Fragmente & Run-ons Lesson
Fragments and run-ons are among the most conspicuous and unfortunate of all writing mistakes. A fragment is simply an incomplete sentence. A run-on is when two or more sentences appear as one:
-The man who stood in the doorway. [fragment]
- She opened the folder, there was a note inside it. [run-on]
Interestingly, if the word who was omitted from the first sentence, the sentence would be complete. Why? To answer this, we need to uncan stand the difference between dependent and independent clauses. An independent clause can stand alone as a complete thought and a complete sentence. It contains a subject and a verb. Here are two independent clauses:
-He was nearly eighty years old.
- He was in great shape.
Of course, independent clauses can be combined:
- He was nearly eighty years old, but he was in great shape. (But is as a conjunction word used to combine sentences that are two independent clauses if they flow well together, with the word "and" as a conjunction it doesn't work for and to be in the middle of the sentence more than once, Skylights. Independent clauses can sneak you by. Run-ons are not so lucky. They've easy to spot because they make you sleepy if you try reading them allowed. —Lumna10.)
A run-on sentence happens when two independent clauses are combined incorrectly. Here are two examples:
- I went to school, I've been busy all day.
- The weather has been great, it's been sunny all week.
The sentences can be repaired easily by combining the independent clauses:
- I went to school, so I've been busy all day.
- The weather has been great; it's been sunny all week.
As you can see, run-ons are easy to fix. If you're having a hard time bringing independent clauses together, make them into two sentences separated by a period. Now let's take a look at fragments.
Fragments are incomplete sentences. Often they are made up of dependent clauses. Although dependent clauses have a subject and a verb, they do not form a complete thought. Here are a few cases:
- Because she won't go fishing.
- When the newspaper gets delivered.
Notice that the first word of each clause makes it dependent each sentence needs more information to be a complete thought. However, strike the first words and you have two complete sentences! By following the thought through, we make whole sentences:
- Because she won't go fishing, her boyfriend is staying home.
- When the newspaper gets delivered, I'll know who won the election.
Writing Exercise Prompt 1
The following paragraph contains plenty of fragments and run-ons. Rewrite the passage, making the necessary corrections.
He looked at his face in the mirror, he didn't like what he saw. Two giant hairs were growing on top of his nose. Which were disgusting. Especially the top one, it was crooked and eerie. He needed to do something, he had a date that night. Unless she had canceled. Which he knew was quite possible, if he hadn't noticed these hairs earlier. So, he plucked out both hairs, it really hurt! But it was worth it, they fell in love.
A Mystery Object—Fragments & Run-ons In Action
Writing Exercise Prompt
2. As you know, a good way to learn to recognize mistakes is to practice them. Using fragments and run-ons with regularity, write a one page story about what happens when you find a mystery object. You can find the object anywhere. Just remember that when you first find it, you don't know its powers!
When you're done, exchange your story with a partner's. Rewrite each other's accounts, correcting the fragments and run-ons.