SENTENCE PROBLEMS

CHAPTER 10
SENTENCE ERRORS

1. Fragments
2. Run-ons and Comma Splices
3. Choppy Sentences
4. Stringy Sentences
FRAGMENTS
Pages 194-195
FRAGMENTS
Fragments are incomplete sentences or parts of sentences.

Remember: all sentences must contain at least one independent clause

FRAGMENTS EXAMPLE PAGE 194
• Because some students work part-time while taking a full load of classes.
– Subordinator error: We need an independent clause before or after to explain the result.

• To live and work for at least a year in a foreign country.

– Verb error: We need to add a verb.

• Teachers who give too much homework.

– This independent clause is incomplete: We need to add a subject complement, or finish the
thought.
COMMON FRAGMENT ERRORS
• Missing subject
– Met with the people.
Revise: The president met with the people.
• Missing predicate
– The sound from the room.
Revise: The sound from the room was too loud.
• Incomplete thought (usually a subordinator/dependent clause)
– Because he lost his car keys.
Revise: Because he lost his car keys, he had to take the bus home.
– After they finished dinner.
Revise: They watched a movie after they finished dinner.
PAGE 195 PRACTICE 2A
CHECK YOUR ANSWERS ON THE NEXT SLIDE
1. Fragment - Problem B
The desire of all humankind is to live in peace and freedom, for example.
2. Fragment - Problem B
Second, it is a fact that men are physically stronger than women.
3. Fragment - Problem C
The best movie that I saw last year ______________. (was the movie Minions).
6. Fragment - Problem A
Although People want to believe that all men are created equal.
8. Fragment - Problem C
Many of my friends who did not have the opportunity to go to college _________ (are working
part-time jobs). OR Many of my friends who did not have the opportunity to go to college.
9. Fragment - Problem B
A tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean in December 2004, killing killed more than 20,000 people.
PAGE 196 PRACTICE 2B
CHECK YOUR ANSWERS ON THE NEXT SLIDE
• Paragraph 1: Believing that they are far better drivers than they are,
teenagers can be incompetent, inattentive, and even dangerous behind
the wheel.

Paragraph 3: On the one hand, the frontal cortex, or decision-making

area, of a teenager’s brain is still developing, so they take risks because
they literally do not understand the danger.

Paragraph 3: On the other hand, teenagers want to be treated like

adults, using cars to show maturity or using them as status symbols to
gain popularity.

Paragraph 4: All in all, teenagers are not safe drivers because of their
attitude. Teenagers will learn to become safe drivers as they get older
and their brains, and decision-making capacities, mature.
CHOPPY SENTENCES
Pages 196-197
CHOPPY SENTENCES
Choppy sentences are sentences that are too short. Usually they are
simple sentences.

Using a lot of short sentences is considered poor writing.

How do we fix choppy sentences?
Connect and combine clauses.
Combine simple sentences into compound or complex sentences.

To do this effectively, look at the ideas in the sentence to know which one to use.
For two simple sentences that have equal meaning, combine as a compound
sentence. For two simple sentences whose meanings are unequal, combine as a
complex sentence.
To sum up:

Equal ideas = compound sentence

Unequal ideas = complex sentence

EQUAL IDEAS – PAGE 197
Wind is an enduring source of power. Water is also an unlimited
energy source. Dams produce hydraulic power. They have existed for
a long time. Windmills are relatively new.

Revise using a compound sentence:

Both wind and water are enduring sources of power. Dams have
produced hydraulic power for a long time, but windmills are
relatively new.
UNEQUAL IDEAS – PAGE 197
We must find new sources of energy. Natural sources of energy are
decreasing. Solar energy is a promising new source of energy. Solar
energy is energy from the sun.

Revise using a complex sentence to show which idea is more

important. This example used a subordinator. Then they used an
adjective clause to give information about the subject.
We must find new sources of energy because natural sources of
energy are dwindling. Solar energy, which is energy from the sun, is a
promising new source.
RUN-ONS AND
COMMA SPLICES
Pages 199-201
RUN-ONS AND COMMA SPLICES

RUN-ON
When two or more independent clauses
are combined with no punctuation.

COMMA SPLICES
When two or more independent clauses
are combined with a comma.
EXAMPLES
Which sentences are run-ons? Which sentences are comma splices?

I was hungry I ate lunch.

I was hungry, I ate lunch.

We bought nails, we bought a hammer.

We bought nails we bought a hammer.
 EXAMPLES
You cannot combine independent clauses with no punctuation or with a comma!

I was hungry I ate lunch. RUN-ON – no punctuation

I was hungry, I ate lunch. COMMA SPLICE – has a comma

We bought nails, we bought a hammer. COMMA SPLICE - comma

We bought nails we bought a hammer. RUN-ON - no comma
 Fix a run on or comma
splice the same way.
1. Add a period.
2. Add a semicolon (;).
3. Add a coordinator (for, and, nor, but, or,
yet, so) with a comma
4. Add a subordinator.
 Revision examples:
I was hungry. I ate lunch. Make two sentences
I was hungry; I ate lunch. Add a semicolon
I was hungry, so I ate lunch. Add a comma + coordinator
I was hungry even though I ate lunch. Add a
subordinator
PAGE 200-201 PRACTICE 4B and 4C
CHECK YOUR ANSWERS ON THE NEXT SLIDE
4B 4C
1. RO Paragraph 1
2. RO 1. RO
3. C . . . spring semester 2005 were As; only 1.1 percent . . .
4. RO 2. CS
5. C . . . even higher. Almost two-thirds . . .
6. C
7. RO Paragraph 2
8. CS 1. CS
9. CS . . . SMSC students, which means that . . .
2. RO
. . . professional school because he or she may not . . .
STRINGY
SENTENCES
STRINGY SENTENCES
Stringy sentences are sentence with too many clauses.

• It often mimics how we speak. When we speak, we use a lot of

coordinators (and, or, but etc.) and keep talking. However, we
should not write this way.

• Stringy sentences can make the reader confused because they are
too long, and they have too many ideas.
STRINGY SENTENCE Example

Yesterday morning, I woke up and went downstairs

and found out that the electricity was off and I went
upstairs to get ready and fell on the stairs and I finally
got to my room and got dressed.
How do we fix choppy sentences?
Divide and recombine.
1. First, split the overly long sentence into a few smaller ones.
2. Then reread the sentence(s) and decide if there are unnecessary
parts that could be cut out.
3. Finally, begin to combine the sentences. Here, you can use
subordinators, coordinators, transitions, or any connecting words to
link your ideas.
Be careful to not make other sentence errors
when revising stringy sentence.

When you revise, make sure you do not:

• create choppy sentences errors

• create run-ons and comma splices errors
• change the meaning of the original sentence
 STRINGY SENTENCE Example/Revision
Yesterday morning, I woke up and went downstairs and found out that the
electricity was off and I went upstairs to get ready and fell on the stairs and I
finally got to my room and got dressed.

REVISED: After waking up yesterday, I went downstairs. The electricity was off. I
went upstairs to get ready, but fell on the stairs! However, I finally got to my
room and got dressed.

REVISED: After waking up yesterday, I found the electricity was off. I fell on the
stairs as I went upstairs to dress, but I finally made it to my room and got
dressed.
STRINGY SENTENCE Example/Revision
Many students attend classes all morning, and then they work all afternoon,
and they also have to study at night, so they are usually exhausted by the
weekend.

REVISED: Many students attend classes all morning and work all afternoon. Since
they also have to study at night, they are usually exhausted by the weekend.

REVISED: Because many students attend classes all morning, work all afternoon,
and study at night, they are usually exhausted by the weekend.