RunOns and Sentence Fragments A sentence is a

Run-Ons and Sentence Fragments A sentence is a group of words that forms a complete thought. It has both a subject and a verb. My friends walk along the path. A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought. It is usually missing a subject, a verb, or a helping verb. Knows the answer. This is a sentence fragment. It is missing a subject. The bright red car. This is a sentence fragment. It is missing a verb. We skiing next week. This is a sentence fragment. It is missing a helping verb.

The most common helping verbs are: • to be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been These are used in progressive tenses and passive voice verbs. I am writing this sentence. This sentence was written. • to have: have, has, had These are used in perfect tenses. I have read many, many books. • to do: do, does, did These are emphatic verbs. They emphasize the main verb. I do know your uncle.

A run-on sentence is made up of two independent clauses that are joined without end punctuation or with just a comma. • • I knocked on the door it opened. It started raining, we ran inside. To fix a run-on sentence, separate it into two sentences. Add end punctuation after the first sentence, and capitalize the second sentence. • • I knocked on the door. It opened. It started raining. We ran inside. You can also fix a run-on sentence by rewriting it as a compound sentence. A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or so. • • I knocked on the door, and it opened. It started raining, so we ran inside.

IXL Run-Ons and Sentence Fragments • A. 7 • A. 8