Welcome to our Workshop!

Today we will be discussing Run-On Sentences and Fragment Sentences, two very common errors in people’s writing.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Students will be able to define the meaning of a run-on sentence and fragment sentence.

Students will be able to effectively fix run-on and fragment sentences in their own essays.

Students will become highly familiar with the concepts of dependent and independent clauses.

Students will feel comfortable with sentence structure and will be able to avoid comma splices and fused

sentences.

Objectives

What Will You Learn from this Workshop?

•What a Run-on Sentence is.•What a Fragment Sentence is.•How to fix these common errors.

The Sentence

What is a sentence?

• A sentence is a group of words that make a complete thought.

• A sentence always has a SUBJECT and a VERB.

• A sentence is also called an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE.

What is the SUBJECT?

• The SUBJECT of the sentence is who or what you are talking about.

• Examples: my grandma, President Obama, Disneyland, cats, a bed.

What is a VERB?

• The VERB is the action of the sentence.

• It says what the SUBJECT is doing.

• Examples: to run, to sleep, to be, to write, to love.

• *Note*: “to” + the VERB = “the infinitive” (How the verb looks in the dictionary).

What is a Fragment?

• A Fragment is an incomplete sentence.

• It is also called a DEPENDENT CLAUSE.

• Sometimes it is missing either the subject or the verb.

• Sometimes it has a subject and a verb, but it still isn’t a complete thought.

• Examples:

1. Running very fast. Who is running?

2. John likes. Not a complete thought (what does he like?).

3. Because I am a girl Not a complete though (what is the result?)

Exercise:

Connecting Sentences

Now that you know what a complete sentence looks like, you will learn how to connect two or more complete sentences together.

What is a Run-On Sentence?

• A Run-on Sentence is two or more complete sentences that have no punctuation mark to connect them.

• It is one of the most common mistakes people make it their writing.

How do you connect two complete sentences?

There are three ways to connect sentences.

• A period .• A semicolon ;• A coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) For,

And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

The Period [ . ]

The Period is the simplest and most common way to end a sentence.

Example:

I am a student at LAVC. I Love the Writing Center.

The Semicolon (;)

The Semicolon is used to connect two complete sentences that are related in idea. The semicolon can’t be used if the sentences aren’t related.

*Note: Limit the number of semicolons that you use—approximately one per paragraph.

Example: Horses are my favorite animal; they are so majestic.

Coordinating Conjunctions(FANBOYS)

• Coordinating Conjunctions are seven words that help connect two complete sentences.

• They are: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

• You can remember them as “FANBOYS”

Examples of Coordinating Conjunction

• Yesterday I lost my wallet, so I need to cancel my credit cards.

• My brother is coming to town, and I am so excited to see him.

• The professor is very nice, but he is a very hard grader.

*Note:

• After the conjunction, there is a new subject and verb, which should tell you that you have a new complete sentence.

• Before the conjunction, you need to have a COMMA ( , ).

How to spot a Run-on SentenceHere is an example of a run-on sentence:

• My favorite movie is Superbad it is really funny.

*Here you have two complete sentences with no punctuation mark or conjunction to connect

them.

This is what the sentence should/could say:

• My favorite movie is Superbad; it is really funny.

Exercise

Write three sentences: one with a period, another with a semi-colon, and another with FANBOYS.

Possible sentence subjects:

- Holidays (i.e. Christmas, Thanksgiving)

- School

- Family

- Why you love someone

Be creative!

Thanks for coming to the workshop!

Our next one will be on Editing, tomorrow at 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM!

Goodbye!