Notes on Common Sentence Errors

When communicating in standard English, we rely on sentences to convey what we call a complete thought. A unit of complete thought consists of an actor (person or thing) and an action or a comment on the actor's state of being. Sentences (That is, strings of words that look like sentences) fail to convey a unit of complete thought when they omit one of these elements or when they confuse the message with too many elements and not enough cues to help the reader sort through them.

Misplaced Modifiers

Misplaced modifiers are words or phrases that have been put in the wrong place. All modifiers should be placed as close as possible to what they are describing or giving information about.  

Witnesses reported that the woman was driving the getaway car with flowing black hair.

“With flowing black hair” is in the wrong place and should be moved as follows:

Witnesses reported that the woman with flowing black hair was driving the getaway car.

Dangling Modifiers

Dangling modifiers have now word or phrase to describe; they just dangle, or hang, in the sentence without something to hold on to.

Long ears drooping on the floor, Julie wondered how the dog could walk.

 Because of the dangling modifier, it seems that Julie has long ears that droop on the floor. The sentence should be reworded as follows:

Julie wondered how the dog could walk with its long ears drooping on the floor.

Squinting Modifiers

Squinting modifiers are words that can logically modify something on either side of them, making it confusing for the reader.

The instructor said after the semester ended that Mark was eligible to retake the test.

What does “after the semester” apply to? Did the instructor tell Mark this after the semester ended, or was Mark eligible to retake the test after the semester ended? To improve the sentence, change the placement of the modifier:

If the sentence means that Mark was informed regarding his eligibility to take the exam after the semester has ended,

After the semester ended, the instructor said that Mark was eligible to retake the test.

If the sentence means that Mark is eligible to take the test after the semester has ended,

The instructor said that Mark was eligible to take the exam after the semester has ended.

Sentence Fragments
A sentence fragment EITHER lacks a crucial element, such as a subject or verb, OR it includes a subordinating conjunction. Here are examples, with suggestions for correcting the errors:

Lacking  a verb: Helena's car being the only one that could carry all of our equipment.

Note that "being" is a participial form of the verb "to be." It is not acting as a verb in the sentence.

Correct: Helen's car was the only one that could carry all of our equipment.

Lacking  a subject: Going with our biology teacher to visit the marine aquarium research lab.

Correct: We are going with our biology teacher to visit the marine aquarium research lab.

Note that this sentence also needs the helping verb "are" to make it complete.

Another possibility: Going with our biology teacher to visit the marine aquarium research lab turned out to be a great idea.

In this version, we have made a subject of the participial form "going" and then added another verb, "turned out."

Including a subordinating conjunction: Although we booked our reservations four months in advance.

"Although," a subordinating conjunction, restricts the meaning of this clause. Logically, the clause relies upon additional information to make it complete. If a person said just that much to you, you would be left wondering what else happened. The "although" sets up a contrast: Did the people lose their seats through overbooking? Did they find their flight canceled? A subordinating conjunction signals that the clause it begins is dependent upon an independent clause.

Correct: We booked our reservations four months in advance. This version simply removes the subordinating conjunction, thus creating an independent clause.

Correct: Although we booked our reservations four months in advance, we still lost our seats through overbooking.

The second revision supplies an independent clause which completes the meaning of the sentence.

Run-on or Fused Sentences
A run-on sentence, also called a fused sentence, contains too many elements while lacking needed connectors or punctuation. It may contain two independent clauses, as in the following example:

Fused sentence: The boys ran a marathon they didn't win though.

This fused sentence includes two independent clauses: "The boys (subject) ran (verb) a marathon" and "they (subject) didn't win (verb) though." To correct such a sentence, try one of the following:

Punctuate: The boys ran a marathon; they didn't win, though.

A semicolon can connect these closely related clauses.

Divide: The boys ran a marathon. They didn't win, though.

These two independent clauses can stand alone. Note that any situation which allows for a semicolon also offers the option of separating the clauses into two sentences.

Subordinate:  Although the boys ran a marathon, they didn't win.  

The first clause in this revision is now subordinate, or logically and structurally dependent upon the main clause.

Comma Splices

Like run-ons or fused sentences, comma splices contain too much information. They are essentially two independent clauses joined by a comma:

Comma splice: She painted the sunroom, the colors softened the room.

The two independent clauses are "She painted the sunroom" and "the colors softened the room." This sentence problem can be corrected in three ways:

Add a semicolon: She painted the sunroom; the colors softened the room.

Divide: She painted the sunroom. The colors softened the room.

Add a coordinating conjunction: She painted the sunroom, and the colors softened the room.