Sentence Boundaries
By: Allie, Toni, Bryan and Brittany
Sentence Boundaries
 Includes: Fragments, run-on sentences and comma splices.
 They are incomplete sentences that are commonly used in
conversation but are not appropriate for academic writing.
 They make the meaning of your sentence confusing and
distracting to readers.
To correct sentence boundaries
 To correct fragments you can combine them with near by
clauses or add words t make them a complete sentence.
 Wrong: NBC will broadcast the debates. With discussions
afterwards.
 Correct: NBC will broadcast the debates, with discussions
afterwards.
 The problem was with the period breaking the sentence up
when it should be one whole sentence.
More examples
 Wrong: Jane didn’t return to work for three weeks after her
surgery. To let her knee fully heal.
 Correct: Jane didn't return to work for three weeks. She wanted
to let her knee fully heal.
 Wrong: William Shakespeare wrote many plays. Such as Hamlet
and Macbeth.
 Correct: William Shakespeare wrote many plays, such as Hamlet
and Macbeth.
Run-on Sentences
 A run-on sentence is a sentence that results form joining two or
more independent clauses without using correct punctuation.
 The best way to fix a run-on sentence is too separate them into
two sentences.
 Example: My mother likes to work in the garden she grows
beautiful sunflowers.
 Correct: My mother likes to work in the garden. She grows
beautiful sunflowers.
Comma Splices
 A comma splice occurs when independent clauses are
separated only by a comma.
 Essentially a run-on sentence that is separated into by a
comma when it should be two complete sentences.
 Example: John hikes a different section of the Appalachian Trail
every year, it’s his favorite way to spend summer break.
 Correct: John hikes a different section of the Appalachian Trail
every year. It’s his favorite way to spend summer break.
Comma Splices
 If the ideas in the two clauses are closely related, you can join
them with a comma and a coordinating conjunction or
semicolon.
 Example: I woke up with a headache, I took some aspirin.
 Correct: I woke up with a headache, so I took some aspirin.
Comma Splices
 It is important to remember to add a coordinating conjunction
or you are just using a comma splice again.

Example: I need to pay my tuition I don’t have enough
money.
 Correct: I need to pay my tuition, but I don’t have enough
money.
Work Cited
 Lunsford, Andrea A., ed. The St. Martin’s Handbook: Seventh
Edition. Boston, New York: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2011.
Print.http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/sentence-patterns/
© 2010-2012 by The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill.