McGraw-Hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usage, 2nd Edition (2013)

Part II. How to Find and Correct Mistakes

The first part of this book focused on the fundamental ways that English can be classified, explained, and analyzed. This first part was primarily descriptive, in that we simply laid out the ways English can be described. However, this second part is more prescriptive. In other words, we now focus on the correctness and the preferences that people have for formal English, especially written English. These preferences deal with what most people think of as the “rules” of English. Most, but not all, such rules are based on a logic intended to create more effective, consistent communication.

Unlike many grammar books written for people who want only to know the right answer in just a few seconds, our book offers more thorough explanations, while attempting to be as concise as possible.

Our hope is that, first, a thorough explanation will help you understand a given concept well enough that you will not need to consult another grammar book in the future. By understanding an issue in more than a superficial way, you will be more likely not to just follow a rule but to understand the basis of the rule.

We also believe that a thorough explanation will help you with the various exceptions, nuances, and finer points of a grammatical issue. Many books offer only simple rules and simple sentences as examples. However, most people have to apply rules in complex situations. We believe our explanations avoid over-oversimplifying matters and deal instead with the real sorts of problems that writers in particular must face in school, in the workforce, and even in their personal writing.

This second part of the book does not examine every grammatical error or problem that exists. Rather, we focus on the ones that are most common or cause writers and readers the most problems. Special attention is given to punctuation, especially the comma, because this aspect of writing leads to a considerable number of problems and questions for most people.

Pay special attention to our discussions on how you can avoid the problems covered. Rather than just offering self-explanatory rules, we offer general suggestions on how to detect and/or correct grammatical problems. These and other portions of our discussion attempt to draw on intuitive, commonsensical suggestions instead of overloading readers with linguistic jargon.

Finally, remember that this book, like most grammar reference books, is intended for a range of people in various contexts. We focus on the rules that serve as the basis for more specific style guides and preferences that evolve in particular professions, organizations, or vocations. It is normal for a group of people to take general rules (for grammar, dress, or any sort of human behavior) and tailor these. In other words, this book can only cover what most people prefer in terms of formal American English, but keep in mind that you will find some readers who, for better or worse, have more specific rules and preferences.

Chapter 6. Writing Complete Sentences

This brief chapter is important for two reasons. First and most obviously, this chapter helps you avoid three major types of errors: fragments, fused sentences, and comma splices. Second, this chapter—especially the section on fragments—introduces you to some basic concepts that you should understand in order to avoid other types of problems and errors. In particular, recognizing a complete sentence is a necessary skill for avoiding a range of punctuation and sentence-structure problems.

These three sections have one major concept in common: all three deal with the notion of a complete sentence. The “Fragments” section applies to any sort of sentence, while “Fused Sentences” and “Comma Splices” focus on a common structure known as a compound sentence. In essence, a compound sentence results when two (or more) sentences are combined into one.

1. Fragments: A fragment is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a grammatically complete sentence. Even though fragments are common in speech and informal writing, they are considered one of the most serious types of errors in formal writing. In this section, we provide a formal definition of fragment and discuss some of the problems with the definition as most people seem to understand (or remember) it. This section also provides a useful tip for detecting fragments (the “I realize” tip).

2. Fused sentences: A fused sentence is a serious error that occurs when writers incorrectly attempt to combine two sentences. More specifically, the sentence has nothing at all separating these two groups of words, as in this example:

X A fire alarm sounded everyone ran out of the building.

We describe how you can avoid this error by first understanding that such a sentence is a compound sentence—a sentence made up of what could possibly be two sentences.

3. Comma splices: Like a fused sentence, a comma splice results when a writer does not correctly join two separate sentences. A comma splice is also considered a serious error in formal writing, but—unlike a fused sentence—at least the writer has used something to separate the two parts. However, you cannot use just a comma to separate them. Following is an example of a comma splice:

X A fire alarm sounded, everyone ran out of the building.

This section describes how you can easily correct a comma splice by putting a coordinating conjunction immediately after the comma. The most common coordinating conjunctions are and, but, and or.

Fragments

Most people have at least some idea of what a sentence fragment is—or have had a teacher write “frag” in red ink on their otherwise pristine papers. A fragment is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a grammatically complete sentence.

Grammar Tip: “I Realize”

Most complete sentences can be preceded with “I realize” and still sound fine. Fragments, however, will sound strange.

A more technical (and accurate) description of how to recognize a complete sentence is given in the following, but this “I realize” tip is a nontechnical means of recognizing most complete sentences and fragments. The tip draws on your intuitions of what seems to be a complete sentence in English, so it does not work well if your first language is not English.

