6 Specific Grammar Support for Writers

A comma splice is a common error that occurs when two complete sentences are joined by a comma. You can correct a comma splice by adding a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so), adding a period and creating two sentences, adding a coordinating conjunction and creating a compound sentence, or subordinating one clause and creating a complex sentence.

Comma Splice The author sheds light on the financial sacrifice many mothers make, they take care of their children without compensation and often lose professional status.

Revised with a Coordinating Conjunction The author sheds light on the financial sacrifice many mothers make, for they take care of their children without compensation and often lose professional status.

Comma Splice Many college students see their education as the way to become wealthy, some are sacrificing happiness to pursue high-paying careers.

Revised with a Period Many college students see their education as the way to become wealthy. Some are sacrificing happiness to pursue high-paying careers.

Comma Splice Psychologist David Myers conducted multiple surveys asking people about their attitudes about money, the results revealed that people felt they needed more regardless of how much they had.

Revised with a Semicolon Psychologist David Myers conducted multiple surveys asking people about their attitudes about money; the results revealed that people felt they needed more regardless of how much they had.

Comma Splice Love cannot be paid for, it is a gift that parents give because they love their children.

Revised with a Semicolon and Transitional Word or Phrase Love cannot be paid for; indeed, it is a gift that parents give because they love their children.

Comma Splice Students are choosing majors to enable them to earn more money, they are under the misconception that earning money guarantees happiness.

Revised with a Subordinate Clause Students are choosing majors to enable them to earn more money because they are under the misconception that earning money guarantees happiness.

In a run-on sentence, two or more complete sentences are not separated by any punctuation. Like comma splices, most run-on sentences can be revised in one or more of the following ways: adding a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so), adding a period and creating two sentences, separating the sentences with a semicolon, separating the sentences with a semicolon and transitional word or phrase (such as on the other hand, however, consequently, and so on), or turning the less important sentence into a subordinate clause starting with a subordinating word such as although, because, if, when, since, and so on.

Run-on Sentence The DNR eventually designated the area as crucial habitat the protection came too late to save the nesting birds.

Revised with a Comma and a Coordinating Conjunction The DNR eventually designated the area as crucial habitat, but the protection came too late to save the nesting birds.

Run-on Sentence Most people realize that being wealthy won’t just happen many college students choose a major that will ensure they make money.

Revised with a Period Most people realize that being wealthy won’t just happen. Many college students choose a major that will ensure they make money.

Run-on Sentence Parents do not expect any financial reward they care for their children out of love and responsibility.

Revised with a Semicolon Parents do not expect any financial reward; they care for their children out of love and responsibility.

Run-on Sentence The average American family’s expenses have risen faster than incomes they have saved less than prior generations.

Revised with a Semicolon and Transitional Word or Phrase The average American family’s expenses have risen faster than incomes; as a result, they have saved less than prior generations.

Run-on Sentence College students have the opportunity to choose any major they tend to choose those that offer immediate opportunities to earn money when they graduate.

Revised with a Subordinate Clause Although college students have the opportunity to choose any major, they tend to choose those that offer immediate opportunities to earn money when they graduate.

In many sentences, making the verb agree with the subject is straightforward: I run every day. My sister runs every other day. Sometimes our brother joins us, and all of us run together. However, subject-verb agreement gets tricky in the following circumstances.

The subject and verb in a sentence must agree. In standard English, “agreement“ means that a singular subject must have a singular verb (The bus leaves in five minutes) and a plural subject must have a plural verb (The buses leave in five minutes). However, some English dialects omit the -s ending for singular verbs or use a singular verb with a plural subject: The man ask for help. Property taxes was raised last year.

Subject-verb agreement gets tricky in several sentence constructions, which are described below. 

Is the subject compound? Two or more subjects joined by and take a plural verb in most sentences:

Basketball and wrestling are my favorite sports.

However, when the parts of the subject form a single idea or unit, the verb is singular:

Red beans and rice is my favorite meal.

Ten dollars is enough money for lunch.

When compound subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the word closest to it:

Either your uncles or your mother remembers your grandmother’s gumbo recipe.

Either your mother or your uncles remember  your grandmother’s gumbo recipe.

Do other words come between the subject and verb? The verb must agree with the subject even when words and phrases come between them:

The price of these shoes at all stores is unbelievable.

A suitcase containing sweaters, coats, and jackets was found in the street.

Does the verb come before the subject? The subject and verb must agree even when the verb comes before the subject:

Are  Daniela and Juliana waiting at the restaurant?

There were three dogs in the yard, all barking at the same time.

In my pocket are  a wallet and two pens.

Is the subject an indefinite pronoun, such as everyone? Indefinite pronouns do not refer to specific people or things. Most indefinite pronouns take a singular verb, but not all.

The indefinite pronouns that take a singular verb include anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, and something.

 Everyone on the team practices all season.

Neither  of the wide receivers  feels ready for the season to end.

These indefinite pronouns take a plural verb: both, few, many, others, and several.

Several of the athletes on the team come from the same high school.

Both wide receivers have excellent stats.

A few indefinite pronouns take a singular or plural verb depending on whether the word they refer to is singular or plural. These include all, any, enough, more, most, none, and some. With these pronouns, use a singular or plural verb that fits the context of your sentence.

All of these students  take  at least one class in science or math. (plural)

Most of his work is original. (singular)

Is the subject a collective noun? Collective nouns, such as audience, band, class, crowd, family, group, or team, can take a singular or a plural verb depending on the context. When group members act individually, use a plural verb. Writers often add the word members for clarity. When the group acts as a single unit, which is the most common construction, use a singular verb:

The band  rehearses  every Thursday.

The union (members) still disagree on the contract terms.

In every English variety, the form of the verb changes to indicate whether something is happening currently or has happened already. These changes that indicate time differences are called verb tenses. If an action or description occurs now or occurs regularly, in the present time, writers use the present tense. Conversely, if the action occurred in the past and no longer occurs, writers use the past tense.

• Present tense: She walks to class.
• Past tense: She walked to class yesterday.

In simple sentences such as these, choosing a verb tense is fairly straightforward. The author decides when to place the event in time and chooses the corresponding verb form. Although people easily use different verb tenses every day, getting them right in writing can be tricky at times. Writers may accidentally change from past to present tense within a text—or even within the same sentence—for no particular reason. Consider these examples:

• Sentence 1: I lost a glove on my walk, but I find it later.
• Sentence 2: I lost a glove on my walk, but I found it later.

In Sentence 1, the verb lost places the action in the past; the present-tense verb find is not consistent with that pattern. The revision in Sentence 2 places all of the action in the same time frame: the past. Because changing the tense for no reason can confuse the audience, be sure to use the same verb tense throughout, whether events happen in the past or they happen in the present.

However, you do need to change tenses to indicate a difference in time, and such differences occur often. This situation is why choosing verb tenses in writing can sometimes pose challenges for writers. If you are using the present tense in writing but you want to tell about something that happened in the past, you need to change tenses to make that time difference clear. Look at these sentences:

• Sentence 1: The artist uses bright colors in her paintings. She says that when she is a child, these colors attract her.
• Sentence 2: The artist uses bright colors in her paintings. She says that when she was a child, these colors attracted her.

The writer is discussing the artist in the present tense, and the artist is speaking in the present tense. However, she is telling about her childhood, which took place in the past. Therefore, she and the writer use both past and present tense to make the time distinction clear. To put all events in the present tense would not make sense in such cases.