Sentence and list structure Parallelism is about consistency, and having all the parts in the same form.

In a sentence, compound verbs or other words should be in the same form. Example : "He sang and was dancing all night" is improper if you actually mean "He was singing and dancing all night". Similarly, "He had finished and went upstairs" mixes two different tenses, and is improved as "He finished and went upstairs" or "He had finished and gone upstairs".

Choppy Sentences Choppy sentences are sentences that are too short. When several short sentences come together they force the reader to go slowly. This makes the writing seem more "elementary" than it truly is. Examples Choppy Sentences Our home was in a beautiful valley. It was far back. It was in the rugged Ozarks. Corrected Our home was in a beautiful valley far back in the rugged Ozarks. Choppy Sentences The house was made of logs. It was nestled at the edge of the foothills. It was in the mouth of a small canyon. It was surrounded by a grove of trees. They were huge red oaks. Corrected The log house was nestled at the edge of the foothills in the mouth of a small canyon, and was surrounded by a grove of huge red oaks. Run-On Sentences A run-on is when when two or more sentences are combined without connecting words or punctuation. Examples Run-on Billy learned about raccoons, Billy studied their habits and he came to learn they were tricky creatures. Corrected Billy learned about raccoons. Billy studied their habits, and he came to learn they were tricky creatures. Run-on Grandpa told Billy stories about coon hunting he taught him how to build a coon trap. Corrected Grandpa told Billy stories about coon hunting, and he taught him how to build a coon trap. Run-on Billy hunted during the night he slept during the day. Corrected Billy hunted during the night, so he slept during the day. Corrected Because Billy hunted during the night, he slept during the day.

Stringy Sentences - sentence with too many clauses usually connected with and, but, so, and because, forming one very long sentence. Stringy sentences are so long the reader forgets the beginning of the sentence before reaching the end. Example Stringy The fame of my dogs spread all over our part of the Ozarks, and they were the best in the country, so that no coon hunter came into my grandfather's store with as many pelts as I did. Corrected The fame of my dogs spread all over our part of the Ozarks. They were the best in the country. No coon hunter came into my grandfather's store with as many pelts as I did.

Definition A SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause.There are several reasons why a group of words may seem to act like a sentence but not have the wherewithal to make it as a complete thought. It may locate something in time and place with a prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases, but it's still lacking a proper subject-verb relationship within an independent clause: In Japan, during the last war and just before the armistice. This sentence accomplishes a great deal in terms of placing the reader in time and place, but there is no subject, no verb. It describes something, but there is no subject-verb relationship: Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat. This is a verbal phrase that wants to modify something, the real subject of the sentence (about to come up), probably the she who was working so hard. It may have most of the makings of a sentence but still be missing an important part of a verb string: Some of the students working in Professor Espinoza's laboratory last semester. Remember that an -ing verb form without an auxiliary form to accompany it can never be a verb. It may even have a subject-verb relationship, but it has been subordinated to another idea by a dependent word and so cannot stand by itself: Even though he had the better arguments and was by far the more powerful speaker.

This sentence fragment has a subject, he, and two verbs, had and was, but it cannot stand by itself because of the dependent word (subordinating conjunction) even though. We need an independent clause to follow up this dependent clause: . . . the more powerful speaker, he lost the case because he didn't understand the jury.

Sentence Fragment Since he came to New York. Because my dog loves it. Unless you see me.

The Reader Asks... Since he came, what (has he been doing)? Because the dog loves it, (so what)? Unless you see me, what (will happen)?

WHAT IS A COMMA SPLICE?

Quite simply, a comma splice is the attempt to join two independent clauses with a comma, but without a coordinator.

Let's back up for a moment. First of all, according to the definition most of you learned in grade school, an independent clause is one that can stand alone as a sentence. (This is not the most precise or useful way to define an independent clause, but it will do for now.) When two independent clauses are next to each other, you have only two choices: you can either join them, or you can separate them.

(1) To join two independent clauses, you must use acoordinator. The coordinators are the correlatives and thecoordinating conjunctions. (Correlatives don't figure into comma splices, so we will not worry about them.) The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, nor, yet, and so. You can remember them by combining their first letters into the pseudoword "anboys." Your English teachers and your usage handbooks also listed "for" as a coordinating conjunction. Forget that. As a conjunction "for" translates as "because," and serves as a subordinating conjunction, just as "because" does.

(2) To separate two independent clauses, you must use some form of end-stop punctuation. Here are all of your possible choices: the period [.], the exclamation point [!], the question mark [?], and the semicolon [;]. (Remember, a semicolon is a weak period, not a strong comma. The semicolon fragment is a common error, one I deal with in "Colons, and Semicolons, and Bears!")

What this means is that if you have two independent clauses with nothing between them but a comma, you have failed either to join them with a coordinator or to separate them with endstop punctuation. (You will notice that the comma is not on either of those two lists.) Thus, you have a comma splice, which is a form of run-on sentence.

Here is an example of a comma splice, followed by several different ways of correcting it:

COMMA SPLICE: I got up late this morning, I didn't have time for breakfast.

CORRECTIONS:

I got up late this morning. I didn't have time for breakfast.

or

I got up late this morning; I didn't have time for breakfast.

or

I got up late this morning, so I didn't have time for breakfast.

or

I got up late this morning, and I didn't have time for breakfast.

What is a Phrase ? Phrase - A group of words, which makes sense, but not complete sense, is called a Phrase. It is a group of related words without a Subject and a Verb. Words/group of words in italics are phrases in examples below 1). The sun rises in the east. 2). Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. 3). She wore a hat with blue trimming. 4). The accident on the bridge was not serious. 5). The girl with red hair is an artist.

What is a clause?

Definition

A clause is a grammatical unit that

includes, at minimum, a predicate and an explicit or implied subject, and expresses a proposition. Examples (English)

The following example sentence contains two clauses:

It is cold, although the sun is shining. The main clause is it is cold and the subordinate clause is although the sun is shining.

What is a sentence?

Definition

A sentence is a grammatical unit that is composed of one or more clauses.

Discussion

The meaning of the term sentence may be expanded to include elliptical material and nonproductive items.

Examples:

After lunch. (in reply to When do you start?) Yes. Hello. Example (English)

I am reading a book. The word 'sentence' can have a number of different meanings depending on its usage and context. The most common use of the word is probably in relation to linguistics.

In this sense, a sentence is an expression in natural language. A sentence is a collection of words grouped meaningfully when either spoken or written down and can express: A statement A question An exclamation A request A command A suggestion

When a sentence is written down, it will begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop, question mark or an exclamation mark. Most sentences will contain a subject and a verb (a 'doing' word).

You can gain a more complex and detailed understanding of the components of a sentence by visiting the relevant Wikipedia page at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_%28linguistics%29

A sentence is generally considered to be a 'major sentence' if it contains both a subject and a predicate. The subject might be a person, whereas the predicate is said to 'modify' the subject.

For instance, in the sentence 'The apple is red', the apple acts as the subject and red is the predicate.

The word 'sentence' can have an alternative meaning which relates to the administration of justice. In this sense, a sentence is the punishment handed out by a judge in a court if a person who has been convicted and found guilty of a crime.

Possible sentences might include: Imprisonment A fine Community service Rehabilitation order