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Unit 3 Sentence Errors Note - 1

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Unit 3 Sentence Errors Note - 1

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• Unit-3: SENTENCE ERRORS

1. Sentence Fragments (incompleteness)

• A sentence fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence, but actually isn‟t a
complete sentence.

• Fragments are no big deal in conversation; spoken English is full of them

• In our writing, we are required to write correct sentences; especially in the academic

• An English sentence must express a complete thought.

• A word group, phrase or clause that does not express a complete thought is a
fragment; it is an incomplete sentence.

• Unit-3: Writing a Sentences-Errors-Fragments;

i. Dependent-word fragments/subordinate clause fragments

• Some word groups that begin with a dependent word that are not complete by
themselves are fragments.

• A subordinate clause contains a subordinate conjunction, a subject and a verb.

• An appositive is a noun phrase that renames and clarifies another noun, but not
complete sentence.

 this type of clause does not express a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone
as a complete sentence.

• Unit-3: Sentences-Errors; dependent clause Fragments

 As soon as she had completed high school. She began practicing music.

 He was not allowed into the exam hall. Because he was late.

 Our environment is degraded. Since we are carless.

 After I stopped drinking coffee. I began sleeping better at night.

 Today I met my old friend. Whom I have not seen him for the last five years.
 Brian, a slacker wasting his afternoon in front of the television.

 The unprepared student who was always begging for an extra pencil and a couple
sheets of blank paper.

CORRECTION

 Correct a dependent-word fragment by attaching it to the sentence that comes after it


or to the sentence that comes before it.

 Use a comma if a dependent-word group comes at the beginning of a sentence.

 appositive contains a noun—which can conveniently become a subject—adding a verb


(and an object) will often fix the problem.

 As soon as she had completed high school, she began practicing music.

 He was not allowed into the exam hall, for he was late.

 Our environment is degraded because we are carless

 After I stopped drinking coffee, I began sleeping better at night.

 Today I met my old friend whom I have not seen him for the last five years.

 Brian, slacker wasting his afternoon in front of the television, opened a bag of potato
chips instead of his chemistry textbook.

 The unprepared student who was always begging for an extra pencil and a couple
sheets of blank paper, sneezed.

ii. participle phrase fragment:

• A participle phrase usually begins with an „ing‟ or V3 form of verbs.

• When a word ending in -ing appears at or near the start of a word group, a fragment may
result.

• Such fragments often lack a subject and part of the verb.

 I spent all day in the employment office. Trying to find a job that suited me.
 Aunt Olivia always wears a motorcycle helmet. Worrying that a meteor or chunk of space
debris will conk her on the head.

 We wished that we had made hotel, not campsite reservations. Eaten by mosquitoes,

CORRECTION

 Attach the fragment to the sentence that comes before it or the sentence that
comes after it.

 Use linking word to connect the separated clauses.

 I spent all day in the employment office trying to find a job that suited me.

 Worrying that a meteor or chunk of space debris will conk her on the head, aunt Olivia
always wears a motorcycle helmet.

 Because she worries that a meteor or chunk of space debris will conk her on the head,
Aunt Olivia always wears a motorcycle helmet.

iii. Infinitive Phrase Fragments

• An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive (To + Verb).

• Such fragments often lack a subject and part of the verb.

 He often enjoys talking about everything they own. To remind us that they are rich.

 Jiggling his foot nervously, Patrick sat in the professor‟s office. To explain why he had
brought his seven-foot pet python, to Professor Parker's English class.

To catch butterflies for her biology project.

CORRCETION

 add a complete sentence that has a subject and verb.

 Attach the infinitive phrase to the first clause and make them one.

 He often enjoys talking about everything they own to remind us that they are rich.

 To remind us that they are rich, he often enjoys talking about everything they own.
 Jiggling his foot nervously, Patrick sat in the provost's office to explain why he had
brought his seven-foot pet python, to Professor Parker's English class.

 To catch butterflies for her biology project, Hermon prepared a net.

iv. Added-detail/after thought fragment;

• clarifies earlier information by providing specific details

• Added detail/ after thought fragments lack subject a verb.

• These fragments begin with following words; also, except, for example, such as,
especially, including.

 My tablet has some deficiencies. For example, no flash light.

 I do not like the boy‟s habits. Especially, his lies.

 Many habits describe her carelessness. Such as leaving the stove on and teasing
mean dogs.

 Jacob has several ways to annoy his professors. Including rolling his eyes and smirking.

 insert the missing subject and verb so that you have a main clause;

 attach the afterthought fragment to the end of a main clause using

 My tablet has some deficiencies. For example, it has no flash light.

