The sentence problems that occur most frequently in college students’ writing are sentence fragments and run-on sentences.
This tip sheet will discuss strategies for identifying and correcting sentence fragments and run-on sentences.
A sentence fragment is essentially an incomplete sentence. There are two types of sentence fragments: missing piece fragments and dependent clause fragments.
A missing piece fragment is missing either a subject or a verb, and it is therefore unable to express a complete idea. Here are a few examples:
| the kitten mischievous | seems mischievous | the kitten being mischievous |
|
Missing piece fragment (no verb) |
Missing piece fragment (no subject) |
Missing piece fragment (no verb - being is a participle, not a verb) |
There are many ways to correct the missing piece fragments above. Here are a few examples:
| The kitten is mischievous. | My kitten seems mischievous. | the kitten, being mischievous, tackled my shoelaces. |
|
Complete sentence (verb has been added) |
Complete sentence (subject has been added) |
Complete sentence (verb has been added |
| For more information on the basics of English sentence structure, see the Sentence Structure Basics and Dependent Clauses tip sheets. |
When a dependent clause is not connected to an independent clause, a dependent clause fragment results. Here are a few examples:
| that was attacking my shoes | when I scolded the kitten |
| Dependent clause fragment (Adjective clause without an independent clause) | Dependent clause fragment (Subordinate clause without an independent clause) |
To correct a dependent clause fragment, you must connect the dependent clause to an independent clause. Here are a few examples that demonstrate how to correct the two dependent clause fragments examples above:
| The kitten that was attacking my shoes was admittedly adorable. |
| Complete sentence (independent clause has been added) |
| I wasn't expecting to be hissed at so ferociously when I scolded the kitten. |
| Complete sentence (independent clause has been added) |
| I wasn't expecting to be hissed at so ferociously when I scolded the kitten that was attacking my shoes. |
| Complete sentence (independent clause has been added) |
A comma splice run-on (or simply comma splice) occurs when two independent clauses are joined by a comma.
|
I'm not hungry for dinner, I ate a big lunch. Comma splice run-on |
This "sentence" is gramatically incorrect because a comma cannot be used to join two independent clauses. A comma is a helpful connector in many instances, but it does not work here. |
A fused sentence run-on (or simply run-on) occurs when two independent clauses are “fused together,” with no punctuation or conjunction to demonstrate that the ideas are distinct from one another.
|
I'm not hungry for dinner I ate a big lunch. Fused sentence run-on |
This "sentence" is gramatically incorrect because two independent clauses must be distinguished from one another with the help of punctuation and/or conjunction. |
As independent clauses are complete sentences, one option is to simply separate the ideas into two distinct sentences. If you’d like to correct the run-on while keeping the ideas in one sentence, however, there are several ways to do so. Here are a few examples:
|
1. I'm not hungry for dinner (no comma) because I ate a big lunch. (subordinating conjunction) 2. (subordinating conjunction) Because I ate a big lunch, (comma) I'm not hungry for dinner. |
You may join the clause through subordination: Make one clause subordinate by adding a subordinating conjuction (sentences 1 & 2). Follow rule for punctuation explaine in the Sentence structure basics tip sheet. |
| 3. I ate a big lunch; (semicolon) I'm not hungry for dinner. | You may join two independent clauses with a semicolon (sentence 3). |
| 4. I ate a big lunch; consequently, I'm not hungry for dinner (semicolon + transitional word + comma). | You may join two independent clauses with a semicolon, transitional word, and comma (sentence 4). |
| 5. I age a big lunch, so I"m not hungry for dinner (comma + coordinating conjunction). | You may join two independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (sentence 5). |
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