seen the Summer Palace.
>I went to Beijing and saw the Summer Palace.
She likes to read but not write.
>She likes to read but not to write.

Wayne likes to read, exercise, and watching movies.

>Wayne likes to read, exercise, and watch movies.
>Wayne likes reading, exercising, and watching movies.
As we neared the airport, you could hear the jets.

>As we neared the airport, we could hear the jets.

Please judge me by my words and what I do.
>Please judge me by my words and (by) my actions.
>Please judge me by what I say and (by) what I do.
2. Misplaced, Dangling, and Squinting Modifiers

>Modifier- A word or phrase that changes or describes another word of phrase.

>Dangle- to hang or swing loosely.

• Misplaced modifier
- a modifier is misplaced if it modifies the wrong word or phrase.
- word or phrase that changes, or modifies, a part of a sentence.
• Dangling modifier
- if the word or phrase that is supposed to be modified does not appear in the sentence.
- word or phrase that is put into a sentence, but modifies the wrong thing.

Correcting Misplaced Modifier:

>Incorrect: After biting two children, the police took away our dog.
>Correct: After biting two children, our dog was taken away by the police.
*If a sentence begins with a modifier followed by a comma, whatever word or phrase is being
modified must immediately follow the comma.
>Incorrect: Having been thrown into the air, the dog caught the ball.
>Correct: - When the ball was thrown into the air, the dog caught it.
- The dog caught the ball that had been thrown into the air.
Correcting Dangling Modifier:

>Incorrect: Having finished the assignment, the TV was turned on.

>Correct: Having finished the assignment, Wayne turned on the TV.
More examples of identifying dangling and misplaced modifier:

o At the age of ten, my parents took me on my first roller coaster ride.

o After going through the house, it was clear that the robbers were gone.
o While laughing, the chicken bone got stuck in her throat.
o Falling down the stairs, my jaw was dislocated.
o The spaghetti was served to the child smelling of garlic.

3. Fragments
- a group of words that does not express a complete thought because it is usually missing a
subject or a predicate.
- a stand-alone subordinate clause.
- begins with subordinate adverbs (whenever, because, since, until, although, even if, etc.)
Examples:
• Because I said so
• Although you’re wrong
• Since you’ve already made your mind up.
• Even though I don’t agree
Prepositional phrases:
>By a stroke of luck…
>In addition to being a dinosaur wrangler…
Participial phrases:
>Women working in the computer science field…
>Repeatedly working until midnight, (John became ill.)

Correcting fragments:
>On that morning I sat in my usual spot. On the old wooden chair in the corner of my
grandmother’s kitchen.
>On that morning I sat in my usual spot, on the old wooden chair in the corner of my
grandmother’s kitchen.

Turning fragments into sentences:

> The pilots ejected from the burning plane, landing in the water not far from the ship.
And immediately popped their flares and life vests.
They

> Population increases and uncontrolled development are taking a deadly toll on the
environment. So that in many parts of the world, fragile ecosystems are collapsing.
In

4. Run-on
- occurs when two complete thoughts are run together with no adequate sign to mark the
break between them.
- it confuse readers.
Correcting Run-ons: 4 ways
o Use a period and a capital letter
o Use a semi-colon
o Use a comma and coordinate conjunctions (FANBOYS)
o Use a subordinate conjunction (A WHITE BUS)

Two types of Run-ons:

• Fused Sentences- occurs when two complete thoughts are fused or joined together with
no punctuation in between to mark the break.

Correcting Fused Sentences:

Example- The beach was once beautiful now it is covered with soda cans and cigarette butts.
1). The beach was once beautiful. Now it is covered with soda cans and cigarette butts.
2). The beach was once beautiful; now it is covered with soda cans and cigarette butts.
3). The beach was once beautiful, but now it is covered with soda cans and cigarette butts.
4). Although the beach was once beautiful, it is now covered with soda cans and cigarette
butts.

• Comma Splices- occurs when two complete thoughts are connected, or “spliced” together
with a comma.
Correcting Comma Splices:

Example- The hot dog did not begin in Germany, it first appeared in China.
1). The hot dog did not begin in Germany. It first appeared in China.
2). The hot dog did not begin in Germany; it first appeared in China.
3). The hot dog did not begin in Germany, for it first appeared in China.
4). The hot dog did not begin in Germany because it first appeared in China.
 Guide for correcting or identifying sentences

Identifying clauses, phrases, or words:

1. Clauses- when the sentence used subordinating conjunctions.
- “A WHITE BUS”

• A- as, although
• W- when, whenever
• H- however
• I- if
• T- though, that
• E- even, even though
• B- because
• U- unless
• S- since
2. Phrases- a short group of words.
- it includes:

• Infinitive- to + verb
• Prepositional- , before, behind, below, beneath, beside…
• Participial- (-ing), (-en), (-ed)

3. Words

Examples:

> To critically, to answer questions analytically, and to appreciate literature profoundly.

-phrases

> She is a dancer, singer, and painter.

-words

> that the student often talked in class, that he bullied other students, and that he hardly
finished his homework.
-clauses
> excelled at singing complex points in his essay and used outlines to map those points.
-phrases