 I do not like the boy‟s habits, especially his lies.

 Many habits describe her carelessness, such as leaving the stove on.

 Jacob has several ways to annoy his professors, including rolling his eyes and smirking.

Exercise-1: Rewrite the following fragments

1. The two runners pulled away from the pack and raced across the finish line together.
Winning in record time.

2. After months of patiently waiting, I finally received permission from my parents. To travel
across Europe during the summer.
3. After many years of hard work at low pay, he finally received a grant. Which made
possible the continuation of his private research.

4. Some students find exciting ways to spend their vacation. For example, attending hiking
clubs over the winter holidays.

5. The boy sitting on the fire escape, dropping water balloons on the pedestrians below.

2. Run- on Sentences

• A run-on occurs when two complete sentences are put together with no liking word,
unnecessary comma or sign given to mark the break between them.

• There are two types of run-on sentences; fused sentence and comma splice.

• Fused sentence: Sentences are fused or joined together without any punctuation as if
they were only one thought

• Comma splice: a comma is used to connect or “splice” together the two complete
thoughts. However, a comma alone is not enough to connect two sentences

• I went to my uncle‟s house to borrow money my uncle was not even willing to listen to
my problems.

• I have decided to stay at home I don‟t want to be infected by COVID-19.

• The internet connection is very poor you cannot even download a pdf file.

• I could not arrive on time the traffic was very crowded.

• The exam was postponed, the class was canceled as well.

• I have sent four emails about the conference date, nobody replied.

• Most people use face masks inappropriately, health professionals have been displaying
the standard procedures.

CORRECTION

1. Use a period (full stop).

 split the sentence into smaller sentences using a period.


 This revision works especially well with longer sentences.

2. Use a semicolon.

 Inserting a semicolon between independent clauses creates a grammatically correct


sentence.

3. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

 A comma, paired with a coordinating conjunction (e.g., "and," "but," or "or"), corrects a
run-on sentence.

4. Use a subordinating conjunction.

 Turn one of the independent clauses into a dependent clause using linking words,
like because, although, unless…

 I went to my uncle‟s house to borrow money. My uncle was even willing to listen to my
problems.

 I have decided to stay at home, for I don‟t want to be infected by COVID-19

 The internet connection is very poor; you cannot even download a pdf file.

 I could not arrive on time because the traffic was very crowded.

 The exam was postponed; the class was canceled as well.

 I have sent four emails about the conference date, but nobody replied.

 Most people use face masks inappropriately though health professionals have been
displaying the standard procedures.

Exercise-2: Correct the following run-on errors

1. My professor read my paper she said it was excellent.

2. The largest tree by volume in the world is the General Sherman Sequoia, it is a little over
52,500 cubic feet.

3. There was a long line at the gas station, we decided to go to another place.
4. Green Environment refers to the environmental conservation this includes supporting
practices like informed consumption, conservation practices and investment in
renewable energy.

5. In developing nations, farming is a very labor-intensive process, dozens of people have


to work in fields that might need only one farmer to manage using modern methods.

3. Dangling and Misplaced modifiers

3.1 Dangling Modifier

• a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence.

• A word or phrase that does not clearly refer to that part of a sentence, and the meaning
or the interpretation of such use of clauses is ambiguous, confusing and misleading.

Examples

 Using the Pythagorean Theorem, the math problem was easily solved. (who?)

• Intended meaning: Somebody/ a student uses the Theorem.

• Unintended meaning: The math problem uses the Theorem.

3.1 Dangling modifier

 Arriving home after ten months in army, Michael‟s neighbors threw a block party for him.

• Intended meaning: Michael was arriving home after ten months in the army.

• Unintended meaning: The neighbors were arriving home after ten months in army.

 Having finished the essay, a new Facebook status was uploaded.

• Intended meaning: Somebody finished the essay.

• Unintended meaning: A new Facebook status finished the essay.

3.1 Dangling modifier

 Walking in the park, a snake bit him. (who was walking?)

 Walking along the road, a lorry almost crashed me.


 Despite hanging the net, the mosquitos kept making noises.

1. Add A clear Subject (target) and rewrite

 Walking in the park, Ahmed was bitten by a snake.

 Walking along the road, I was almost crashed by a lorry.

3.1 Dangling modifier

2. Revise the clause with subordination

• Walking along the road, a lorry almost crashed me.

 While I was walking along the road, a lorry almost crashed me.

• Walking in the park, a snake bit him.

 While Ahmed was walking in the park, a snake bit him.

