Transcript Complete Sentences

Complete Sentences
Subject of a Sentence – Answers
“who” or “what” to the main verb
of the sentence.
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The subject is a noun or pronoun.
The subject is never found in a prepositional
phrase.
The subject is never the words “here” or
“there.”
The subject might be “you understood.”
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Close the door. – you understood is the subject
Water the plants. – you understood is the subject
Main Verb of Sentence – what the
subject of the sentence does
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The main verb may show action.
The main verb may be a form of the verb “to
be.”
The main verb may be a state of being –
appears, sounds, tastes.
The main verb can never have the word “to”
before it.
The main verb can never end in “ing.”
A Complete Sentence Needs:
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A subject
A main verb
A complete thought
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This means that subordinate words have to be
answered
Sentence Fragments
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A sentence fragment is missing something that a
complete sentence must have.
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People with loyalty for their country voted.
If the word “voted” was left out, the sentence would
be missing a verb.
If the word “People” was left out, the sentence would
be missing a subject.
If the sentence read, “When people with loyalty for
their country vote,” the word “When” would not be
answered, so there would be not complete thought.
Fixing Fragments
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Add the missing part of the sentence.
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“Runs two miles every morning,” can be corrected
by writing, “Steve runs two miles every morning.”
“The soft, furry kitten,” can be corrected by
writing, “The soft, furry kitten was in the basket.”
Add the fragment to a complete sentence.
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“He did not give us a number. An exact number,”
can be corrected to, “He did not give us an exact
number.”
More Fragments to Watch
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If the word begins with a subordinator,
answer it.
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“Because I could not find my keys,” can be
corrected by answering “because.” The sentence,
“Because I could not find my keys, I was late for
work,” answers the question.
“When we went to the movies,” can be corrected
by answering “when.” The sentence, “When we
went to the movies, I skipped the popcorn,”
answers the question.
Common Subordinators that
Lead to Fragments
• Whatever
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After
Although
As
As if
As long as
As soon as
As though
Because
Before
Even though
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How
If
In order that
For example
So that
That
Till
Unless
Until
What
• When
•Where
•Whether
•Which
•Whichever
•Who
•Whoever
•Why
For Example, For Instance
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When giving extra detail, make sure that
examples are added to a sentence. For
example, ideas in a brainstorm. This
fragment can be corrected by writing, “When
giving extra details, for example, ideas in a
brainstorm, make sure that the examples are
added to a complete sentence.
Fragments with Verb Forms that Cannot Be
the Main Verb
 -ing verbs cannot be the main verb of the
sentence.
 “Bill going to the gym after school,” can be
corrected by adding a form of the verb “to be.”
 “Bill is going to the gym after school,” is correct.
 “Going to the gym, Bill met his girlfriend,” is also
correct because it was added to a complete
sentence.
 “to + verb” cannot be the main verb of the
sentence.
 Fix this the same way –ing verbs are corrected.
 Add a linking verb as the main verb
 Attach to a full sentence.
Let’s Fix These Fragments
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Howie Mandel pointed at the model. Who
was holding the million dollar case. Is this
correct?
No – “Who was holding the million dollar
case has a subordinator, who, that must be
answered. How do we fix it?
Howie Mandel pointed at the model who
was holding the million dollar case.
Fix These On Your Own – Is the
sentence group a fragment or
correct?
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6.
The dog ran around the yard and finally caught the ball.
When the attendant filled the gas tank. He spilled gas all over
the side of the new Mercedes.
Because the meal was so hot. Jake decided to let it sit for five
minutes before eating it.
She graduated from college with high honors. Even though she
began school with a rocky start.
Although the instructor warned the class of an important exam,
the students neglected to study the steps in the scientific
method.
Numerous murders in Philadelphia have recently occurred.
Actually, hundreds.
And the Answers Are…
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5.
6.
The dog ran around the yard and finally caught the ball. –
This is correct as it is!
