Mixed construction

a sentence that starts with one grammatical form and ends with another.
The result of the
improperly mixed forms is confusion.
Examples:
Wrong: For most North American soccer fans who watch the World Cup cannot
understand British hooliganism.
(This sentence begins with a long phrase that promises to be a modifier, but
suddenly turns into the subject of the sentence. However, this mixed form is
wrong. If the sentence is to begin with a phrase, there must be a subject and a
verb.)
Corrected: Most North American soccer fans who watch the World Cup cannot
understand British hooliganism.
Corrected: For most North American soccer fans who watch the World Cup,
British hooliganism is hard to understand.
Wrong: Because the shuttle program since the tragic 25 th shuttle flight has
enjoyed several notable achievements gradually regained the confidence of the
public.
(The opening dependent clause starts off on one track, but the independent
clause goes off in another. The independent clause must have a proper subject,
or the sentence must omit opening the subordinate conjunction "because.")
Corrected: Because the shuttle program since the tragic 25 th shuttle flight has
resulted in several notable achievements, space flight has gradually regained the
confidence of the American public.
Corrected: The shuttle program since the tragic 25th shuttle flight has enjoyed
several notable achievements, which have gradually regained the confidence of
the American public.
Wrong: Although he comes from a family of alcoholics does not make him an
alcoholic.
(The opening dependent clause starts off the sentence, but then a verb
intervenes without a subject.)
Corrected: Although he comes from a family of alcoholics, his unfortunate social
situation does not make him an alcoholic.

Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

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Take their names from metaphors of splicing (fastening two ends

together) and fusing (united as if melted). A comma splice occurs
when a comma incorrectly joins two independent classes. A fused
sentence occurs when two independent clauses are joined with no
punctuation or connecting word between them. Comma splices and
fused sentences are two versions of the same problem: faulty
connection between two independent clauses.

Examples of This Trouble

Spliced: I like figure skating, my brother likes hockey.
Fused: I like figure skating my brother likes hockey.
(Because both "I like figure skating" and "my brother likes hockey" are independent clauses,
they need to be joined with proper punctuation or proper connecting words.)
Spliced: Cinema for Alfred Hitchcock is not a slice of life, it is rather a piece of cake.
Fused: Cinema for Alfred Hitchcock is not a slice of life it is rather a piece of cake.
(Because both "Cinema for Alfred Hitchcock is not a slice of life" and "it is rather a piece of
cake" are independent clauses, they need to be joined with proper punctuation or proper
connecting words.)

How to Correct This Trouble

1. Use a semicolon or a period to separate the independent clauses.
I like figure skating; my brother likes hockey.
I like figure skating. My brother likes hockey.
2. Place an appropriate connecting word between the two clauses. You can add one of
these coordinating conjunctions: "and," "but," "or," "nor," "for," "so," or "yet."
Remember to include the comma before the coordinating conjunction.
I like figure skating, but my brother likes hockey.
3. Turn one independent clause into a dependent clause. You can change one of the
clauses to a dependent clause by putting a subordinating conjunction before it. But
remember to find a subordinating conjunction that most
accurately expresses your meaning.
Although I like figure skating, my brother like hockey.
I like figure skating, whereas my brother likes hockey.

Faulty Coordination
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"To coordinate" means "to harmonize in a common action" or "to place

in the same order or class." Thus in grammatical terms, "to coordinate"
means to balance equal ideas and give equal emphasis in sentences.
To coordinate single words or phrases, join them with a coordinating
conjunction or a pair of correlative conjunctions. To coordinate
independent clauses join them with a comma and a coordinating
conjunction. Now, faulty coordination occurs when two ideas are not
of equal value; one of the ideas should be subordinated.

Examples of This Trouble

Wrong: George Berkeley was an eighteenth-century idealist and he believed that there is no
existence of matter independent of perception.
(The two clauses are not equal in importance and thus should not be coordinated: the second
builds on the first by explaining what an idealist believes.)
Corrected: George Berkeley, an eighteenth-century idealist, believed that there is no existence
of matter independent of perception.
Wrong: We keep our rat poison, insecticides, and paint thinner locked in a cupboard and we
are conscientious about our childrens safety.
(These two clauses are not equal in importance.)
Corrected: We keep our rat poison, insecticides, and paint thinner locked in a cupboard
because we are conscientious about our childrens safety.
(The subordinating conjunction signals a logical connection between the ideas more
effectively than the coordinating conjunction "and.")

