English: Sentences That Hold Together

This is Unit One of ACT Preparation, the first of the English units: sentences that hold together. Carry one question through the whole lecture. Can this word group stand alone, and is it joined to its neighbors correctly? Every rule ahead answers one half of that question, and every sentence error breaks one of the rules. By the end you will be able to test any word group for a subject, a working verb and a subordinating opener. To name the four sentence types and the three ways to join independent clauses. To tell a transitional word from a conjunction and punctuate it by the clauses around it. To choose between joining ideas as equals and placing one under the other. And to find and repair fragments, comma splices and run-ons.

Three entries on what a sentence needs: the independent clause, the subordinate clause, and a three-step test.

The one thing every sentence must have.

ACT 0001 What a Sentence Needs

A complete sentence holds at least one independent clause: a subject, a verb and a complete thought, able to stand on its own. "The bus stopped" qualifies; "the bus stopping at noon" does not, because stopping is not a working verb. Some books call it a main clause, and length never decides it.

A clause that leans on another.

ACT 0002 Subordinate Clause

A subordinate clause has a subject and a verb, but it opens with a word such as although, because, if, since, when or while, so it cannot stand alone. Remove because from "because the river flooded" and a sentence returns. The opening word is the whole difference.

Three checks for any group of words.

ACT 0003 The Stand-Alone Test

The stand-alone test runs in order. Find the verb, remembering that an -ing word with no helping verb does not count. Ask who or what performs it: that is the subject. Then look at the first word: a subordinating opener means the clause is waiting for another. In the worked example, "the team practiced in the rain" passes all three; "practicing in the rain all week" has no subject and no working verb; and "when the team practiced in the rain" fails only on its opening word. Length and detail never repair a missing part.

Seven entries on the four sentence types and the three correct ways to join independent clauses.

One clause, any length.

ACT 0004 Simple Sentence

A simple sentence has exactly one independent clause, and phrases can stretch it to any length without changing its type. A long sentence about a band's drive across three states is still simple. Simple names the structure, not the difficulty.

The first way to join two clauses.

ACT 0005 Compound Sentence: Comma and Conjunction

A compound sentence joins independent clauses of equal weight. The first join is a comma plus a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, remembered as FANBOYS. In "the oven was hot, so the bread baked fast," the conjunction does the joining; a comma alone would be the comma splice coming later in this lecture.

The second way: a semicolon.

ACT 0006 Compound Sentence: Semicolon

A semicolon can join two closely related independent clauses with no conjunction, and a complete sentence must stand on each side. Use the period test: if a period could replace the semicolon and leave two sentences, the semicolon is allowed.

The third way, with a transitional word.

ACT 0007 Semicolon With a Transitional Word

The third join is a semicolon, then a transitional word or phrase, then a comma: "The forecast called for snow; as a result, the school closed early." Choose the transitional word by meaning, as a result for a consequence and however for a contrast.

What a transitional word cannot do.

ACT 0008 Transitional Words Are Not Conjunctions

However and therefore are not conjunctions. Between two independent clauses, a comma before one joins nothing, so a semicolon or a period must stand there. "The road was closed, however, we found a detour" is a comma splice. Try but in its place: with but a comma is enough; with however it is not.

Sentences that mix clause types.

ACT 0009 Complex and Compound-Complex Sentences

A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause; a compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause. The independent clause carries the main idea, so the point to stress belongs there, as in "when the power failed, the hospital switched to its generator."

Equals, or one under the other.

ACT 0010 Which Idea Leads

Two related facts can be joined as equals or with one placed under the other, and the choice changes the stress. Join with a coordinating conjunction when both carry equal weight; subordinate one when it is background. Then match the word to the relation: because for a cause, although for a contrast, when for a time, if for a condition. In the bridge example, "although the bridge was repaired, traffic still moved slowly" stresses the slow traffic, while "because the bridge was repaired" claims a cause neither fact states. A grammatical sentence can still say the wrong thing.

Six entries on the errors: fragments, comma splices and run-ons, and how to repair each one.

A word group pretending to be a sentence.

ACT 0011 Sentence Fragment

A fragment is punctuated as a sentence but lacks a subject, a verb or both, or is a subordinate clause standing alone. "Hoping for one more song," after "we stayed for the encore," has neither. Most fragments extend the sentence before them, so they sound natural aloud; check each word group by itself.

Two ways to repair a fragment.

ACT 0012 Repairing a Fragment

A fragment has two repairs: attach it to its sentence, or add the missing subject or verb. "We stayed for the encore, hoping for one more song" attaches it; "we hoped for one more song" completes it. Fiction uses fragments on purpose, but ACT English treats them as errors.

Two sentences held by a comma.

ACT 0013 Comma Splice

A comma splice joins two complete sentences with a comma alone. A comma marks a pause; it cannot hold two independent clauses together. In "the tide came in fast, the children ran for the dunes," each side stands alone, so the comma needs a conjunction or a replacement.

The same error with nothing at all.

ACT 0014 Run-On Sentence

A run-on, or fused sentence, runs two or more complete sentences together with no punctuation between them. The tide sentence written with nothing at the border is a run-on. A long sentence is not a run-on: the test is two independent clauses with nothing joining them.

Five correct repairs, and how to choose.

ACT 0015 Five Ways to Fix a Comma Splice

A splice or run-on has five repairs: a coordinating conjunction after the comma, a period, a semicolon, a semicolon with a transitional word and a comma, or turning one clause into a subordinate clause. "The printer jammed, the report was late" can become any of the five. All are grammatical, so on a test, eliminate the choices that still splice, then pick the one whose joining word fits the meaning; "but" fails here because the facts hold no contrast.

However in the middle of a sentence.

ACT 0016 However Between Two Clauses

When a transitional word sits mid-sentence, the punctuation before it decides. Check whether each side is a complete sentence. If both are, the mark before the word must be a semicolon or a period, as in "the tickets sold out; however, a second show was added." If only one clause is present, the word is interrupting it, and a comma on each side is right: "the second show, however, sold out too." Decide by the clauses, never by the word.

Look at what you can now do. You can test any word group for a working verb, a subject and a subordinating opener, and say whether it stands alone. You can name the four sentence types and the three joins: a comma with a conjunction, a semicolon, and a semicolon with a transitional word. You can tell however from but, and punctuate a transitional word by the clauses on either side of it. You can choose between equal and unequal joins, and match the joining word to the relation the facts actually hold. And you can find a fragment, a splice or a run-on and repair it five ways. Part two turns to mixed constructions, parallel structure and modifiers.