Sentence Construction

Complete SentencesA complete sentence has a subject

and a verb.Ex: The class listened raptly to

their English teacher.

Missing subject or verb?What is missing from the

following sentences?Three little girls in the front row.The situation in Afghanistan is

critical.With energy ran into the

doctor’s office.

Sentence FragmentA sentence fragment is missing a

subject or verb.It does not express a complete thought.Ex: By pulling out of Afghanistan. Canada

would be giving up on its goals.Instead – By pulling out of Afghanistan,

Canada would be giving up on its goals.

Run-on SentencesA run-on sentence is a sentence

that has two separate ideas, but is not properly punctuated.

Ex: Close to every country in the world celebrates this tradition with a bright red poppy this is a little bit about what Remembrance day really is.

Fixing Run-on SentencesWhen separating two sentences, you

can (1) use punctuation (a period / new sentence), (2)conjunctions (and, but, or) or (3) transition words (however, nevertheless, moreover…)

Ex: Close to every country in the world celebrates this tradition with a bright red poppy. This is a little bit about what Remembrance day really is.

Compound SentencesWhen you have two complete thoughts, you can

combine them with AND, BUT, or OR. You must use a comma between the two thoughts.Ex: The soldiers have fought for our freedom, and

we benefit from this by living in a democratic society.Poverty is prevalent in the world, but it impacts

children the most.Canadians need to provide job opportunities for

homeless, or the homeless will have no alternative for a future off the street.

Punctuation with transition words

You can combine two complete thoughts with transition words, such as: however, nevertheless, moreover, in addition, on the other hand (etc).

Ex run-on: Justin Bieber is popular with Canadian teens he does not have global recognition.

1) Justin Bieber is popular with Canadian teens; however, he does not have global recognition.

2) Justin Bieber is popular with Canadian teens. However, he does not have global recognition.

More on punctuationCommon errors:1) Don’t forget to insert a comma after a year:

Ex: In 2002, many soldiers were killed…2) A sentence ends with a period, and not a

comma:Ex: War will never end. War is very deadly.

3) Follow each transition word with a comma:Otherwise, Afghanistan could have a civil war.

Fragment or run-on?____ A day of remembering thanking and perhaps

even forgiving while the truly remarkable soldiers rest in peace.

____ We need to remember those who have died in wars because their families will be said if we do not, they gave their lives to help protect us and fight for what is right.

____ Remembrance Day, November 11th. Recognized around the world and hits hearts for many.

____ People will always argue about religion and whose religion is better, they will do it because they can.