Sentence Structure

To be an effective writer, you must follow certain principles of standard written English, the kind
of writing used in most public communication. Standard written English follows predictable
guidelines that often conflict with your own spoken dialect. If sentences do not follow or
conform to these guidelines, they will probably confuse or mislead your reader. In either case,
you will have failed in your effort to communicate.
Standard written English requires correct sentence structure and punctuation. To understand
sentence structure and to recognize and fix problems correctly, you need to know the definitions
of a phrase, an independent clause, a dependent clause, and a sentence.
A phraseis a group of words that does not have a subject or a verb, or both. It does not
make sense by itself.
An independent clausehas a subject and a predicate, and can stand alone as a complete
sentence.
A dependent clausehas a subject and a predicate, but depends on an independent clause
to be complete. Dependent clauses are introduced by subordinating conjunctions (after,
although, because, before, if, though, unless, until, when, where, who, which, that).
A sentenceis a group of words containing at least one independent clause and
expressing a complete idea. It has a subject and a verb and can stand alone.
Sentence Fragments
Fragments are common in speech, particularly in informal conversations. A fragment may look
like a complete sentence, but it lacks a verb, a subject, or both, or it may be a clause beginning
with a subordinating word or phrase. Fragments should be avoided because they distract and
confuse the reader.
Revising Sentence Fragments
To revise sentence fragments you must add the missing verb and/or subject, or you must connect
the dependent clause with an independent clause. For example:
Fragment: The telephone with redial capacity. (no verb)
Revised: The telephone has a redial capacity.

Fragment: Rang loudly for ten minutes. (no subject)
Revised: The telephone rang loudly for ten minutes.
Fragment: At midnight. (no verb or subject)
Revised: The telephone rang at midnight.

Fragment: Because the telephone rang loudly. (dependent clause with subordinating
conjunction)
Revised: Because the telephone rang loudly, the family was awakened in the middle of
the night.
Fragment: The telephone call that woke the family. (dependent clause with relative
pronoun)
Revised: The telephone call that woke the family was a wrong number.
Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
A run-on sentence results when two independent clauses are joined without a conjunction or
without punctuation. A comma splice results when two independent clauses are mistakely
connected with a comma instead of being separated into two sentences or joined with a
conjunction or a semicolon. Run-on sentences and comma splices should be avoided for the
same reasons that sentence fragments should be avoided: they are hard to read, they confuse the
reader, they suggest that you are careless, and they indicate that you do not know what a
sentence is.
Revising Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
There are several ways to revise run-on sentences and comma splices: by using a period between
the independent clauses, by inserting a semicolon between the independent clauses, by placing a
comma and a coordinating conjunction between the independent clauses, or by using a
subordinating word to make an independent clause a dependent clause. For example:
Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, yet, nor, for, or, so) between
independent clauses.
Example: The physicist Marie Curie discovered radium, and she won two Nobel Prizes.
Use a period or a semicolon between the independent clauses.
Example: The physicist Marie Curie discovered radium. She won two Nobel Prizes.
The physicist Marie Curie discovered radium; she won two Nobel Prizes.
Use a semicolon plus a conjunctive adverb (also, furthermore, however, nevertheless,
similarly, therefore, next, finally, indeed, certainly) or a transitional expression (as a
result, in fact, at the same time, in conclusion) between the independent clauses.
Example: Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre, worked together at first; however, he died
at age 47.
Revise one independent clause into a dependent clause.
Example: Radium, which can cause cancer, is also used to cure cancer.

















Courtesy of the Noeau Center for Writing, Math, and Academic Success
University of Hawaii West Oahu, 2009.