Sentence Sense
It is necessary-- generally-- to avoid sentence fragments. These are short groups of words punctuated as though they are complete sentences, but which are not complete sentences. Occasionally, a writer may use a sentence fragment for stylistic purposes.
One must also avoid run-together sentences. These exist when two or more complete sentences have been improperly joined.
Remember that every sentence must:
(1) have a subject,
(2) have a verb,
(3) express a complete thought.
Consider the sentences:
We visited our friends.
They recently had a new baby.
Both groups of words are complete sentences. Each has a subject and a predicate, and each expresses a complete idea.
1. You may join two complete sentences with a conjunction, such as and, but, or, because. However, if you join too many sentences with conjunctions, you will create a run-on sentence.
We visited our friends, because they recently had a new baby.
2. You may join two complete sentences with a semi-colon. Do NOT use a comma to join two complete sentences.
We visited our friends; they recently had a new baby.
3. You may also rewrite the sentences into one. To do this, you have to change the wording, so that one of the sentences is no longer a complete sentence.
We visited our friends, who recently had a new baby.
Who recently had a new baby is not a complete sentence. It can therefore be joined to the complete sentence "We visited our friends" without a conjunction or semi-colon.
For further study, you might look up subordinate OR dependent clause, prepositional phrase, participial phrase, and appositive. These are all examples of groups of words which are not complete sentences.
4. Sometimes, two sentences can be joined by using a plural subject or a plural predicate. For example:
(a) Yesterday, Matt bought a new book. He also visited his friend.
The same subject, Matt, can be given two predicates in the same sentence:
Yesterday, Matt bought a new book and visited his friend.
(b) Julia was in class yesterday. Laura was also in class.
The same predicate can take two subjects in this case:
Julia and Laura were both in class yesterday.
Join each group of sentences. Try to find different methods of joining the sentences. You might join separate sentences with conjunctions or semi-colons. You might change a sentence into an appositive, a phrase, or a subordinate clause, and then make it part of another sentence.
1. Adham lives in Byron.
He works in Lambeth.
2. Courtney went to the mall for lunch.
Claire went to the mall for lunch.
Sarah ate in the cafeteria.
3.I would like to go to the party.
We always have a lot of fun at their house.
4. The film Dance Me Outside is a Canadian film.
It was somewhat successful.
It is based on a story by W.P. Kinsella.
5. We visited our friends.
They live in Fort Charles.
They recently had a baby.
6. Robin and Toby live in an old farmhouse.
It is quite an interesting place.
They have decorated it with musical instruments from around the world.
7. Gaby single-handedly defeated the alien invaders.
Later, she went to Subway for lunch.
She ordered a cheese sub.
8. Two teenagers created Superman.
A comic-book company published his first adventure in 1938.
The character has remained popular for decades.
9. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes.
This fictional character has a very logical, scientific mind.
Doyle himself believed in many supernatural things.