What’s the Problem?

Several studies have shown that fragments are among the most annoying (if not the most annoying) types of errors that can be committed in formal writing. Even though fragments are common in speech and can be effective if used at the right time and place in written communication, many people do not believe a fragment is a complete thought. Indeed, many fragments lack a subject and a verb. Without a subject and a verb, a sentence is unlikely to communicate a complete idea.

In fact, fragments are so annoying to readers that you have to wonder how they could appear in the first place. Shouldn’t these errors be so obvious that we recognize and delete them? Obviously, the answer is no. Bothersome fragments still manage to creep into most people’s writing sooner or later, perhaps because some fragments seem like complete thoughts (while some people’s complete sentences do not seem to reflect much thought at all).

Avoiding the Problem: Looking for Subjects and Verbs

Keep both of these ideas in mind to avoid fragments:

1. Every complete sentence must have a subject and a verb.

2. Some fragments do have a subject and a verb, but they are still fragments because they start with a flag word that indicates what comes afterward is not a separate sentence.

Requirement #1: A Subject and Its Verb

A complete sentence needs a subject and a verb that goes back to this subject. The subject is a person, place, or thing. It will be made up of a noun or a pronoun. The verb is something that the subject is doing, or the verb is a verb (such as is) that is not an action but is still linked to the subject to form a complete sentence.

Complete sentences (main subjects underlined once, their verbs underlined twice)

The busy lunch in her office.

this story in college.

an annual salary of about $30,000 when he first walked on the moon.

twenty-one when he was killed.

Fragments

X Eating lunch in her office. (Who was eating?)

X A story from college. (What happened?)

X An annual salary of about $30,000. (What happened?)

X Killed when he was twenty-one. (Who killed whom?)

Requirement #2: No Improper Use of a Flag Word

Some words (usually called subordinating conjunctions) indicate that a dependent (subordinate) clause, rather than a complete sentence, is about to appear. That is, these flag words let us know that the next group of words the reader will see cannot stand as a complete sentence—even if they contain a subject and a verb. Notice how the following examples (dependent clauses) cannot stand by themselves as complete sentences despite having subjects and verbs:

Fragments: flag word

X When the next

X Because her evil.

X Whenever

X Because the

Grammar Tip: Checking Because Sentences

One common type of fragment begins with because. Double-check sentences that begin with because to make sure they are complete.

You can start a sentence with because if there is an independent clause later in the sentence, as in these complete sentences:

Because her boss was evil, a job elsewhere.

Because the photocopier is being misused, our unhappy with us.

In the next example, however, there is no independent clause coming after the “because” clause. Thus, this example is a fragment:

X Because I said that it is time to go.

Avoiding the Problem: Moving the Fragment

Almost every fragment is supposed to be part of the sentence right before it. To fix most fragments, move the fragment so it is part of the preceding sentence.

If you detect a fragment, see if you can correct the error by combining it with the previous sentence:

Punctuating the Correction

As you can see in the last corrected example, sometimes you need a comma to separate what used to be a fragment. Depending on your own writing style, you might discover that most of your corrections would require such a comma.

The best advice we can give is not to put a comma before the former fragment—unless you know why you should. (See “Commas with Adjective Clauses” in Chapter 11 to understand why the example just cited needs a comma.) If in doubt, do not use the comma. Or rewrite the correction entirely so you can keep the same ideas but put them into a sentence you know for certain how to punctuate.

Summary

• A complete sentence must have a subject that has a verb.

• Certain types of flag words introduce a subject and a verb, but these words are dependent clauses, not complete sentences.

• Most fragments result from a punctuation problem. That is, the fragment should not be set off as a complete sentence. The period right before the fragment should either be deleted or replaced by a comma so that the fragment becomes one with the preceding sentence.

Fused Sentences

A fused sentence is a sentence that has nothing at all separating one independent clause from another. An independent clause is a group of words able to stand alone as a complete sentence. Following is an example of a fused sentence:

X A parade is being held it should be enjoyable.

At first glance, you might think the sentence is chaotic. Here it is again with each independent clause underlined, revealing that the problem is indeed the result of putting two such clauses together with nothing to separate them:

Independent clause + independent clause
X A parade is being held it should be enjoyable.

What’s the Problem?

The term fused sentence is used to describe this error because two clauses are merged (fused) into one—not a bad idea, except that readers need to know where one clause stops and the other begins. A fused sentence is a compound sentence that has gone wrong. That is, the writer understandably wants to combine two sentences but fails to provide proper punctuation between the two former sentences. (See Chapter 3 for more on compound sentences.)

