Professor Whitney’s Typo

Show

Problem: comma splice (two complete sentences separated only by a comma)

cs

Chocolate is a popular candy, it produces the same brain chemical as falling in love.

Solution:

a full stop

1. a period and capital letter2. a comma plus a conjunction

(and, if, but, so)3. a semicolon4. a colon5. a literary dash

Problems fixed!

Chocolate is a popular candy. It produces the same brain chemical as falling in love.

Chocolate is a popular candy, because it produces the same brain chemical as falling in love.

Chocolate is a popular candy; it produces the same brain chemical as falling in love.

Chocolate is a popular candy: it produces the same brain chemical as falling in love.

Chocolate is a popular candy--it produces the same brain chemical as falling in love.

an incomplete or dependent sentence

frag--

• He drank up all the beer in the refrigerator. Which didn’t make his roommates very happy.

• Like trying to get to the store on an empty gas tank.

First,identify the problem

He drank up all the beer in the refrigerator. Which didn’t make his roommates very happy.

WHICH is a “dependency word.” It means that whatever follows needs to be attached to something.

Then, do what’s indicated.

In this case, attach the dependent part to the independent part:

He drank up all the beer in the refrigerator, which didn’t make his roommates very happy.

Like trying to get to the store on an empty gas tank.

This car needs some gas, and the sentence needs a

SUBJECT.

Fix the sentence by adding a subject:

Trying to write a paper with no sleep is like trying to get to the store on an empty gas tank.

Problem: syntax error (words or phrases in the wrong place in a sentence)

syn

For most people, lifelong habits are hard to break, such as forgetting to put on their seatbelts.

Solution: rearrange the words

For most people, lifelong habits such as forgetting to put on their seatbelts are hard to break.

Problem: two complete sentences not separated by

punctuation

fused sentence (AKA run-

on)

My dog loves my brother she jumps on him every time he visits.

Solution: add punctuation

My dog loves my brother. She jumps on him every time he visits.

My dog loves my brother; she jumps on him every time he visits.

My dog loves my brother, and she jumps on him every time he visits.

My dog loves my brother so much that she jumps on him every time he visits.

Problem: necessary parts of the sentence are separated by a single comma.

comma fault

I hope that, you will be coming over for dinner tonight.

The dog, throughout its whole life ate banana skins.

Solution: remove the comma

(or add another one)

SOLUTIONI hope that you will be coming over for dinner tonight.

SOLUTION

The dog, throughout its whole life, ate banana skins.

Problem: parallelism (one item in a series does not match the rest)

My favorite fruits are cherries, raspberries, peaches, and crackers.

Singing, running, and laughter are good for you.

The main ideas are the mother’s death, the son’s fear of his father, and telling him.

II

Solution: change the word

My favorite fruits are cherries, raspberries, peaches, and bananas.

My favorite foods are cherries, raspberries, peaches, and crackers.

Singing, running,and laughter are good for you.

Singing, running, and laughing are good for you.

The main ideas are the mother’s death, the son’s fear of his father, and telling him.

BECOMES

The main ideas are the mother’s death, the son’s fear of his

father, and his fear of telling

him.

OR

…the mother’s death, the son’s fear of his father, and his

inability to confront his father.

the subject is not doing the action of the sentence.

pass--

First, two pieces of bread must be gotten from the refrigerator.

The problem could have been figured out beforehand.

Solution: first, figure out who’s doing what.

First, two pieces of bread must be gotten from the refrigerator.

How is the bread going to get out of the refrigerator?

Then, rewrite the sentence.

Now the subject is doing the action of the verb.

First, you must get two pieces of bread out of the refrigerator.

Example 2: The problem could have been figured out beforehand.

Who should have figured out the problem?

You? Me? Us?

Solution: rewrite the sentence so the subject is doing the action of the verb.

We could have figured out the problem beforehand.