Foolish Fragments and Ridiculous RunOns What is a

Foolish Fragments and Ridiculous Run-Ons!

What is a complete sentence? A SENTENCE is made up of one or more words that express a complete thought. A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with punctuation. Good writers write with complete sentences!

What does a complete sentence need? A sentence must have FOUR things: 1. It must begin with a capital letter. 2. It must end with punctuation– either a period (. ), exclamation point (!), or question mark (? ). 3. It must have a subject and a verb. 4. It must be a complete thought.

Capitalize! It must begin with a capital letter. Ex. A bumblebee flew into Peter’s open mouth.

Proper Punctuation It must end with punctuation– either a period (. ), exclamation point (!), or question mark (? ) Ex: A bumblebee flew into Peter’s open mouth! Did a bumblebee just fly into Peter’s open mouth?

Subject and Verb It must have a subject and a verb A subject is the “who” of a sentence. A verb is the “what” of a sentence. Ex: A bumblebee (subject) flew (verb) into Peter’s open mouth. Mrs. Bensley (subject) enjoys (verb) playing with her dog Lady.

Complete Thoughts It must be a complete thought. Ex: When Peter opened his mouth. (INCOMPLETE THOUGHT) When Peter opened his mouth, a bumblebee flew in. (COMPLETE THOUGHT)

Fragments and Run-On Sentence Sometimes sentences can either be incomplete or too long. Incomplete sentences are called sentence fragments. Sentences that are too long are called run-on sentences.

Sentence Fragments In order to make sure you do not have a sentence fragment, you should always look for the “who” and “what” of your sentence (the subject and verb!). If one is missing, you have a sentence fragment.

Sentence Fragments Examples: Incorrect: Went to the store to buy brownie mix. (no subject!) Correct: My dad went to the store to buy brownie mix. (subject added!) Incorrect: Brownie mix at the store expensive. (no verb!) Correct: Brownie mix at the store was expensive. (verb added!)

Run-On Sentences A run-on sentence is one that rambles. It combines two or more sentences into one without proper punctuation. There are two ways to correct a run-on sentence. - Break it up into two complete sentences - Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction

Run-On Sentences Example: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale today. Correction: The grocery store was really packed with people. There must have been a big sale today. ^For this correction, I simply broke the run-on sentence into two complete sentences.

Run-On Sentences The second way to correct a run-on sentence is by using a comma (, ) followed by coordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so To remember coordinating conjunctions, just remember FANBOYS (For, And, But, Or, Yet, So)

Examples Run-On: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale. Correction: The grocery store was really packed with people, so there must have been a big sale. Run On: I really wanted to go to the fair but I had a lot of homework. Correction: I really wanted to go to the fair , but I had a lot of homework

Let’s practice! Determine if the example sentences are complete sentences, run on sentences, or sentence fragments.

1 Which was built in 1950 Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

2 Needed the materials for the science project. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

3 Bertha gave me a computer for my birthday last week. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

4 I was talking on the phone for a couple of house last night I forgot to do my homework. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

5 When we adopted the cutest puppy at the animal shelter. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

6 The little boy’s toy car was yellow, his sister had a red and white toy truck. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

7 Carlos is the team captain on the football team, and he plays defensive tackle. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

8 Lifting the heavy boxes, I hurt my back. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

9 After I dribbled the ball down the court. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

10 She won the spelling contest and she will go to the regional level next month. Sentence, fragment, or run-on?