Practice Makes Perfect: Exploring Grammar - Muschla Gary Robert 2010

Big Mouth
Fragments and run-on sentences
Sentences

A complete sentence has a subject and a predicate. It expresses a complete thought. Sentence fragments and run-on sentences are incorrect sentences.

✵ A fragment is a group of words that make up only part of a sentence. A fragment does not express a complete thought. A fragment may be missing a subject, a predicate, or both.

A birthday card to Anna.

Listened to music.

The cute kitten.

✵ To correct a fragment, rewrite it to form a complete sentence.

I sent a birthday card to Anna.

Alex listened to music.

The cute kitten played with the toy mouse.

✵ A run-on sentence is made of two or more sentences that are joined incorrectly.

The girls went shopping they rented a movie.

The clown was funny, the audience laughed at his tricks.

✵ To correct a run-on sentence, write it as a compound sentence or as two separate sentences. You may also combine the ideas into one sentence.

The girls went shopping, and they rented a movie.

The girls went shopping. They rented a movie.

The girls went shopping and rented a movie.

The clown was funny, and the audience laughed at his tricks.

The clown was funny. The audience laughed at his tricks.

1.15 Big Mouth

After the whale, this animal has the biggest mouth of any mammal. What is it?

To answer the question, decide if each example below is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment. Write the letter of each answer in the space above the example’s number at the bottom of the page.

1. Mammals are found all over the world.

T. Complete Sentence

H. Fragment

2. Live on land and in rivers, lakes, and oceans.

N. Complete Sentence

S. Fragment

3. Mammals are warm-blooded and have hair or fur.

I. Complete Sentence

O. Fragment

4. Some mammals are very large.

M. Complete Sentence

N. Fragment

5. Mice, for example, tiny mammals.

E. Complete Sentence

A. Fragment

6. Whales are mammals, too.

O. Complete Sentence

A. Fragment

7. But not all animals are mammals.

U. Complete Sentence

E. Fragment

8. Cold-blooded animals such as snakes and other reptiles.

E. Complete Sentence

H. Fragment

9. Insects, fish, frogs, and other creatures.

U. Complete Sentence

P. Fragment