A dangling modifier is a modifier that does not have a subject within the sentence. In contrast, a misplaced modifier does have a subject, but the modifier and the subject being modified are separated.
The following sentence has a dangling modifier:
“Eager to leave the room, the presentation ended early.”
In this sentence, there is no subject indicating who was eager to leave the room.
In contrast, this sentence has a misplaced modifier:
“My mom gave the food to the dog that we wouldn’t eat.”
The placement of the modifier “that we wouldn’t eat” makes it seem as if it is modifying “the dog” instead of “the food.”
A clearer structure would be the following:
“My mom gave the food that we wouldn’t eat to the dog.”
Read this FAQ: What’s the difference between dangling and misplaced modifiers?
Subject-verb agreement for compound subjects can seem complex, but there are two basic rules to keep in mind.
For compound subjects connected with “and,” a plural verb is almost always used (e.g., “Carlos and Elise go to the same school”).
For compound subjects connected with “or” or “nor,” the verb agrees with whichever noun is closest to it (e.g., “Either my parents or my sister picks me up from school” or “Either my sister or my parents pick me up from school”).
Read this FAQ: How does subject-verb agreement work with a compound subject?
Yes, a compound subject can be used in a simple sentence—a sentence that has only one subject-verb pair (e.g., “Terrence and I like to hike).
Compound subjects can be used in all sentence types (i.e., simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex).
When you’re writing with different types of sentences and sentence subjects, the QuillBot Grammar Checker is a quick and easy way to proofread.
Read this FAQ: Can a compound subject be used in a simple sentence?
A sentence contains at least a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.
A sentence fragment is usually missing a subject, a verb, or both (e.g., “Wondering what to cook for dinner”).
In some cases, a clause might have both a subject and a verb, but also a subordinating conjunction. This makes it a dependent clause on its own, which is a sentence fragment (e.g., “After the second Act”).
A simple question to ask yourself to test if you have a sentence fragment is whether the clause contains a complete thought. If it does, then there is probably no problem.
Read this FAQ: What is the difference between a sentence and a sentence fragment?
Sometimes it might take some rewriting to make a sentence fragment better. Rearranging the clauses and adjusting the punctuation can fix a sentence fragment:
- I missed the game on Saturday. Because I had broken my foot.
- Because I had broken my foot, I missed the game on Saturday.
In some cases, you may need to add a missing subject:
- Went shopping.
- I went shopping.
In other cases, you might need to add a subject and a verb:
- Running through the park in the early morning.
- I love running through the park in the early morning.
Read this FAQ: How can I fix a sentence fragment error?
Yes, a statement might have a subject and a verb but still be a sentence fragment. This is especially the case with dependent clauses. When a dependent clause is not connected to an independent clause, it is a sentence fragment:
- When Alex had a birthday party.
- When Alex had a birthday party, I was able to help with the arrangements.
To help you decide, you can ask yourself if the clause expresses a complete thought (e.g., “When Alex had a birthday party, I was able to help with the arrangements”) or if there is information missing (e.g., “When Alex had a birthday party”).
Read this FAQ: Can a sentence contain a subject and a verb but still be a sentence fragment?
At its simplest, a sentence contains a subject and a verb (e.g., “Sarah woke up”). If there is no verb or no subject, then it’s usually a sentence fragment.
Another way of testing whether you’re dealing with a sentence fragment is to ask yourself if it expresses a complete thought. If it doesn’t, then it is a sentence fragment (e.g., “No luck today”).
Look for clauses that leave you needing more information to fully understand them (e.g., “Yesterday at the hospital”).
Read this FAQ: How can I identify a sentence fragment?
Like all correlative conjunctions, “not only … but also” does not typically require a comma (e.g., “The weather forecast calls for not only rain but also hail”).
The one exception to this is when it is used to join two independent clauses, which each have a subject and a verb (e.g., “Ava not only speaks Spanish, but she also is learning French”). This sentence could also be rephrased to not require a comma (e.g., “Ava not only speaks Spanish but also is learning French”).
A QuillBot grammar check can help ensure you’re using correlative conjunctions correctly.
Read this FAQ: Does “not only but also” require a comma?
Coordinating conjunctions are single words that are used to link grammatically equal elements (e.g., “cheese and crackers”). There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: “for,” “and,” “nor,” “but,” “or,” “yet,” and “so.”
Subordinating conjunctions are words or phrases that are used at the beginning of a dependent clause (e.g., “until,” “if,” “even though”). They show the relationship between a dependent clause and an independent clause.
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of words that show the relationship between two grammatically equal elements (e.g., “either pizza or pasta”). The most common correlative conjunctions are “either … or,” “neither … nor,” “both … and,” and “not only … but also.”
A QuillBot grammar check can ensure you’re using the different types of conjunctions correctly.
Read this FAQ: What is the difference between coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions?
The interrogative adverbs are “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how.” They are used to ask questions about time, location, reason, or manner (e.g., “Where do you want to go for dinner?”).
These words are known as interrogative adverbs because the answers they prompt are adverbs, adverb phrases, or adverb clauses.
Interrogative adverbs are part of a larger group of words referred to as “interrogatives.” These words (typically starting with “wh-”) are used to form questions.
Read this FAQ: What is an interrogative adverb?
