{"id":1241,"date":"2025-04-23T23:35:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T23:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1241"},"modified":"2025-07-31T12:32:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T12:32:04","slug":"sentence-structure-apply-it","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/chapter\/sentence-structure-apply-it\/","title":{"raw":"Complete Sentences: Apply It","rendered":"Complete Sentences: Apply It"},"content":{"raw":"<section class=\"textbox learningGoals\" aria-label=\"Learning Goals\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Recognize sentence fragments<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Revise sentence fragments<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Recognize run-on sentences<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Revise run-on sentences<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<h2>Sentence Structures to Prevent Fragments and Run-Ons<\/h2>\r\nMost errors at the sentence level have to do with comma splices, sentence fragments, and run-on sentences. In other words, there may be issues with using commas, writing complete sentences, or editing long sentences.<em>\u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s a simple way to think about it.\r\n\r\nYou can combine two sentences with a comma and a conjunction:\u00a0<strong>Sentence, conjunction sentence.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I love reading, and he loves writing.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nYou can also separate out your two sentences with punctuation like a period:\u00a0<strong>Sentence. Sentence.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I love reading. He loves writing.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nYou cannot combine two sentences with just a comma and no conjunction (that\u2019s a comma splice):\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Incorrect:<\/strong> Sentence, sentence<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Incorrect:<\/strong> I love reading, he loves writing.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nYou could fix this sentence by adding in a conjunction like \"and\" or \"but.\" You can also fix this issue by using a semicolon. A way to remember this is to think about the semicolon as working like a period.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence; sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>I love reading; he loves writing.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nUsing a semicolon to combine two complete sentences is an easy way to vary your sentence construction and avoid short choppy sentences. As long as you remember that your semicolon needs to connect two complete sentences, you will be set.\r\n\r\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\" aria-label=\"Try It\">[ohm2_question]36022[\/ohm2_question]<\/section>Let\u2019s try some examples where you finish the sentence.\r\n\r\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\" aria-label=\"Try It\">[ohm2_question hide_question_numbers=1]40706[\/ohm2_question][ohm2_question hide_question_numbers=1]40705[\/ohm2_question][ohm2_question hide_question_numbers=1]40707[\/ohm2_question]<\/section>Guess what, there\u2019s one more fun way to avoid the dreaded run-on or comma splice. Use a colon. It\u2019s easy: A colon works just like a period.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence: Sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence: anything<\/strong> (but not a full sentence).<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nRemember when you use a colon you are combining two sentences so they need to be closely related. Usually the second sentence is explaining something about the first sentence. Here are two examples:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence: Sentence.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I love eating out: McDonald\u2019s is awesome.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence: not a full sentence.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I love eating out: anything but McDonald\u2019s.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\" aria-label=\"Try It\">[ohm2_question]36023[\/ohm2_question]<\/section><section aria-label=\"Try It\"><section class=\"textbox proTip\" aria-label=\"Pro Tip\">In summary, you have a variety of options for combining sentences and using appropriate punctuation to prevent fragments or run-ons:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence. Sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence, conjunction sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence; sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence: Sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Sentence: anything but a sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/section><\/section>","rendered":"<section class=\"textbox learningGoals\" aria-label=\"Learning Goals\">\n<ul>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Recognize sentence fragments<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Revise sentence fragments<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Recognize run-on sentences<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Revise run-on sentences<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<h2>Sentence Structures to Prevent Fragments and Run-Ons<\/h2>\n<p>Most errors at the sentence level have to do with comma splices, sentence fragments, and run-on sentences. In other words, there may be issues with using commas, writing complete sentences, or editing long sentences.<em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a simple way to think about it.<\/p>\n<p>You can combine two sentences with a comma and a conjunction:\u00a0<strong>Sentence, conjunction sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I love reading, and he loves writing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can also separate out your two sentences with punctuation like a period:\u00a0<strong>Sentence. Sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I love reading. He loves writing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You cannot combine two sentences with just a comma and no conjunction (that\u2019s a comma splice):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Incorrect:<\/strong> Sentence, sentence<\/li>\n<li><strong>Incorrect:<\/strong> I love reading, he loves writing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You could fix this sentence by adding in a conjunction like &#8220;and&#8221; or &#8220;but.&#8221; You can also fix this issue by using a semicolon. A way to remember this is to think about the semicolon as working like a period.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sentence; sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>I love reading; he loves writing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using a semicolon to combine two complete sentences is an easy way to vary your sentence construction and avoid short choppy sentences. As long as you remember that your semicolon needs to connect two complete sentences, you will be set.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\" aria-label=\"Try It\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm36022\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=36022&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm36022&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\"><\/iframe><\/section>\n<p>Let\u2019s try some examples where you finish the sentence.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\" aria-label=\"Try It\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm40706\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=40706&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm40706&source=tnh\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\"><\/iframe><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm40705\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=40705&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm40705&source=tnh\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\"><\/iframe><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm40707\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=40707&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm40707&source=tnh\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\"><\/iframe><\/section>\n<p>Guess what, there\u2019s one more fun way to avoid the dreaded run-on or comma splice. Use a colon. It\u2019s easy: A colon works just like a period.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sentence: Sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sentence: anything<\/strong> (but not a full sentence).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Remember when you use a colon you are combining two sentences so they need to be closely related. Usually the second sentence is explaining something about the first sentence. Here are two examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sentence: Sentence.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>I love eating out: McDonald\u2019s is awesome.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sentence: not a full sentence.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>I love eating out: anything but McDonald\u2019s.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\" aria-label=\"Try It\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm36023\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=36023&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm36023&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\"><\/iframe><\/section>\n<section aria-label=\"Try It\">\n<section class=\"textbox proTip\" aria-label=\"Pro Tip\">In summary, you have a variety of options for combining sentences and using appropriate punctuation to prevent fragments or run-ons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sentence. Sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sentence, conjunction sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sentence; sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sentence: Sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sentence: anything but a sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"menu_order":30,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[]","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":180,"module-header":"apply_it","content_attributions":[],"internal_book_links":[],"video_content":null,"cc_video_embed_content":{"cc_scripts":"","media_targets":[]},"try_it_collection":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1241"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3489,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1241\/revisions\/3489"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/180"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1241\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1241"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1241"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}