Run-on Sentences, Comma Splices& Sentence Fragments

By Arundathie AbeysingheLecturer in English

International Aviation AcademySriLankan Airlines

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A group of words which meets the following criteria:Has a verb (a word or phrase that explains an action)e.g. eat, bathe, swim, studyChildren eat apples.She goes to school by bus.Some sentences have more than one verbe.g. She wrote a letter and sent it to her aunt.She bought bread and made sandwiches.

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Has a subject (someone or something that performs the action or is the main focus of the sentence)

e.g. Aditya and David both want to study engineering.

Monica works hard to achieve her goals.

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Expresses a complete thought A complete meaning (Independent clause) e.g. She arrived 10 minutes later than usual. James tried to explain his position to his

employer.

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Sentence fragments are dependent clauses They are not complete sentences They are simply phrases Incorrect e.g. If she arrived 10 minutes later than usual. However James tries to explain his position.

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Correct If she arrived 10 minutes later than usual, she

wouldn’t have met with that accident. Correct However James tries to explain his position,

his employer didn’t understand him.

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A special type of run-on sentence in which a comma is used in place of a semicolon to join two independent clauses without a conjunction

A comma splice can be corrected by placing a semicolon in place of the comma splice or by adding a conjunction after the comma

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Incorrect e.g. Monica lives in Sri Lanka, she has been

there for 10 years. Correct Monica lives in Sri Lanka; she has been there

for 10 years. OR Monica lives in Sri Lanka, and she has been

there for 10 years

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Incorrect Mary is the president, John is the treasurer. Correct Mary is the president; John is the treasurer. OR Mary is the president, and John is the

treasurer.

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An independent clause is a group of words that could be a complete sentence by itself

A run-on sentence is one in which independent clauses have been run together without punctuation (a comma, semicolon or period)

Incorrect Dave moved from Boston his job was transferred. They got some food then they headed off to

Sydney.Arundathie Abeysinghe 10

By adding a period and a capital letter Incorrect Dave moved from Boston his job was transferred. They got some food then they headed off to Sydney. Correct Dave moved from Boston. His job was transferred. They got some food. Then they headed off to Sydney.

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By adding a comma and a conjunction e.g. for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so Incorrect Dave moved from Boston his job was transferred. They got some food then they headed off to Sydney. Correct Dave’s job was transferred, and he moved from Boston. They got some food, and they headed off to Sydney.

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Thank you!

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