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your friends as soon as you clean your room.
Mistaking a list as a sentence. Sometimes, a long list of items can seem like a complete sentence.
Remember, a complete sentence has a subject and a verb.
Example: Having walked ten miles, gone days without food, and lost all hope.
You can fix this fragment by joining the list to a complete sentence: Having walked ten miles, gone
days without food, and lost all hope, Edgar collapsed from exhaustion.
Example: Terriers, dachshunds, and poodles.
You can fix this fragment by adding a verb: Terriers, dachshunds, and poodles are three examples of
good house dogs.
Or, you could fix it by adding a subject and a verb: Three examples of good house dogs are ter-
riers, dachshunds, and poodles.
Mimicking spoken language. We do not always speak in complete sentences. Often, when we want
our writing to sound natural and to flow smoothly, we write in a conversational style. This is OK when you
are writing a dialogue and using appropriate punctuation to show that you are writing dialogue. And some-
times, professional writers will use this style of writing. However, in most of the papers you will write for
school or for standardized tests, you should avoid using conversational sentence fragments.
Example: Even though I didn t want to.
You can fix this fragment by joining it to a complete sentence: I completed the assignment, even though
I didn t want to.
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BETTER WRITING RIGHT NOW! LESSON 10 Editing Your Paper
Example: The old house down the street, which seemed like a perfect place for a ghost to live.
You can fix this fragment by adding a verb: The old house down the street seemed like a perfect place
for a ghost to live.
Example: Probably next week.
You can fix this fragment by adding a subject and a verb: It s probably next week.
Mistaking a phrase for a sentence. A phrase is a group of words that lacks a subject and a verb.
Some phrases have verb forms that are not verbs, but are actually nouns. Sometimes, these phrases, called
verbal phrases, are mistaken for complete sentences. They are not complete sentences. You can correct these
fragments either by adding the verbal phrase to a complete sentence or by changing the verb form in the phrase
to a real verb.
Example: Watching the sun slip behind the trees.
Let s try two ways to fix this fragment.
1. Add the verbal phrase to a complete sentence:
Watching the sun slip behind the trees, I felt closure in my long day.
2. Change the verb form in the phrase to a real verb:
I watched the sun slip behind the trees.
CORRECTING RUN-ON SENTENCES
Run-on sentences usually occur when the writer uses incorrect end punctuation. The writer either uses no
punctuation at all to separate two or more sentences, or uses only a comma where a form of end punctua-
tion is really needed. Here are some examples:
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You don t need to worry about me, I can take care of myself.
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The flames are out the house is no longer on fire.
Here are some ways to fix a run-on sentence.
Separate the two sentences with a period.
Example: You don t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.
Example: The flames are out. The house is no longer on fire.
Separate the two sentences with a comma and a conjunction, such as and, or,
nor, but, for, so, yet.
Example: The flames are out, and the house is no longer on fire.
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Editing Your Paper LESSON 10 BETTER WRITING RIGHT NOW!
Separate the two sentences with a semicolon.
Example: You don t need to worry about me; I can take care of myself.
Example: The flames are out; the house is no longer on fire.
Separate the two sentences with a long dash (called an em-dash).
Example: The flames are out the house is no longer on fire.
Change one of the two sentences into a dependent clause.
Example: You don t need to worry about me because I can take care of myself.
Notice that each corrected version of the run-
on sentence actually means something a little
different. When correcting a run-on sentence, think
about what you want the sentence to say. Then,
choose the best way to fix it to keep your intended
meaning.
PRACTI CE
17. Correct these sentence fragments and run-on sentences.
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