Passing the Drama Queen

In order to punctuate sentences correctly writers must understand certain rules and concepts. A clause is a word group containing a subject and a verb. The two types of clauses are independent and subordinate. An independent clause contains a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence. A subordinate clause contains a subordinate conjunction in addition to a subject. A phrase is a group of words that do not contain both a subject and a verb. Three common sentence errors are the fragment, the comma-splice, and the run-on sentence. A fragment is a clause or subordinate clause punctuated as a sentence. A run-on sentence is a word group containing two or more independent clauses without proper punctuation separating them. A comma splice is a type of sentence error that consists of two independent clauses punctuated with only a comma. Stewart Pidd deserves a “D” on his paper “Skating Rules” because he makes many punctuation errors. Pidd makes a sentence fragment error.

He writes, “I don’t like Mr. T`s teaching method. His little step-by-step system for learning.” The mistake occurs between the words “methods” and “his.” Pidd punctuates the phrase, “his little teaching methods” with only a period. He can fix this error by connecting the phrase to a nearby sentence or by converting it into a sentence. To connect the phrase, Pidd must replace the period from the nearby sentence with a comma. He can convert the phrase by making the phrase a subject and adding a predicate. Pidd makes a subordinate clause error. He writes “When he canters out to his Corvette. He needs to look out” with a period. He can fix this error by combining the subordinate clause to a nearby sentence or by converting it to an independent clause. To connect the clause Pidd needs to omit the period after the subordinate clause or replace it with a comma. He can convert the subordinate clause into an independent clause by eliminating the subordinate conjunction “when.” Pidd has made a run-on sentence error.

He writes, “I found this sick arrowhead and I will stick it into one of his low-profile tire.” The mistake occurs between the words “arrowhead” and “and.” Pidd has failed to punctuate two independent clauses, “I found this sick arrowhead” and “I will stick it into one of his low-profile tires.” He can fix this error by separating the two independent clauses. To separate the two clauses, he can add a comma after the first independent clause or replace the coordinating conjunction with a semi-colon. Pidd makes a comma splice error. He writes, “I do have a lot of drama going on, I deserve at least a C!” The mistake occurs between the words “on” and “I.” Pidd has punctuated the two independent clauses, “I do have a lot of drama going on” and “I deserve at least a C” with only a comma. To fix this error Pidd can either separate the clauses or subordinate one of them.

He can separate the clauses by adding a coordinating conjunction after the comma or replace the comma with a period or by joining the two independent sentences with a semi-colon. To subordinate one of the clauses, Pidd must add a subordinating conjunction to it. Pidd’s failure to correctly punctuate sentences is the reason why he does not deserve a passing grade. Instead of complaining about Coach T`s teaching method, Pidd should leave the drama at home and focus when he is at school.