• Despite hanging the net, the mosquitos kept making noises.

 Despite the fact that I hanged the net, the mosquitos kept making
noises.

3.2. Misplaced Modifiers

• word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies /
describes.

• A clause or a phrase is called misrelated when it is inappropriately attached to a word


or

• It is a sentence writing error that has to be corrected by rearranging the words or


phrases used as modifiers.

• The lazy girl piled all of her clothes in the basket that she had worn.

• I bought a new watch for my friend that was made in Korea.

• While hunting in Africa, I shot an elephant in my pajamas.

• The patient was referred to the physician with stomach pains.


CORRECTION

 Rearrange the phrases or word groups used as modifiers

 The lazy girl piled all of her clothes that she had worn into the basket.

 I bought a new watch that was made in Korea for my friend.

 While hunting in my pajamas in Africa, I shot an elephant.

 The patient with stomach pains was referred to the physician. .

Exercise-3.1: Correct the following sentence with dangling modifiers

1. At five years old, my parents decided to move to a different town.

2. Having arrived late for practice, a written excuse was needed.

3. Upon entering the room, a skeleton caught my eye.

4. Working in the lab for three hours, my experiment was almost finished.

5. To see well all the procedures, the lights in this lab room need to be adjusted.

Exercise-3.2: Rewrite Each Misplaced modifier

1. Rolling down the mountain, the explorer stopped the boulder with his powerful foot.

2. We are looking for a babysitter for our precious six-year-old who doesn‟t drink or smoke
and owns a car.

3. This table in our lab was made by an old carpenter with carved legs.

4. The doctor prescribed the medicine with red hair.

5. He bought a doughnut from the bakery filled with jelly.

4. Faulty Parallelism

• Sentence structure is parallel when parts of the sentence all share the same
grammatical structure.
• „Parallelism‟ in sentence structure refers to the similarity or repetition of the same
grammatical form in two or more parts of a sentence.

• Proper parallelism is the placement of equal ideas in words, phrases, or clauses of


similar types.

• Faulty parallelism is a construction in which two or more parts of a sentence are not
grammatically similar in form.

 I have to spend my vacation time exercising, walking, reading and to write stories.

 She planned to collect data by either using an online survey or to make phone
interviews.

 The main reasons why people are careless for environment are they lack enough
knowledge, traditional beliefs and they have no jobs.

 We must either change the laws about drunk driving or it will be necessary to start
enforcing them more strictly.

 Stress makes it difficult to exercise regularly, having relationships that are stable, and
be eating food with benefits to one‟s health.

 I have to spend my vacation time exercising, walking outside, reading books or writing
stories.

 She planned to collect data by either using an online survey or making phone
interviews.

 The main reasons why people are careless for the pandemic are lack of enough
knowledge, traditional beliefs and unemployment.

 We must either change the laws about drunk driving or enforce them more strictly.

 Stress makes it difficult to exercise regularly, have relationships that are stable, and eat
beneficial food to one‟s health.
Exercise-4:Correct the following Sentences

1. Stress makes it difficult to exercise regularly, having relationships that are stable, and be
eating food with benefits to one‟s health.

2. I usually start my day with have breakfast, exercising, and to check out the latest blogs.

3. Buying a car is not a decision to take lightly nor be careless about.

4. The difference between rural and country living is the height of the buildings and the
population.

5. When Griffith has free time, he puts on his headphones and a book is read.

5. Faulty Co-ordination and correlation

• Coordinate/correlation has the meaning “of equal importance or rank”.

• Coordination refers to linking together phrases, clauses, or sentences of equal type and
importance, to put energy into writing.

• Coordinating Conjunctions: and, or, nor, for, but, so, yet, either/or, and neither/nor.

• Faulty coordination/correlation means that two clauses are joined together in an


illogical order.

• Inaccurate and illogical co-ordination/correlation will give your readers incorrect


impressions of the relationship of your ideas and their relative degrees of significance.

 The thief not only robbed a bank but also several houses.

 We have been best friends, and she never tells me all her secrets.

 Neither the man reads books nor watches movies.

 The old man entered the police station, and He reported a crime in his village.

 Anne was playing the flute, and she achieved an elegant, fluent tone.

 The diesel truck had a full load, yet it slowed down going up the hill.
 My tooth cracked, and I desperately needed to see a dentist.

1. Reverse the position of the correlative conjunction

The thief not only robbed a bank but also several houses.

 The thief robbed not only a bank but also several houses.

Neither the man reads books nor watches movies.

 The man neither reads books nor does he watch movies.

2. Change the coordination into subordination

 We have been best friends, and she never tells me all her secrets.

 Although we have been best friends, she never tells me all her secrets.

 My tooth cracked, yet I desperately needed to see a dentist.

 When my tooth cracked, I desperately needed to see a dentist.

 Anne was playing the flute, and she achieved an elegant, fluent tone.

Anne, who was playing the flute, achieved an elegant, fluent tone

3. Use appropriate coordinating words

• The diesel truck had a full load, for it slowed down going up the hill.

• The diesel truck had a full load, so it slowed down going up the hill.

4. Change the compound sentence into a simple sentence

 The old man entered the police station, and he reported a crime in his village.

 The old man entered the police station and reported a crime in his village.

Exercise-5: Correct the following faulty coordination and correlations

1. I want to go not only to school but also to ride my bike.

2. Andrew was both an industrious student, and he was also an excellent athlete.
3. We were best friends as children, and I have not seen her since we graduated.

4. The orange yield increased, and the oranges weren‟t as sweet as they used to be.

6. Faulty Subordination

• Subordination, means “the act of placing a clause into lower class or rank.

• When you give primary emphasis for one idea in a sentence, you automatically have
decided to subordinate others in the same sentence.

• The clause which is in the subordinated is a dependent clause.

• A complex sentence is one that joins two thoughts by subordinating one to another.

6. Faulty subordination means placing more important clauses in a subordinate clause


position in the sentence or when the expected relation between clauses is reversed.

 Since he pursued law, his sister studied dentistry.

 Ethiopia is endowed with natural resources though many citizens are suffering from
poverty.

 Watching Star Wars is my favorite thing to do in my free time which has lots of special
effects.

 Because the boy was exhausted by his long hours‟ exam, so he poured himself a bottle
of coke.

 Whenever it rains across an already flooded landscape the ecological devastation can
be quite severe.

 Prisons are a relatively recent phenomenon in world history, because excessive costs.

Use appropriate subordinate link word

• Since he pursued law, his sister studied dentistry.

• He pursued law, whereas his sister studied dentistry.


 Rearrange the subordinate clause and the main clause

• Ethiopia is endowed with natural resources though many citizens are suffering
from poverty.

• Though Ethiopia is endowed with natural resources, many citizens are


suffering from poverty.

Rearrange modifiers into the correct position

• Watching Star Wars is my favorite thing to do which has lots of special effects.

 Watching Star Wars, which has lots of special effects, is my favorite thing to do in my
free time.

Make the sentence either complex or compound using appropriate linking word

• Because the boy was exhausted by his long hours‟ exam, so he poured himself
a bottle of coke.

• Because the boy was exhausted by his long hours‟ exam, so he poured himself
a bottle of coke.

• Because. The boy was exhausted by his long hours‟ exam, so he poured
himself a bottle of coke.

Use comma if the subordinate clause comes first

• Whenever it rains across an already flooded landscape, the ecological


devastation can be quite severe.

Write the correct form of phrases-because, despite that fact that... followed by subject
verb, but ‘because of’, despite’, in spite of ...followed by noun phrases,

 Prisons are a relatively recent phenomenon in world history, because excessive costs.

 Prisons are a relatively recent phenomenon in world history because of the excessive
costs. Or

 Prisons are a relatively recent phenomenon in world history because there are excessive
costs.
Exercise -5: correct the following coordination and subordination errors

1. The orange farmers wanted to get a better yield, nor they used fertilizer.

2. Many students fail the exit exam because of they don‟t prepare themselves.

3. There are various traditional medicines in Ethiopia, and there are no regulations.

4. He had been studying hard though he failed the exam.

5. Despite the extension workers advise them regularly, people never keep their
environment clean.

7. Subject-Verb Agreement

• The basic building blocks of English sentences are subjects and verbs

• The subject of the sentence, and the verb that describes what the subject is doing, must
match or agree.

1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns


connected by and, use a plural verb.

 One of the students and the instructor are in the lab.

2. . When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or, use a singular verb

 The book or the pen is in the drawer.

3. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined
by or /nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.

 His friends or the boy runs every day.

 The boy or his friends run every day.

 The laptop he bought is not new, nor are the accessories original.

4. Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. The verb agrees
with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase.

 One of the boxes is open


 The people who listen to that music are few.

 The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious.

 The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is boring.

 The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.

5. The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody,
somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb.

 Each of these hot dogs is juicy.

 Everybody knows Mr. Jones.

 Either is correct.

6. Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, measles, and news require singular verbs.

 The news is on at six.

 Five dollars is a lot of money.

 Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.

7. Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, and shears require plural verbs. (There are two
parts to these things.)

 These scissors are dull.

 Those trousers are made of wool.

8. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are considered singular
and take a singular verb, such as group, team, committee, class, and family.

 The team runs during practice.

 The committee decides how to proceed.

 The family has a long history.

 My family has never been able to agree.


 The crew is preparing to dock the ship.

9. Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as well
do not change the number of the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is too.

 The President, accompanied by his wife, is traveling to India.

 All of the books, including yours, are in that box.

Exercise-7: Choose the correct verb

1. Neither Hawa nor her brothers (like, likes) hiking.

2. One of my cousins (is, are) a lorry driver.

3. Identity theft on online shopping sites (is, are) increasingly common.

4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.

5. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.

8. Faulty Reference of Pronouns

A pronoun is a part of speech that can replace a noun.

This errors occurs when:

• there are two or more ambiguous antecedent references

• And a pronoun is used without clear reference of a noun

• After taking all the money out of the bag, Mohammed counted it.

• If the students do not buy all the books, we need to donate them.

• The managers informed the workers that they would get bonus.

• The candies dish was empty, but everyone was tired of eating them any way.

Exercise-8: Correct the pronoun reference errors

1. When a person comes to class, you should have your homework ready.

2. The car went over the bridge just before it fell into the water.
3. Jonathan told Marcus that his dog had escaped the backyard fence

4. A secretary should always get a telephone number of her boss to call in case she runs
into an emergency..

5. Hamdi was helping an old man cross the road when he tripped and fell.

9. Shift Error

• when words or phrases intended for one purpose are used for another, changing the
natural flow of the sentence.

• It is unnecessary change of pronouns or verbs

• The road climbed up from the river bottom and the vegetation changes dramatically.

• Columbus arrived in the New World, and it was believed he had found the coast of Asia.

• When everyone enters the lab, you can see a lot of devices.

• Get into the library, and you should read quietly. (mood-imperative-indicative)

1. Tense shift

• The sticker controlled the ball and kicks directly to the goal.

2. Voice shift-passive to active or active to passive

• When the children turned on the TV., a buzzing sound was heard.

3. Mood shift-from advice to imperative/imperative to advice

• Take these pills, and you should call me in the morning.

4. Person shift

• When someone enters a library, you should be quiet.

5. Number shift

• If somebody calls, tell them I am busy.


Exercise-9: Identify the type of shift errors and correct them

1. She grabs my hand then flipped me like I weighed nothing.

2. A student should choose books from the reading list so that you can be sure they are
acceptable to the teacher.

3. When Olga was travelling in Europe, a lot of her time was spent standing in line-ups,
waiting to buy tickets.

4. I often have half a grapefruit for breakfast because they are so refreshing.

5. Enter your login information, press enter, then you have to type in your password.

Exercise 1: Identify the type of Sentence Errors and Try to Correct them.

1. Having arrived late for practice, a written excuse was needed.

2. This computer doesn't make sense to me, it came without a manual.

3. A dog around whom people need to guard their fingers and food.

4. Stuck standing in line, the elevator was keeping people from getting to the party.

5. My grandfather has a drawing by Picasso, it must be worth a lot of money.

6. Since he got married, he helps his wife with household chores. Including washing the dishes,
cooking dinner, and taking out the trash.

7. The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurate, and in a detailed
manner.

8. Hoping to excuse my lateness, the note was written and given to my teacher

9. This next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away.

10. The brown bear lives in the forests of North America, it hibernates in the winter.
11. The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations,
correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.

12. I have wanted to drive a race car. For as long as I can remember.

13. The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study
for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and his motivation was low.

14. The professor stated that he especially favors personally connected papers, these papers
reflect the most emotion.

15. Entrepreneurship is the study of small businesses, college students are embracing it
enthusiastically.

16. The bus driver is a careless person, but he was pulled over by the police several times last
week.

17. The two runners pulled away from the pack and raced across the finish line together.
Winning in record time.

18. Crying on the examination table, the doctor gave the small child his vaccine.

19. The Soviet Union fell about twenty years ago, and many regions of them are now
independent nations.
20. Every day, try to check plans, and you should use time effectively.

21. We have to clean our dormitory, so a broom and a mop are needed.

22. Although I failed the exam, I studied hard.

Although I studied hard, I failed the exam.

23. I lost my mobile phone in a bajaj, which was bought two weeks ago.

I lost my mobile phone which was bought two weeks ago in a bajaj.

24. Tolera‟s father told him that he had to act like a man.

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