Fragments and Run-ons

1
Fragments and Run-ons

• Keep sowing your seed, for you never know which
  will grow-perhaps it all will.
  Ecclesiasties

2
By now you should be able to identify isolated
fragments or run-ons.

• Now, lets try identifying and correcting
  fragments and run-ons in paragraphs. This is a
  more realistic grammar exercise.

3
Identify and correct the fragments

• Knowing that tonight was the biggest game of his
  life. Sergio began to practice his jumps and
  cheers early in the morning. By 830AM he had
  gotten in a good hour and a half of practice.
  Which was much more than what he really needed.
  But he then felt that he was truly ready. He ate
  a light breakfast and just munched on energy bars
  for the rest of the day. Because he wanted to
  feel light and energetic that night. All his
  hard work and careful preparation. Were not
  wasted since he cheered with great spontaneity
  and verve for the whole game.

4
Corrected version

• Knowing that tonight was the biggest game of his
  life, Sergio began to practice his jumps and
  cheers early in the morning. By 830AM, he had
  gotten in a good hour and a half of practice
  which was much more than what he really needed.
  But he then felt that he was truly ready. He ate
  a light breakfast and just munched on energy bars
  for the rest of the day because he wanted to feel
  light and energetic that night. All his hard
  work and careful preparation were not wasted
  since he cheered with great spontaneity and
  verve for the whole game.

5
Correct the fragments. The FBI agent, a
tall slender man with a shotgun in his hands,
hid behind the mesquite tree. While his partners
surrounded the evil convict. A man who had
escaped from jail several times and knew his way
around the law. However, today would be the
last day of his life. Because a military SWAT
team and a helicopter were on their way. There
was no way that this convict would escape today.
He had three options commit suicide, surrender
or die fighting. Options one and two were out
of the question. Option three was the only way
he knew how to go. A battle to the death!  
6
Corrected paragraph. The FBI agent, a
tall slender man with a shotgun in his hands,
hid behind the mesquite tree while his partners
surrounded the evil convict, a man who had
escaped from jail several times and knew his way
around the law. However, today would be the
last day of his life because a military SWAT team
and a helicopter were on their way. There was no
way that this convict would escape today. He had
three options commit suicide, surrender or
die fighting. Options one and two were out of
the question. Option three was the only way he
knew how to go, a battle to the death!  
7
Lets try a paragraphs with run-on problems.

• Writing is not an easy task sometimes you think
  you have the perfect phrase, but when you read
  it the next day it seem perfectly awful. The sad
  thing about writing is that you usually have to
  write alone. . You can get some help from time
  to time, but essentially you have to come up with
  everything yourself. Then there is dreaded
  writers block some type of mental problem that
  attacks writers unexpectedly. All of a sudden
  you cant think of one decent sentence all your
  sentences and thoughts seem nonsensical, without
  meaning.

8
Corrected paragraph

• Writing is not an easy task. Sometimes you
  think you have the perfect phrase, but when you
  read it the next day it seem perfectly awful.
  The sad thing about writing is that you usually
  have to write alone. . You can get some help
  from time to time, but essentially you have to
  come up with everything yourself. Then there is
  dreaded writers block. Some type of mental
  problem that attacks writers unexpectedly. All
  of a sudden you cant think of one decent
  sentence. All your sentences and thoughts seem
  nonsensical, without meaning.

9
Correct , both fragments and run-ons

• As Marisol wrote her letter. She decided that it
  would be a good idea to send some money to her
  husband. Her husband was at war in Afghanistan
  and she thought that maybe he could use a couple
  of extra dollars. She had heard that Afghanistan
  was very cold in the winter and perhaps he needed
  to buy some extra warm mittens or cap so she
  jumped into her car and drove off to the nearby
  bank where she kept all her money. She withdrew
  one hundred dollars and went to purchase a money
  order at the closest circle K. When she was
  getting into her car. She noticed a couple of
  suspicious teenagers at the stop sign they were
  all wearing bandanas and red and black garments.
  They appeared to be members of some sinister
  gang. When she stopped, they forced her out of
  her car.

10

• Corrected version
• As Marisol wrote her letter, she decided
  that it would be a good idea to send some money
  to her husband. Her husband was at war in
  Afghanistan, and she thought that maybe he could
  use a couple of extra dollars. She had heard that
  Afghanistan was very cold in the winter, and
  perhaps he needed to buy some extra warm mittens
  or cap so she jumped into her car and drove off
  to the nearby bank where she kept all her money.
  She withdrew one hundred dollars and went to
  purchase a money order at the closest circle K.
  When she was getting into her car, she noticed a
  couple of suspicious teenagers at the stop sign.
  They were all wearing bandanas and red and black
  garments. They appeared to be members of some
  sinister gang. When she stopped, they forced her
  out of her car.

11
Assignment This passage contains both fragment
and run-ons

• But what these young thugs did not know is that
  Marisol had recently earned a black belt in
  karate and was itching for a good fight. Plus,
  she was angry that her husband was away at war.
  They thought that Marisol would just cry and give
  them all her money at first they thought that
  Marisol was joking when she warned them that she
  had a black belt. But when the fight began. They
  soon realized that Marisol was a genuine martial
  artist. They were three gang members. The first
  she put down with a wicked karate chop to the
  throat. Which stopped him from breathing for a
  good while and paralyzed him. The second youth
  went down when Marisol bashed his head into the
  hood of the car. He suffered a broken nose. And a
  concussion as well. The third youth decided that
  he was better off running than facing the wrath
  of the karate master, Marisol there was no way
  that Marisol was going to let these scumbags take
  her money!
•  

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