NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

HAND OUT #7
Common Sentence Errors

FRAGMENTS

A fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence but is in fact

only a part of sentence.
Fragments are only parts of the sentence but they are not exactly the
sentence for the reason that the thought is not completely conveyed.
E.g.:
“Hey, George, wanna watch a movie tonight?”
“I can’t. Too much work in the office.”

Two basic causes of fragments:

a. When there are no verbs.
b. When a subordinating conjunction, dependent marker word, is placed
before an independent clause and does not convey a complete thought.

Dependent Marker Words

After, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, until, though, if, in order
to, since, unless, whatever, when, whenever, whether, while…

FIVE TYPES OF FRAGMENTS

1. Dependent Clauses
It is often mistaken as complete sentence, since it looks like a sentence
in terms of its construction.
E.g.:
a. Buying groceries for the whole month saves time and energy.
Because you do not need to go to the market from time to time.

Means to correct this type of fragment

a. Remove the period in between the two sentences and replace the
capitalized subordinating conjunction with a small one.

Buying groceries for the whole month saves time and energy because you do
not need to go to the market from time to time.

2. Participial Phrases
It usually starts with an –ing or –ed word, which functions as a noun or
subject of the sentence.
E.g.:
Oliver jumps every New Year season. Believing that he will become taller.

Means to correct this type of fragment

a. Interchange the position of the clauses.

Believing that he will become taller, Oliver jumps every New Year season.
b. Add a subordinating conjunction before the dependent clause.
Because he believes that he will become taller, Oliver jumps every New Year
season.
 c. Remove the participial phrase.
Oliver jumps every New Year season. He believes that he will become taller.

3. Infinitive Phrase Fragments

It begins with the infinitive marker to + the base form of the verb.
E.g.:
Jacob went to his grandmother’s house last week. To check if she is
recovering from the accident.

Means to correct this type of fragment

a. Remove the period and make the capitalized infinitive marker into a
smaller letter.
Jacob went to his grandmother’s house last week to check if she is recovering
from the accident.
b. Interchange the position
To check if she is recovering from the accident, Jacob went to his
grandmother’s house last week.
c. Add a subject and a verb to the second sentence.
Jacob went to his grandmother’s house last week. He wants to check if she is
recovering from the accident.

d. Afterthought Fragments
These are additional or extension ideas that writers express in order to
expand the previous idea that he/she has discussed. These fragments begin
with transitions like: example, for instance, like, such as, including, and
except.
E.g.:
Freckles can do a lot of tricks. Such as flushing the toilet, throwing the trash
in a garbage bin, and walking on two legs.

Means to correct this type of fragment

a. Combine two sentences into one.

Freckles can do a lot of tricks, such as flushing the toilet, throwing the trash in
a garbage bin, and walking on two legs.
b. Interchange the afterthought statement with the independent
clause.
Flushing the toilet, throwing the trash in a garbage bin, and walking on two
legs are the tricks that Freckles can do.

c. Appositives
Is a noun or noun phrase that renames another noun or noun phrase
E.g.:
Jeremy boasted about his newest cellphone last night. A very thin silver-
colored camera phone with 20 GB capacity and a 4-megapixel lens.

Means to correct this type of fragment

a. Combine the two sentences.

Jeremy boasted about his newest cellphone last night, a very thin silver-
colored camera phone with 20 GB capacity and a 4-megapixel lens.
b. Add a subject and a verb.
Jeremy boasted about his newest cellphone last night. It is a very thin silver-
colored camera phone with 20 GB capacity and a 4-megapixel lens.
A. Run-on Sentence

Run-on sentence is a combination of two sentences without a

punctuation to divide the ideas presented in them.
E.g.:
Jim’s father passed the board exam for merchant marine officers he will be
the captain of the ship next month.

Means to correct:

a. Place a semi colon in between the two sentences.

Jim’s father passed the board exam for merchant marine officers; he will be
the captain of the ship next month.
b. Add a transitional marker between the two sentences.
Jim’s father passed the board exam for merchant marine officers, and he will
be the captain of the ship next month.
c. Divide the sentence into two.
Jim’s father passed the board exam for merchant marine officers. He will be
the captain of the ship next month.

B. Comma Splice

Comma splice is when a writer uses a comma without the proper

connective.
E.g.:
The crowd cheered loudly when the band emerged from the backstage, Eric
stood quietly.

Means to correct:

a. Place a proper coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) after the comma

to connect the two sentences.
The crowd cheered loudly when the band emerged from the backstage,
but Eric stood quietly.
b. Use a semi colon between the two clauses in place of the comma and
the coordinating conjunction.
The crowd cheered loudly when the band emerged from the backstage;
Eric stood quietly.
c. Use a semicolon followed by the proper transitional device.
The crowd cheered loudly when the band emerged from the backstage;
however, Eric stood quietly.
d. Separate them into two sentences.
The crowd cheered loudly when the band emerged from the backstage.
Eric stood quietly.

C. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

It is usually a phrase or an elliptical clause misplaced beside a word that
it does not intend to modify.
E.g.:
At five years old, Marcus taught his son the basics of playing the drums.
Hanging on the wall, the Chief Engineer fixed his cover-all.
D. Faulty Parallelism

Parallelism is defined as when two or more ideas in a sentence are alike in

form and purpose; they can and should be expressed in the same grammatical
forms.
E.g.:
The cadet’s dream is to become a ship captain, to buy his own car, and
establishing a business of his own.