Independent Clauses
In the sentence "When the bell rang, the students rushed out," name the independent clause.
What is "the students rushed out"?
In the sentence "If it snows tomorrow, school will be canceled," this is the dependent clause.
What is "If it snows tomorrow"?
In the sentence "The loud music stopped suddenly," this is the noun phrase.
What is "The loud music"?
This sentence looks correct at a glance, but it's a run-on:
"My brother is a great cook he makes the best lasagna I’ve ever had."
Identify two independent clauses in the sentence. (aka where the sentence should be separated)
What are "My brother is a great cook" and "he makes the best lasagna I’ve ever had"?
Explain why "After we left the house" is a sentence fragment.
What is "It’s a dependent clause that lacks an independent clause to complete the thought"?
The sentence "She likes to read novels, but he prefers comics" has two independent clauses. Identify both.
What are "She likes to read novels" and "he prefers comics"?
In the sentence "She was nervous because she forgot her lines," identify the dependent clause.
What is "because she forgot her lines"?
In the sentence "The cat under the table is sleeping," this is the prepositional phrase.
What is "under the table"?
This sentence contains three improperly joined independent clauses:
"The deadline passed we didn’t submit the form we lost the chance to compete."
Explain the type of error and suggest one way to fix it.
What is "The deadline passed, and we didn’t submit the form, so we lost the chance to compete.'"?
his fragment needs to be rewritten in context:
"Looking at the sky."
Make it a complete sentence without changing the meaning drastically.
What is "She was looking at the sky" or "Looking at the sky, he spotted a shooting star"?
In the sentence "After we ate dinner, we watched a movie and then went for a walk," identify the independent clause, including any compound predicate.
What is "we watched a movie and then went for a walk"?
In "Although the team practiced every day, they still lost the championship," identify the dependent clause.
What is "Although the team practiced every day"?
In the sentence "Eating spicy food can upset your stomach," this is the gerund phrase acting as the subject.
What is "Eating spicy food"?
Correct this run-on by using a semicolon, a comma, or a subordinating conjunction:
"He didn’t answer his phone he was asleep."
What is "He didn’t answer his phone; because he was asleep"?
(Also acceptable: "Because he was asleep, he didn’t answer his phone." or "He didn’t answer his phone; he was asleep." depending on how the conjunction is used.)
The car skidded off the road. Into a ditch full of water."
Correct the error while maintaining the original style and tone.
What is "The car skidded off the road and into a ditch full of water"?
n the sentence "Even if the weather is bad and the roads are icy, we will leave early and drive carefully," identify the entire independent clause.
What is "we will leave early and drive carefully"?
The sentence "What she said when the teacher walked in surprised everyone" contains a dependent clause. Identify dependent clauses.
What are "What she said when the teacher walked in"
In the sentence "Exhausted from the long day, she fell asleep on the couch," identify the participial phrase that modifies the subject
What is "Exhausted from the long day"?
This is a run-on with a comma splice:
"She was tired, she stayed up to finish the report."
Name the sentence structure error and provide two different ways to correct it.
What is "It’s a comma splice.
Fix 1: Use a semicolon: 'She was tired; she stayed up to finish the report.'
Fix 2: Add a coordinating conjunction: 'She was tired, but she stayed up to finish the report.'"?
"The lecture was fascinating. Especially the part about black holes and time dilation."
Rewrite the second sentence to fix the fragment while keeping the style natural.
What is "The lecture was fascinating, especially the part about black holes and time dilation"?
This sentence contains three independent clauses: "The guests arrived late; they brought dessert, and they stayed for hours." Identify all three.
What are "The guests arrived late", "they brought dessert", and "they stayed for hours"?
n the sentence "I don’t know why he left early, even though he seemed excited about the event," identify the two dependent clauses.
What are "why he left early" and "even though he seemed excited about the event"?
In the sentence "Her heart pounding like a drum, she reached for the door without making a sound," identify the absolute phrase, the prepositional phrase, and explain how each functions in the sentence.
What are:
"Her heart pounding like a drum" (absolute phrase, adds descriptive detail/modifier);
"for the door" (prepositional phrase, tells what she reached for);
"without making a sound" (prepositional phrase, explains how she moved).
This sentence contains nested independent clauses without proper coordination or punctuation:
"I told her I would help her she didn’t wait for me she started the project alone."
Identify all run-on errors and revise the sentence into a well-structured version.
What is "There are three independent clauses improperly fused. A corrected version:
'I told her I would help her, but she didn’t wait for me; she started the project alone.'"
(Other versions with subordinate clauses are acceptable.)
This sentence would be considered a fragment in academic writing, but may be acceptable in fiction or informal prose:
"A day she would never forget."
Explain why it's a fragment and why a writer might choose to use it anyway.
What is "It’s a noun phrase without a verb or subject-predicate structure, making it a fragment. However, in creative or narrative writing, it can be used for emphasis, rhythm, or tone"?