Sentence Errors

Fragments and Run-Ons Misplaced and Dangling Faulty Parallel Structure and Faulty Coordination

Fragments

 A fragment is not a sentence because it cannot stand alone.

 They may lack a subject, verb, or complete thought   When I thought I was mistaken. (What?) Eating hot dogs, sitting in the sun on a warm day, and feeling the cool of the ocean on my toes. (What about those three things?)

Run-On Sentences

 A run-on sentence is a sentence containing two or more independent clauses (sentences) punctuated incorrectly.

 Ex: I ate an entire ice cream cone by myself but Jerry ate nothing. This sentence needs the comma before the conjunction to make it correct.

 Ex: Everyone likes concerts, there is nothing better than feeling the drum beat inside my chest. This is two sentences joined by a comma. They need to be separated by a period to be correct. This is called a COMMA SPLICE

Run-On Sentences continued

 Ways to properly punctuate two sentences:  I love teaching; helping someone to master a new skill gives me great joy. Two content related sentences can by joined by a semicolon.  I ran too far; however, Jon ran even farther.

 When I ate too much, I didn’t feel well. This is one dependent and one independent clause.

Misplaced Modifiers

 Misplaced modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that modify the wrong noun.

 Ex: Turning green , I watched the lights. “Turning green” is closest to the noun “I”. As stated the person is turning green, not the lights.

 Corrected: I watched the lights turning green.

Misplaced Modifiers

 Example: I watched a heron trimming its feathers while driving past the reservoir .  In the sentence, the heron is the closest noun to “while driving past the reservoir”. As it is worded, the heron is driving past the reservoir.

 TIP: If you read the sentences literally instead of interpreting them (figuring them out), it is easier to pick out the mistakes.

Dangling Modifiers

 In sentences with dangling modifiers, the noun the modifier should modify is missing or implied instead of stated.

 EX: Playing football all afternoon , my homework went unfinished.

 “Playing football all afternoon” should modify a person, but it modifies the word “homework”.

 Corrected: Playing football all afternoon, Jeff left his homework unfinished.

 NOTE: THE SENTENCE MUST BE ENTIRELY REWORDED TO FIX THESE!

Dangling Modifiers

 Example: After careful calculations , the lab was improved.

 Who is carefully calculating? The closest noun is “lab”.

 Corrected: After Sue made careful calculations, she improved the lab.

NOTE: THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO CORRECT EACH DANGLING MODIFIER. BE CERTAIN TO ADD SPECIFIC NOUNS.

Parallel Structure

  Items listed in a sentence must be grammatically identical.

 I need to run to the store, pick up my groceries, and be home by noon. (To run, to pick, to be – are all infinitives mainly followed by prepositions. The parallel structure is appropriate here).

 The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner. (owl website)  The two adverbs are followed by a preposition. “Thoroughly” is an appropriate substitution for “in a detailed manner”.

An easy way to ensure this is to compare openings, word count, and endings.

Faulty Coordination

 Faulty coordination is the incorrect use of a coordinating conjunction like “and”.

 I will go, and Mickey will stay. (CORRECT)  To use “and” the ideas connected must be related and of equal importance.

 I saw The Wizard of Oz on television, and the movie was filmed in 1939. (INCORRECT) What does its date of filming have to do with a person viewing it on television.

Faulty Coordination

 Many times clauses can be joined more appropriately in another way – by using a different coordinating conjunction, making one a subordinate clause, or simply by making two different sentences.

 I watched the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz on television.