Style Guide

Now you know it.

As we had already seen in our comma splice entry, wrong punctuation can lead to other type of mistakes. Fused sentences are one of those. A fused sentence happens when two different clauses are not punctuated; thus, it semms like it is only one.

Alan thinks my new shirt is cool and Monica hates it.

Both comma splice and fused sentences ocurr due to incorrect puntuation.However, the only difference between comma splice and fused sentences is that comma splice wronly joins two independent clauses with a comma, and fused sentences do not have puntuation to differenciate the clauses.

You can fix them just like comma splice.

So, please pay attention to punctuation! :)

More about conjunctions! 

Don’t worry, these are last ones, I promise.

This time, we’ll tell you about parallel conjunctions. Does this ring a bell? Yes! These are the ones you should should with parallel structures. And, of course, they come in pairs.

So, when a noun,for example, follows one of these conjunctions, another noun should follow the second part of the conjunction. Remember that this is all about having the same structures balanced in a sentence.

Still don’t have a clue of what are we talking about?

 The following examples will help you understand.

Both... and Both my mother and my grandmother are called “Angela”.

Not only... but also Not only does she cook great, but also she is an excellent wrtter. 

Please notice that with this conjunction, inversion is needed. That’s why an auxiliary verb (does) follows the first part of the conjunction, and a noun -in this case a pronoun- (she) follows the second one.

Either...or We’ll learn either how to write an article or how to say a poem.

Niether...nor Neither your  cusin nor your aunt like eating spaghetti.

Whether...or I don’t know whether to sleep early or to finish my project.

As...as She is as intelligent as she is disorganzied.

Okay. We’re done with conjunctions!

If you want to become an expert in wrtiting, remember that you should avoid sentence fragments.

Sentence... what?

It’s as easy as 1,2,3! Sentence fragments look like complete sentences, but they are not.

A sentence fragment can be recorgnized because:

It does not include a conjugated verb. (Remember that gerounds, infinitives, and participles are verbals, not verbs.)

Shouting very loudlly. To know the trhuth.

It does not have a subject.

Fell in love with my sister.

It starts with a suborinating conjunction.

Because I woke up late.

There are two easy ways to correct them:

Change a sentence fragment to an independent clause by adding subject or verb (whichever is needed).

They were shouting very loudly We wanted to know the truth. Gabriel fell in love with my sister.

Join it to an independent clause. (Be careful with dangling modifiers!)

Doing the homework, I fell asleep. Because I woke up late, I missed the exam.

Still find it hard to recognize and avoid sentence fragments? Just don’t forget that a complete sentence has subject and verb, and it does not start with ON A WHITE BUS.