Complete and incomplete sentences

• A complete sentence communicates a fully formed thought.
• It contains both a subject (actor) and a verb (action).
• A complete sentence is also known as an independent clause.
• An independent clause can stand alone and function independently.
• Example of a complete sentence: "I enjoyed going to the rodeo last weekend."
• Example of a complete sentence: "My best friends and I are traveling to Greece in July."
• Dependent clauses are not fully formed thoughts, even though they contain subjects and verbs.
• Dependent clauses begin with a subordinate conjunction (such as "when," "if," or "as").
• Subordinate conjunctions prevent the dependent clause from being an independent clause.
• Example of a dependent clause: "If you were going to jump in the puddle."
• Example of a dependent clause: "When we arrive at the concert."
• Dependent clauses must be paired with an independent clause for them to function.
• Example of a dependent clause paired with an independent clause: "If you were going to jump in the puddle (dependent clause), you should have taken off your nice clothes first (independent clause)."
• Example of a dependent clause paired with an independent clause: "When we arrive at the concert (dependent clause), we should find our seats first thing (independent clause)."

Sentence Fragments

• A sentence fragment is not a complete thought.
• It doesn't make sense on its own and lacks a key component of a complete sentence.
• A sentence that is missing a subject or verb is a fragment.
• Example of a fragment: "Running to the store." (missing a subject)
• Example of a fragment: "Sarah's great-aunt who lives in Virginia." (missing a verb)
• Sometimes people may spot a phrase that looks like a subject or verb but actually isn't. Example: ''lives'' is the verb in the sentence.
• To convey the idea as a complete sentence, a writer could say "Sarah's great-aunt lives in Virginia."

Correcting Fragments

• First identify what is missing in the sentence (subject, verb, or complete thought).
• Then add the missing information.
• Example of a correction: "Abdullah is running to the store." (added subject)
• Example of a correction: "Sarah's great-aunt who lives in Virginia came to visit last week." (added verb)

Run-On Sentences

• Sometimes a sentence has too much information to carry on its own, which is called a run-on sentence.
• There are two types of run-ons:
  • A sentence with more than two independent clauses is a run-on.
  • A sentence with only two independent clauses but lacks a comma and a conjunction or a semicolon to join the two clauses.
• Example of a run-on: "She wanted to go to the store, but I told her not to, therefore she did not go after all."
• Example of a run-on: "Marcus finished watching Captain America I think he really liked it."

Correcting Run-On Sentences

• Separate the independent clauses into separate sentences.
• Add a comma and conjunction or a semicolon.
• Example Correction: "She wanted to go to the store, but I told her no. Therefore, she did not go after all."
• Example Correction: "Marcus finished watching Captain America; I think he really liked it."

Comma Splices

• A common mistake is using only a comma to separate two independent clauses.
• This problem is called a comma splice.
• Example of a comma splice: "Our dog chewed up the new rug, we were livid."
• Example of a comma splice: "Cassandra loves the local coffee shop, we got her a gift card for her birthday."

Correcting Comma Splices

• Add a conjunction after the comma.
• Separate the independent clauses with a semicolon or period.
• Example Correction: "Our dog chewed up the new rug; we were livid."
• Example Correction: "Cassandra loves the local coffee shop, so we got her a gift card for her birthday."