How to Correct This Trouble

Subordinate one of the independent clauses: find an appropriate subordinating conjunction to
introduce one of the clauses or reduce one clause to a phrase.

Faulty Parallelism
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Parallelism refers to the expression of balanced ideas in balanced

grammatical forms. Thus single words should be balanced with single
words, phrases with phrases, and clauses with clauses. Faulty
Parallelism occurs when ideas of equal weigh fail to be expressed in
grammatical forms of equal weight

Examples of This Trouble

Wrong: In our society, the elderly feel alienated, because they are confined in retirement
homes, their unattractive representation in the media, and the capitalist economy deems them
unproductive.
(The three items in the dependent clause, which starts with because, should be in parallel
grammatical form.)
Corrected: In our society, the elderly feel alienated, because they are confined in retirement
homes, they are represented unfavourably in the media, and they are deemed unproductive by
the capitalist economy.
(The three items now all share the same grammatical form of the clause.)
Parallel Words
My favorite activities are swimming, skating, and dancing.
(The -ing words are parallel in form and equal in importance.)
Parallel Phrases
Books enable me to see the world and to imagine better worlds.
(The "to" phrases are parallel in form and equal in importance.)
Parallel Clauses
My friends attend school, because they like to make new friends, because they want to play
new sports, or because they love to learn new things.
(The "because" clauses are parallel in structure and equal in importance.)
How to Fix the Problem
Convert all items in the list or series to the same grammatical form. Choose a grammatical
form that best represents the parallel ideas.
Faulty Parallelism with Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are combinations of coordinating conjunctions and other words.
Correlative conjunctions function in pairs to join equivalent grammatical structures. They
include "eitheror," "neithernor," "not onlybut also," "bothand," "whetheror," and

"notso much as." Make sure that the grammatical structure following the second half of the
pair is the same as that following the first half.
Wrong: The doors in the cottage were not only too narrow but also were too short.
(The "not onlybut also" construction is not parallel. The "not only comes after the verb in
the first part of the sentence, but the "but also" comes before the verb in the second part. The
second verb is not needed, since the correlative conjunctions are balancing words not
clauses.)
Corrected: The doors in the cottage were not only too narrow but also were too short.
Wrong: I was counselled either to quit my job or ask for a higher wage.
(The second part of the sentence does not balance with the first. The second "to" is left out.)
Corrected: I was counselled either to quit my job or to ask for a higher wage.
Wrong: Either you leave town by the train or by the road.
Corrected: You leave town either by the train or by the road.

Misplaced Modifier
- a word, phrase, or clause that has landed in the wrong place in the
sentence. A modifier must be placed next to the word it modifies. When
the modifier is incorrectly placed, the sentence either communicates
meaning the writer did not intend--or makes no sense at
all!
Example:
Throw mother out the window a rope.
Obviously, the writer doesn't mean to throw mother out the window,
but to throw the rope out the window to mother.
Correct a misplaced modifier error by placing the modifier next to the word
it modifies.

Dangling Modifier
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has no word to logically modify. In other words, the modifier describes a

word that does not appear in the sentence.
Sitting on the floor, the hours seemed to drag by slowly.
The modifier sitting on the floor describes somebody--but the
sentence doesn't tell us who is sitting on the floor. The only possible
noun for this phrase to modify is hours, but it's pretty obvious that the
hours are not sitting on the floor.
Correct a dangling modifier error by specifying the word modified.

Sentence Fragments
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A word group set off as a real sentence by an initial capital letter and a
final period; however, it does not qualify as a real sentence, since it
lacks a subject, or a verb, or both. To be a grammatically correct
sentence, a group of words must consist of at least one independent
clause, which must possess a subject and a verb

Examples of This Trouble

Wrong: The tree with the bird house.
(There is no verb.)
Corrected: The tree has a bird house.
Wrong: Swayed in the wind.
(There is no subject.)
Corrected: The tree swayed in the wind.
Wrong: During the furious thunderstorm.
(There is no verb or subject.)
Corrected: The tree whipped back and forth during the furious thunderstorm.
Wrong: Whipping back and forth in the storm.
(This is a phrase.)
Corrected: Whipping back and forth in the storm, the tree looked ready to snap.
Wrong: Because the tree swayed in the wind.
(This is dependent clause.)
Corrected: Because the tree swayed violently in the wind, the bird house was eventually
thrown to the ground.