Kevan Peabody
Ms. SabirEnglish 201a0
9/11/2009

Punctuating English ClassIn order to punctuate sentences correctly writers must understand certain rules and concepts. A clause is a group of words containing both a subject and a verb. The two types of clauses are both independent and subordinate. The difference between the two are that independent clauses can stand alone as a sentence and subordinate clauses cannot. A phrase is a group of words not containing both a subject and verb. The three common sentence punctuation error are the comma splice, the run on sentence, and the fragment. A fragment is both a phrase and a subordinate clause punctuated as a sentence. A run on sentence is a word group containing two or more independent clauses without punctuation. A comma splice is a type of sentence error that consist of two independent clauses punctuated with only a comma. Stewart Pidd deserves a “D” on his paper “Skating Rules” because he makes many sentence punctuation errors.Pidd makes a fragment sentence error. He writes, “ his little step-by-step system for learning” as a sentence. 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 of the nearby sentence with a comma. To convert the phrase Pidd must make the phrase a subject and add a predicate.Pidd makes a Fragment sentence error. He writes, “when he canters out to his corvette.” Pidd punctuates the subordinate clause “ When he canters out to his corvette,” with only a period. He can fix this error by connecting the subordinate clause to the independent clause or by converting it into 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 subordinating conjunction “When.”Pidd makes a Run-on sentence error. He writes, “ I found this sick arrowhead and I will stick it into one of his low- profile tires.” 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,” joined together with a coordinating conjunction. 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 semicolon or a period.Pidd makes a comma splice sentence error. He writes, “ I do have a lot of drama going on, I deserve at least a C.” This mistake occurs between the words “on” and “I.” Pidd has punctuated two independent clauses, “I do have a lot of drama going on, I deserve at least a C,” with only a comma. Pidd can either separate the clause or subordinate one of them. He can add a coordinating conjunction after the comma or replace the comma with a semicolon or a period. To subordinate one of the clauses he 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 a Skating Drama Queen, Pidd should have chose Punctuating English Class.
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