When the attendant filled the gas tank, he spilled gas all over the
side of the new Mercedes. – When needs to be answered –
attach to the other sentence to fix it.
Because the meal was so hot, Jake decided to let it sit for five
minutes before eating it. – Because needs to be answered –
attach to the other sentence to fix it.
She graduated from college with high honors even though she
began school with a rocky start. – Even though has to be
answered – attach the fragment to the preceding sentence.
Although the instructor warned the class of an important exam,
the students neglected to study the steps in the scientific method.
– This is correct as it is!
Numerous murders have occurred recently in Philadelphia.
Actually, hundreds. – This is an afterthought – incorporate it
into the sentence: Numerous murder, actually hundreds of
murders, have occurred recently in Philadelphia.
Fused Sentences
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Two sentences that have been run together
without the proper punctuation are referred to
as fused sentences.
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Examples:
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Making the wedding cake was difficult it took a full day
to decorate it.
My aunt is going to New York she wants to visit
Ground Zero.
Ways to Fix a Fused Sentence
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Add a period and begin the new sentence with
a capital letter.
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Making the wedding cake was difficult. It took a full
day to decorate it.
Use a comma and a coordinate conjunction to
join the two sentences.
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The “FAN BOYS” are the only words strong enough
to hold two sentences together in one sentence with
only a comma: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
Making the wedding cake was difficult, for it took a
full day to decorate it.
More Ways to Fix a Fused
Sentence
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Use a semicolon
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Only use a semicolon if the two sentences are
very closely related.
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My aunt is going to New York; she wants to visit
Ground Zero.
Use a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb
with a comma
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However, therefore, furthermore, moreover are
conjunctive adverbs
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Baking the wedding cake was difficult; moreover, it
took a full day to decorate it.
One More Way to Fix Fused
Sentences
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Use a subordinator
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Because making the wedding cake was
difficult, it took a full day to decorate it.
Since my aunt is going to New York, she
wants to visit Ground Zero.
Practice Fixing Fused
Sentences
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The question of the source of UFOs has been a
matter of conjecture for many years, indeed, people
have argued about this subject, movies have been
made, and scientists have spent time investigating
such claims.
Indeed is not a coordinate conjunction – it is not
strong enough to hold the two sentences apart. One
way to correct it is: The question of the source of
UFOs has been a matter of conjecture for many
years; indeed, people have argued about this
subject, movies have been made, and scientists
have spent time investigating such claims.
Are These Sentences Correct or
Fused? Decide and Correct the
Errors
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2.
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4.
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It was about 2:00 in the morning I was still wide
awake.
I could not wait I was finally about to embark on
my journey to Los Angeles.
I arrived at the airport very early and was the first
one of the group there.
When the group began to arrive, I realized that
there were just a few people I knew there were
some people I never met before.
Overall this seemed to be an interesting group it
was going to be amazing discovering L.A. with
them.
Suggested Corrections (there is always
more than one way to fix a fused sentence)
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It was about 2:00 in the morning, and I was still
wide awake.
I could not wait! I was finally about to embark on
my journey to Los Angeles.
I arrived at the airport very early and was the first
one of the group there. – This is correct as it is.
When the group began to arrive, I realized that
there were just a few people I knew, for there
were some people I never met before.
Overall this seemed to be an interesting group,
and it was going to be amazing discovering L.A.
with them.
Comma Splices
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Comma splices are sentences where a
comma has been used to hold two sentences
apart. The comma is not strong enough to do
this.
A sentence cannot be a comma splice unless
a comma has been used incorrectly.
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The assignment was easy, it only took a couple of
hours to complete.
My cousin is visiting Arizona, she wants to see the
Grand Canyon
Fixing Comma Splices
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Comma splices are specific types of fused
sentences.
Fix comma splices the same way that fused
sentences are corrected.
Credits and Sources
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Wingersky, Joy; Boerner, Jan; and HolguinBalogh, Diana. Writing Paragraphs and
Essays 2nd Ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Publishing, 1995.