FAULTY SENTENCES

Lecturer: Dr. Kingsley Cyril Mintah

 OBJECTIVES
1. To identify common faulty sentence errors that occur

2. To understand the nature of faulty sentences

3. To know how to correct faulty sentences

4. To apply the knowledge gained at the end of the class to

avoid faulty sentences in academic writings
DEFINITION
A sentence is said to be faulty when some
constituents are missing or the supposed
sentence is wrongly constructed.

A faulty sentence is a sentence that is deficient

in one way or another. (Notari, 2021)
TYPES
Sentence fragment
Run-on sentence
Comma splice
Misplaced modifiers
Dangling modifiers
Faulty parallelism
Subjunctives
Tautology
Pronoun reference error
Sentence Fragment
A sentence is said to be fragmented when a piece of the
sentence is used a sentence

A sentence must have a subject and a verb and be a

complete thought.

When a dependent (subordinate) clause or a phrase is

presented as a sentence, it is called a fragment.
Example
The fat tall Nigerian Girl in blue skirt who came here
yesterday looking for you.

The runaway car with ten other cars on the highway.

The people who are standing by the car near the yellow
house in the corner of the mall

The professor always trying to make us comfortable.

RUN-ON SENTENCES
These kinds of faults occur simply because two or more
sentences are put together without any punctuation
mark or a conjunction

Thus, this error occurs when an appropriate punctuation

for independent clauses is completely absent.
 Example
Henry bought the Christmas tree Lois put it
Typical error:
up and decorated it.

Elvira Madigan was her all-time favourite

Typical error: film it had beautiful people, beautiful
scenery, and best of all, beautiful music.

She listened to the squeaky crunch of her

tread through the snow she recalled a
Typical error:
sensation, a sense of being, she had
enjoyed more than once as a child.
 Henry bought the Christmas tree Lois put it up and decorated
Typical error:
it.
Henry bought the Christmas tree; Lois put it up and decorated
Correct:
it.

Elvira Madigan was her all-time favourite film it had beautiful

Typical error:
people, beautiful scenery, and best of all, beautiful music.

Elvira Madigan was her all-time favourite film. It had beautiful

Correct:
people, beautiful scenery, and best of all, beautiful music.

She listened to the squeaky crunch of her tread through the

Typical error: snow she recalled a sensation, she had enjoyed more than
once as a child.

She listened to the squeaky crunch of her tread through the

Correct: snow. She recalled a sensation which she had enjoyed more
than once as a child.
COMMA SPLICE SENTENCES
With this kind of error, two or more sentences are put
together separated by commas instead of a full stop or a
conjunction.

Thus, this errors occur when independent clauses are

not separated with a period, or joined with a comma
and a coordinating conjunction.
 Examples
He fell into a deep meditative state, his pulse slowed down to
Typical error:
practically nothing.

He fell into a deep meditative state and his pulse slowed down to
Correct:
practically nothing.

Only the front facades were ornate, the back and sides were
Typical error:
unadorned red brick.

Only the front facades were ornate; the back and sides were
Correct:
unadorned red brick.

Maria avoided the limelight, her privacy was of paramount

Typical error:
importance to her.

Maria avoided the limelight. Her privacy was of paramount

Correct:
importance to her.
MISPLACED MODIFIERS
A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that
is improperly separated from the word it modifies /
describes.
Example
DANGLING MODIFIERS
When the word being modified is implied but not explicitly
stated, the modifier is left dangling; it is not attached to
anything and is called a dangling modifier.

Two notes about dangling modifiers:

Unlike a misplaced modifier, a dangling modifier cannot be
corrected by simply moving it to a different place in a sentence.

Usually, it is the subject of the clause that is missing. Null

subject
FAULTY PARALLELISM
Parallel thoughts or ideas are conveyed by using
parallel grammatical structures.

Repeated sentence elements such as verbs, nouns,

pronouns and phrases must appear in in parallel form to
emphasize meaning and to promote sentence fluency.

When this does not occur, the sentence is considered

faulty parallelism in sentences.
 EXAMPLES
Typical error: He likes to read and playing hockey.
Correct: He likes to read and to play hockey.
Students poor in reading and who can’t write will have
Typical error:
difficulty managing this course.
Students poor in reading and writing will have difficulty
Correct:
managing this course.
She found herself out of love, with no money, and having no
Typical error:
luck.
Correct: She found herself out of love, out of pocket, and out of luck.
I had dinner with Martha James, a highly respected scholar
Typical error:
and who is also a champion skier.
I had dinner with Martha James who is a highly respected
Correct:
scholar and who is also a champion skier.
After our trek, we felt dirty, tired, and wanted something to
Typical error:
eat.
Correct: After our trek, we felt dirty, tired, and hungry.
SUBJUNCTIVES
This refers to the error in constructing sentences that
arise because writers do not use the subjunctive form of
the verb, were, in the writing of statements that express
wishes or a statement contrary to fact.
EXAMPLES
Incorrect I wish I was queen so I could levy men who
misbehave against women.
Correct I wish I were queen so I could levy
men who misbehave against women.

Incorrect If Jones was a foot taller, we would all be in

trouble.
Correct If Jones were a foot taller, we would all
be in trouble.
TAUTOLOGY
A tautology is an expression or phrase that
says the same thing twice, just in a different
way.

For this reason, a tautology is usually

undesirable, as it can make you sound wordier
than you need to be, and make you appear
foolish.
 EXAMPLE
Incorrect: She always over-exaggerates.

Correct: She always exaggerates.

Incorrect He is always making predictions about the future

Correct He is always making predictions.
Other egs.
Should incase I see you, I will give you the money
Clap your hands everyone.
Give me a single one example.
PRONOUN REFERENCE ERROR
If the pronoun is referring to a stated noun, the noun to
which the pronoun refers must be clear, and the
pronoun must agree in number with the antecedent.

When the antecedent to which the pronoun should refer

is not clear, we say pronoun reference disagreement or
error has occurred.
Examples
John was helping an old man cross the road when he
tripped and fell.

Lydia took Lisa to the ski outfitters where she bought

some new poles.

Lori’s mother let her take her new camera on the trip.
Exercise
Correct the faults in the following sentences
Those expensive disposable contact lenses.
Kofi came home, he wore a blue shirt.
Jones asked me to go for a ride on the phone.
Atomic bombs killed more than 250,000 people a thousand died as a result
of radiation poisoning.
Adjoa could sing the song who never attended a music school.
Riding down the lane, the motorbike knocked the dog.
We ate the “waakye” we bought slowly.
Adjoa has a daughter and she is twenty (20) years old.
I see you at 8:00pm in the evening.
You can get to Lake Cynthia either by train or go by bus.
Neither wringing your hands nor if you pull your hair will solve the
problem.
He only left ten minutes ago.
They were giving free gifts at the party.
The Nigerian senator tall dark and handsome was praised by the lady who
asked the questions I met at the conference.
REFERENCES
Notari, D. (July 9, 2021). Faulty sentence: Definition & examples.
Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/faulty-sentence-definition-examples-qui
z.html

Student & Academic Web Services (June 10, 2022). Common sentence
faults. Retrieved from
https://www.athabascau.ca/write-site/english-grammar-handbook/sentences
-grammar/common-sentence-faults.html