Run-On Sentences, Comma Splices, and Sentence Fragments

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This text demonstrates why you should pay attention to punctuation and good sentence structure. You probably understood the meaning of the text, but without proper punctuation and complete sentences it becomes cumbersome to read. The text contains three types of grammar errors that you should try to avoid in your writing: run-on sentences, comma splices, and sentence fragments.

Run-on sentences occur when two or more independent clauses are connected improperly. The first sentence in the example text above, is a run-on sentence. This sentence is actually two independent sentences with two separate ideas that both make sense on their own.

A mistake closely related to run-on sentences, is comma splices. In this case, two or more independent clauses are joined by just a comma and no coordinating conjunction. The comma isn't strong enough to hold together two independent clauses by itself; it needs the help of a semi-colon, a full stop, or a conjunction.

The second sentence in the example text has a comma splice. Once more, we have two independent sentences; each of them is complete on its own.

Both run-on sentences and comma splices can be easily fixed. You could add a full stop, a semi-colon, or a coordinating conjunction. For example:

The final sentence in the example text is what we call a sentence fragment: 'Important to remember'.

A complete sentence contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. If any of these three are missing, you are dealing with a sentence fragment. A sentence fragment is a string of words that looks like a sentence, but actually isn’t a complete sentence. Fragments are very common in conversation and spoken English is full of them. But if you write the way you think, you will transfer fragment sentences into your written English. They do not belong in essays and other formal writing.

Here are a three examples, including a description of how you can fix them:

Are sentence fragments always bad? No, they are not. You want to avoid sentence fragments in formal writing, but they are frequently and intentionally used in the media and by fiction authors to make the text more conversational or snappy.

These mistakes are quite easy to fix. The best way to detect them is to read the text aloud before you hand it in. Reading aloud to yourself is by far the best way to discover how your writing actually sounds to other people. You will often notice if the sentence is illogical and missing a bit, or if it sounds awkward and clunky. Commas and full stops give you a chance to breathe; if you find that you're out of breath while reading, there is probably something wrong with the punctuation. So make a habit of listening to your own voice as you write; it is often the best adviser you have at hand.