Following are two more fused sentences. The second is particularly annoying because it is hard to tell if the word today describes the first or second part of the sentence.

X Walt Disney created the character Mickey Mouse Disney also provided the cartoon character’s voice in the early days.

X We need to talk today I am lonely.

Period Test

If you can place a period in a sentence and create two complete sentences, then you must use something to separate the two parts of the original sentence.

Notice how a period can be placed in roughly the middle of each of the fused sentences already given:

As you can see, each of these fused sentences consists of two sentences. A fused sentence is a serious problem, so we want to stress that you must use something to separate what could be two (or more) separate sentences.

Correcting a Fused Sentence

Once you detect a fused sentence, you can correct it in numerous ways. Here are three common methods:

1. Separate the fused sentence into two sentences. Avoid relying on just this one method to fix or avoid errors such as fused sentences. The result could be a series of short, choppy, dull sentences.

2. Use a comma plus and, but, or, or another coordinating conjunction. This is the most common means of correcting a fused sentence. (See Chapter 1 for more information on coordinating conjunctions.)

3. Use a semicolon. This approach works when you do not want a word coming between the two parts of the sentence. (See Chapter 13 for more on semicolons.)

Summary

• A fused sentence is a serious error. It results when there is nothing in a sentence to separate two independent clauses.

• To confirm a sentence is fused, see if you can put a period in the sentence to create two complete sentences. If so and if there is nothing in the original sentence separating these two parts, then there is a fused sentence.

• To correct a fused sentence, you can (1) break the fused sentence into two sentences, (2) separate the two parts with a comma plus a coordinating conjunction, or (3) separate the two parts with a semicolon.

Comma Splices

A comma splice is a sentence in which only a comma is used to separate what could be two separate sentences. In other words, a comma is incorrectly used by itself to separate independent clauses in a compound sentence, as seen in this example:

X Snow White arrived late, she has a bad habit of being tardy.

A comma can be used to help create a compound sentence, but the sentence would need more than just a comma to be correct.

What’s the Problem?

A comma splice is not much better than a fused sentence, which is a compound sentence having absolutely nothing (not even a comma) separating independent clauses. True, at least a comma splice has something separating the two clauses, but commas have so many functions in English that a comma alone does not let readers understand the structure of a compound sentence. Other cues are needed so that readers can better interpret the compound sentence.

Avoiding the Problem

If you can place a period in a sentence and create two complete sentences, then you cannot use just a comma to separate the two parts. Either add a coordinating conjunction or change the comma to a semicolon.

First, notice how the following comma splices could be divided into two sentences, confirming that each of the original sentences is indeed a compound sentence:

These examples are relatively simple. A comma splice can be confusing when there are other commas in the sentence. Following is such an example. The circled comma creating the comma splice is incorrect, but the other commas are correctly used.

X When I was fourteen, my father gave me a large, strange painting it attempted to capture the likeness of Colonel William Travis, an ancestor who died at the Alamo.

Correcting a Comma Splice

Once you determine there is a comma splice, the error can be corrected in several ways. Here are three common methods:

1. Separate the comma splice into two sentences. Avoid relying on this one method to avoid comma splices. The result could be a series of dull, choppy sentences. However, note how the long comma splice above is a good candidate for this correction method.

X When I was fourteen, my father gave me a large, strange painting, it attempted to capture the likeness of Colonel William Travis, an ancestor who died at the Alamo.

When I was fourteen, my father gave me a large, strange painting. It attempted to capture the likeness of Colonel William Travis, an ancestor who died at the Alamo.

2. Follow the comma with and, but, or, or another coordinating conjunction. This is the most common means of correcting a comma splice. (See Chapter 1 for more information on coordinating conjunctions.)

X Fish travel in schools, whales travel in pods.
Fish travel in schools, but whales travel in pods.

3. Replace the comma with a semicolon. This approach works best when you do not believe the sentence sounds right with a coordinating conjunction. A semicolon does not need a coordinating conjunction to separate two independent clauses. (See Chapter 13 for more on semicolons.)

X Your report is late, we were depending on you.
Your report is late; we were depending on you.

Summary

• A comma splice is an error. It results when only a comma is used to separate two independent clauses.

• To confirm there is a comma splice, see if you can replace the comma with a period to create two complete sentences. If so, the original sentence is indeed a comma splice and should be corrected.

• To correct a comma splice, you can (1) break the sentence into two sentences, (2) separate the two parts with a comma plus a coordinating conjunction, or (3) separate the two parts with a semicolon.