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Faulty Sentence Patterns
By definition, sentence fragments are incomplete sentences. Two types are most common:
1. Part of the sentence, usually the subject or verb, is incomplete or missing:
Incorrect: Bill going to the store.
Correct: Bill is going to the store. (The ing-form was used as the main verb of the sentence without the required auxiliary verb.)
Incorrect: Gone before they came.
Correct: Bill had gone before they came. (Here both the subject and part of the verb were missing.)
A good rule to follow is never to use an ing-form or a past participle as a main verb unless you also use a form of an auxiliary verb like have or be along with it.
2. A dependent clause is used alone, without being attached to a related independent clause.
Perhaps the main reason that fragments of this type occur is that a writer fails to recognize that a word is classified as a subordinating conjunction or clause marker rather than as a coordinating conjunction or a conjunctive adverb. Compare lists of such words in "Conjunctions and Conjunctive Adverbs."
Incorrect: Because he was happy.
Correct: Jerry laughed out loud because he was happy.
Incorrect: When they arrive at their mother's house.
Correct: When they arrive at their mother's house, they will discover that everyone else has already arrived.
Note that the dependent clause can come either before or after the main clause. When the dependent clause is first, then it is followed by a comma. When it comes second, then a comma is not normally employed.
Exceptions: There are two exceptions to the warning against incomplete sentences: first, incomplete sentences are acceptable in some informal writing because they imitate conversational English, and, second, writing that uses parallelism occasionally contains incomplete sentences because the repetition in the pattern facilitates understanding.
A run-together sentence (RT) (sometimes called a fused sentence) is the putting together of two independent clauses into one sentence with no mark of punctuation or coordinating conjunction between them. There are usually a number of acceptable ways to change a run-together sentence into a correct sentence. Probably the simplest ways of correcting such an error are separating the run-together sentence into two sentences or making it into a compound sentence by adding a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon. Changing the run-together sentence into a complex sentence is also often possible. The method of revision depends upon the context and the writer's purpose.
Incorrect: Joe telephoned his mother knocked on the door a few minutes later.
Correct: Joe telephoned. His mother knocked on the door a few minutes later. (2 simple sentences)
Correct: Joe telephoned, and his mother knocked on the door a few minutes later. (compound sentence)
Correct: Joe telephoned; his mother knocked on the door a few minutes later. (compound sentence)
Correct: A few minutes after Joe telephoned, his mother knocked on the door. (complex sentence)
Correct: Joe telephoned a few minutes before his mother knocked on the door. (complex sentence)
In the original sentence above, it isn't immediately obvious whether "his mother" is the direct object of "telephoned" in the first clause or the subject of "knocked" in the second clause. Only after rereading the sentence does it become apparent that "his mother" did the knocking and may or may not have been the person Joe telephoned. Revising the sentence in one of the indicated ways prevents the momentary confusion. All of the corrections have about the same meaning, but the stress is different.
The confusion about what the writer means is even greater in the following example. Even rereading the sentence does not clarify which independent clause the dependent clause modifies. Thus, either of two different meanings is possible.
Incorrect: Joe saw the man after the dog ran past the man threw a rock through the window of the house.
Correct: Joe saw the man after the dog ran past. The man threw a rock through the window of the house.
Correct: Joe saw the man. After the dog ran past, the man threw a rock through the window of the house.
A comma splice (CS) is similar to a run-together sentence in that it also involves the faulty combination of two independent clauses into a single sentence. The difference is that instead of no punctuation existing between the clauses, a comma is used where a stronger connection is needed. The mistake occurs because the writer is unaware that a comma is generally used by itself only within a sentence (in a series, for instance, or before and/or after a dependent clause), not between two structures that could be separate sentences. If a comma is used between two independent clauses in a compound sentence, a coordinating conjunction must be used along with it. The methods of correcting a comma splice are the same as those for correcting a run-together sentence: changing it into two separate sentences, a compound sentence, or a complex sentence.
Incorrect: Joe yelled at the man, the man called the police.
Correct: Joe yelled at the man. The man called the police. (2 simple sentences)
Correct: Joe yelled at the man; the man called the police. (compound sentence
Correct: Joe yelled at the man, and the man called the police. (compound sentence)
Correct: Joe yelled at the man before the man called the police. (complex sentence)
Correct: Because Joe yelled at the man, the man called the police. (complex sentence)
Another common cause of comma splices (and sometimes of run-together sentences) is the mistaken belief that a transition word like then or however can be substituted for a coordinating conjunction like and, but, or or. The reason such a substitution cannot be made is that, unlike a conjunction, both time words and conjunctive adverbs can occur in the middle or at the end of a clause, not just at its beginning. A sentence beginning with such a word must be punctuated as if the word were not present. (See "Conjunctions and Conjunctive Adverbs" for a list of these words and for brief directions on how to form and punctuate sentences containing them.)
Incorrect: The police came, then they took the man away.
Correct: The police came. Then they took the man away. (2 simple sentences)
Correct: The police came; then they took the man away. (compound sentence)
Correct: The police came, and then they took the man away. (compound sentence)
Correct: When the police came, they took the man away. {complex sentence}
The fourth type of faulty sentence, the run-on sentence (RO), is different from the other three types just discussed. Unlike the others, its clauses are complete and usually correctly connected to each other by means of such coordinating conjunctions as and, but, so, and and so. The problem here is that there are too many independent clauses in the same sentence. Because of the excessive length of such a sentence and the failure to indicate which ideas are more important than others, confusion (or boredom) often results. Breaking up the long sentence into several shorter sentences and/or by subordinating parts of the sentence to the remainder generally improves it. Reducing some of the clauses to phrases or even single words also helps..
Unsatisfactory: Bill needed to get a new driver's license, and he had to take the written test over again, so he had to study a booklet listing these laws, and so he studied for several weeks, and he took the test and passed it.
Improved: When Bill needed to get a new driver's license, he had to take the written test over again. Because he didn't know the driving laws well enough, he had to study a booklet listing these laws. He took the test after studying for several weeks and passed it.