The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda Education Correspondent
There is summative assessment at the end of 11 years of learning the English Language and Paper 1 is mainly concerned with production of the language while Paper 2 delves into understanding the passage and making use of language structures in the appreciation of the learning area.
However, many students find it hard to write complete sentences which ultimately have a bearing on their final mark. One guiding principle in the production of language is impression. By the time the teacher has finished marking your work, what is the impression that s/he has?
Incomplete sentences or comma splices filled ‘sentence’ eventually dims the reader’s interest. Therefore, it is imperative for teachers of English to drill their students in getting rid of comma splices and run-on-sentences.
Comma splices and run-on sentences are some of the errors which many students of English commit in their writing; as a result, jumbled meaning has the effect of miscommunication; if there is no communication, then it is bye-bye to a pleasing mark. It’s just that simple!
Take a look at the sentence: “my father sent me to the market I did not go there.’’
From a distance, one quickly identifies the first letter ‘m’ which begins the sentence as in the lower case instead of the upper case. That is not the issue. Let us write it like this then:
‘’My father sent me to the market I did not go there.’’
Do you find anything wrong with such a construction? If you have not picked the offending thing, then, it is time we go on a ride as we explain the concept of run-on sentences. What are these?
Run-on sentences are independent clauses that form a sentence but there are no punctuation marks or conjunctions to join these sentences. When a conjunction is missing and there is no full stop or semi colon to join the sentences, then no communication would have occurred between the student and the teacher as s/he reads the essay. Writing is not only done as one sits for the English examination but college and university degree programmes require one to be a competent writer.
Perhaps, we should explain the clause concept once again. A complete thought is similar to an independent clause. In other words, the subject, verb and the object are all there.
On the other hand, a dependent clause is a group of words which does not mean until it is joined to an independent clause.
Examples of independent clauses are:
(a) Players mobbed the referee.
(b) There is likely to be a bumper harvest this year.
(c) Devolution is the way to go.
(d) Potholes are a menace in many cities and towns.
(e) Proteins are good for everyone’s health.
The above are meaningful sentences on their own without any addition. If a student writes another independent clause soon after a main clause without a corresponding punctuation mark to show that the sentence has ended, we call it a run on sentence and it has broken grammatical constructs.
(a) Players mobbed the referee after he had disallowed a goal which I believe was unfair.
To make the sentence grammatically sound, we use the S-V-O methods where we identify the subject verb and object.
Run on sentences come into the picture. Picture the blind worm. It moves on unsightly and only realizes that there is no space when it comes upon an obstacle and only then, does it change direction. If independent clauses are not punctuated well, then, the sentences would follow the analogy of the blind worm and the result is disaster for the student.
A full stop (period) marks the end of a complete thought. Thus, the end of the first sentence is marked by the insertion of a period. The above sentence which hitherto appeared to be meaningless now reads: My father sent me to the market. I did not go there.
There is another way to solve the above problem and that is the use of the semi colon. The latter joins two main clauses which are related in meaning. To illustrate, we can write the above sentences in this way: My father sent me to the market; I did not go there.
Often, students confuse a comma for a full stop. Whether it is something they picked up as they learnt at kindergarten or it is just plain unwillingness to reform, students have been found off side in terms of using the comma wrongly.
For example: We need to burn the midnight oil, if we do so, we will pass with flying colours.
Students may find the above sentence to be the epitome of a good independent clause. On closer scrutiny, the comma is the eye in the ointment. We have two sentences there and the comma is not the right punctuation mark to use. It is all that simple but is it? The common error continues to haunt many students and some adults find it hard as well to use the appropriate punctuation mark which separates sentence.
The full stop and the semi colon can be used instead of the comma. That is if we decide not to use a conjunction.
(i) We need to burn the midnight oil. If we do so, we will pass with flying colours.
(ii) We need to burn the midnight oil; if we do so, we will pass with flying colours.
It is instructive that a conjunction can be used to join the run on sentences and comma splices.
We will come back to them in a future article.
English opens horizons one never thought one could see.
