Fixing Fragments & Run-Ons
Recognise and correct sentence fragments (incomplete sentences lacking a subject or predicate) and run-on sentences (two or more independent clauses joined without proper punctuation or conjunctions)
What a learner can do afterwards
- Identify a sentence fragment by checking whether it has both a subject and a predicate, e.g. recognise 'Running through the park' as a fragment and correct to 'The dog was running through the park'
- Identify a run-on sentence where two independent clauses are fused without punctuation or a conjunction, e.g. 'I like cats I also like dogs' and correct using a full stop, comma + conjunction, or semicolon
- Edit a paragraph to fix fragments and run-ons, choosing the most effective correction strategy for each error
The lesson
A sentence needs two things: a subject (who or what) and a predicate (what happens). You already know how to build sentences with both parts. When one part is missing, you get a fragment, a piece of a sentence, not the whole thing.
Look at 'Running through the park.' It has an action, but no subject telling us who is running. That makes it a fragment. Fix it by adding a subject: 'The dog was running through the park.'
Sometimes two complete sentences get squished together with no break between them. That's called a run-on. Your eyes see one sentence, but really there are two separate ideas hiding inside it.
'I like cats I also like dogs.' fuses two complete ideas with no break. You can fix it three ways: 'I like cats. I also like dogs.' or 'I like cats, and I also like dogs.' or 'I like cats; I also like dogs.'
To fix a run-on, pick one break: a full stop for two separate sentences, a comma plus a joining word like 'and' or 'but', or a semicolon between two closely related ideas. Read your sentence out loud. If you hear two complete ideas with no breath between them, add a break.
A fragment is missing a subject or predicate, and a run-on jams two complete ideas together with no break, so fix each with the right punctuation or joining word.
Watch it
Where it sits
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.