What are sentence fragments, comma splices, and run-on sentences?
These three punctuation errors, usually considered major errors in student writing, result from the failure to recognize a main clause. A sentence fragment is a group of words that is not a main clause, but it has been punctuated as though it were: When I have finished my homework. The above group of words has a capital and a period, so it is pretending to be a complete sentence, but it is only a subordinate clause. In dialogue, this fragment might be punctuated as a sentence if someone is portrayed as responding to a question like, “When can we go for a walk?” In other cases, it should be attached to a main clause and set off with a comma. A comma splice consists of two main clauses which are not punctuated as such: They drove to Ottawa, they looked for a parking place. This apparent single sentence contains two main clauses attached to each other with nothing more than a comma. A comma just doesn’t have enough power to “splice” or “join” two main clauses by itself. You need a coordin
