Fragments and Run-ons

A period does not make a group of words into a sentence!

To be complete, a sentence must meet three simple criteria…1. It must contain a subject.2. It must contain a verb.3. It must be a complete thought.

Take a look…

Like bowing balls. (phrase)Playing the oboe. (phrase)When stylish cats tap dance. (dependent clause)

None of these groups of words is a complete thought. Each needs something more to make it a complete idea.

Curled up armadillos slowly rolled across the road like bowling balls. (sentence)Zack is able to multi-task by juggling curled up armadillos with both hands and playing the oboe with his toes. (sentence)When stylish cats tap dance, they always wear colorful pants. (sentence)

On the other hand, you may have to take out a word to make a complete thought.

Tish who fries large catfish in her satellite dish. (fragment)Tish fries large catfish in her satellite dish. (sentence)

The vampire that ate a rare steak on his lunch break. (fragment)The vampire at a rare steak on his lunch break. (sentence)

Note…

A true sentence won’t begin with the words “Like when” or “Such as when”/ These words are sure-fire signals of sentence fragments.

Incorrect: Stetson spends too much money on his pets. Like when he gave his cat an herbal body wrap to remove its excess fat.Correct: Stetson spends too much money on his pets. For example, he gave his cat an herbal body wrap to remove its excess fat.

Incorrect: Fritz takes things too literally. Such as when he wears protective togs when it’s raining cats and dogs.Correct: Fritz takes things too literally. For example, he wears protective togs when it’s raining cats and dogs.

Run-On Sentences

Sometimes sentences run together because they’re missing a period. One of these period-deprived sentences is called, strangely enough, a run-on.

Brutus missed his bus he had to ride a drooling mule to school.You can fix this run-on sentence in a few different ways.

Brutus missed his bus; he had to ride a drooling mule to school.(separate closely related sentences with a semi-colon)

Brutus missed his bus, so he had to ride a drooling mule to school.(connect sentences using a coordinating conjunction – for, and, nor, but, or yet, so-preceded by a comma)Because Brutus missed his bus, he had to ride a drooling mule to school.(put a less important idea in a dependent – a.k.a. subordinate – clause)

Brutus missed his bus; therefore, he had to ride a drooling mule to school.(use a semi-colon and a transitional word such as however, nevertheless, moreover, or consequently, followed by a comma to connect sentences.)

Note: Of course, as you might have expected, sometimes authors break the rules and use fragments for effect, to add emphasis.

Mrs. Elmo’s hair sprouted in prickly gray clumps from her white onion-skin scalp, and her face looked like a prune that had been microwaved on high. Above her lip protruded a mole. A really big mole. A really big, hairy mole. A mole about the size of…well, a more…the kind that digs