Fragments
A sentence fragment is a piece of a sentence that is written and punctuated as a complete sentence. There are several sentence fragments that are often confused as a complete sentence. It is important to check for a subject, a verb, and a complete thought in every sentence in a paper.
A phrase is a group of words that is missing a subject, a verb, or both. Phrases often start with verbals, but they are not complete sentences.
A phrase needs to have a subject and a verb added to it to create a complete
thought:
Looking across the beautiful painted desert last night (add a subject and a verb)
Looking across the beautiful painted desert last night,
Sara cried.
To study the lesson. (add a subject and a verb)
Paula wanted to study the lesson.
Beside the box on the edge of the cabinet (add a subject and a verb)
Beside the box on the edge of the cabinet lay the knife.
A dependent clause is a group of words which has a subject and a verb but does
not express a complete thought. Do not mistake a dependent clause for a complete
sentence:
Although the boy did not want to go. (add this dependent clause to an independent clause):
Although the boy did not want to go, his mom made him go.
Dependent clauses are easily added to an independent clause to make a complete
thought and thereby a sentence.
Run-on Sentences
A run-on sentence (also known as a run-together
or fused sentence) occurs when two sentences are written together without any punctuation between them.
Sara went to the mall her friends were there. (incorrect)
Sara went to the mall, and her friends were there. (correct--add a comma and a coordinating conjunction)
Sara went to the mall; her friends were there. (correct--add a semi-colon)
Sara went to the mall because her friends were there. (correct--turn one clause into a dependent clause)
Comma Splices
A comma splice results when two sentences are written together with just a comma between them.
Sara went to the mall, her friends were there. (incorrect)
Sara went to the mall, and her friends were there. (correct--add a coordinating conjunction)
Sara went to the mall; her friends were there. (correct--change the comma to a semi-colon)
Sara went to the mall because her friends were there. (correct--take out the comma and turn one clause into a dependent clause)