Revising your ICE Essay
Tips to avoid Fragments & RunOn Sentences
What is a Fragment?
• First, let’s define a sentence.
• What are the three things that make up a
complete sentence?
▫ Subject
▫ Verb
▫ Complete thought
• A fragment is a phrase that lacks one of these
elements; it cannot be a complete sentence.
Evaluate the following to determine if each
one is a complete sentence or a frament:
Phrase
What’s Missing
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
I ran.
Running to the store.
If I run fast.
Running is fun.
Although I ran fast.
NOTHING!
Missing a subject or a verb
Missing a complete thought
NOTHING!
Missing a complete thought
Certain conjunctions can cause a sentence to lack a
complete thought. These are called subordinating
conjunctions.
• Think back to the previous examples:
▫ If I run fast. Although I ran fast.
• Which words are conjunctions?
IF
ALTHOUGH
Can you name some other subordinating
conjunctions?
Punctuating Sentences with
Subordinating Conjunctions
• How do you punctuate the following sentences?
▫ You take the risk of failing if you always skip class.
▫ If you miss class you should always contact your
instructor.
▫ We should lower the legal drinking age because
eighteen year olds are already considered adults.
▫ Because it could increase car accidents we should
not lower the drinking age.
Punctuating Sentences with
Subordinating Conjunctions
• Never use a comma when a subordinating
conjunction falls between two independent
clauses (or complete thoughts).
• When a subordinating conjunction comes at the
beginning of a sentence, always use a comma
between the two complete thoughts.
Run-On
• What’s the definition for a run on?
• Is this a run-on?
▫ Before the sun came up this morning, I was
sleeping soundly in my bed dreaming about
winning the Mega Millions lottery that the news
channels have been promoting for days, but I was
disappointed to find it was only a dream when my
cat jumped on my head and woke me up.
• What about this?
▫ I ran far I got tired.
Run-On
• Myth: A run-on is a sentence that is too long.
• Fact: A run can be long or short; it is simply two
sentences joined together with out the proper
punctuation or conjunction.
There are five ways to fix a run-on. Look at the following sentences, and see
if you can fix the mistakes in different ways. Then we’ll review the different
ways to correct a run-on sentence. (Some of these sentences may already be
correct so read carefully!)
• I like ice cream chocolate is my favorite.
• Sometimes I like vanilla ice cream sometimes I
like chocolate.
• She missed school yesterday she missed the bus.
• John sprained his ankle when he ran to catch the
bus.
• The bus driver stopped the bus he helped John
get on.
• If I don’t get up early enough, I won’t be able to
catch the bus I will be late to school.
• You can add a period between two complete
sentences to fix a run-on.
▫ I like ice cream. Chocolate is my favorite.
• You can add a common and a coordinating
conjunction (remember the FANBOYS).
▫ I like ice cream, and chocolate is my favorite.
• You can add a semi-colon between two complete
sentences.
▫ I like ice cream; chocolate is my favorite.
• You can put a subordinating conjunction at the
beginning and put a comma between the two
complete sentences.
▫ Because I love ice cream, I ate an entire gallon.
• You can add a subordinating conjunction between
the two complete sentences.
▫ I ate an entire gallon of ice cream because I love it so
much!
Question
• Can you separate two complete sentences with a
comma?
▫ For example: I like chocolate ice cream, I also like
vanilla.
• Separating two complete sentences with a
comma is a type of run-on called a comma
splice!!
• Instead use one of the other five techniques to
separate the two complete sentences.
Try different techniques with the same
sentences we corrected earlier:
• I like ice cream chocolate is my favorite.
• Sometimes I like vanilla ice cream sometimes I
like chocolate.
• She missed school yesterday she missed the bus.
• John sprained his ankle when he ran to catch the
bus.
• The bus driver stopped the bus he helped John
get on.
• If I don’t get up early enough, I won’t be able to
catch the bus I will be late to school.
Practice: Correct the mistakes in this paragraphs. Look carefully for
fragments and run-on sentences.
• Running late to class today. I did not hear. When my alarm went
off. I finally jumped out of bed, I knew I would have to rush to get to
class on time. I pulled on my pants I grabbed my bag I rushed out
the door. But it was too late. The bus was pulling away from the
curb, I ran to catch it, I was not fast enough. I sat down in the
middle of the road, a car honked behind me. It was my neighbor.
On her way to work. She waved me into the car, I was able to make
it to class on time!
Final Practice
• Everyone write three sentences. One must have
at least 30 words. One can have no more than
four words. Be careful to avoid fragments and
run-ons! Double-check your subject-verb
agreement.