GED Reasoning Through Language Arts
Sentence Structure: Fragments & Run-ons
A complete sentence needs a subject, a verb, and a finished thought. A fragment is missing one of those. A run-on jams two complete sentences together without proper glue. Both are the test's favorite editing errors, and both have mechanical fixes.
The words first
- fragment
- a piece posing as a sentence: "Because the rain started."
- run-on
- two full sentences fused: "The rain started we left."
- comma splice
- a run-on glued with only a comma: "The rain started, we left."
- independent clause
- a group of words that could stand alone as a sentence
The method
THE STAND-ALONE TEST
Say the words alone. Complete thought?
"The storm knocked out power." ✓ sentence
"Because the storm knocked out power." ✗ because leaves you hanging
FOUR LEGAL WAYS TO JOIN TWO SENTENCES
1. Period: The rain started. We left.
2. Comma + FANBOYS: The rain started, so we left.
(for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
3. Semicolon: The rain started; we left.
4. Subordinate: When the rain started, we left.
A COMMA ALONE IS NOT GLUE
✗ The rain started, we left. (comma splice)
Worked all the way through
The problem
Fix this: "The library extended its hours, students still complained about crowding."
- Step 1 — Test each half alone."The library extended its hours" ✓ full sentence. "Students still complained about crowding" ✓ full sentence.
- Step 2 — Look at the glue between them.Only a comma. Two full sentences + comma = comma splice.
- Step 3 — Pick a legal glue.The two ideas contrast, so comma + but fits best: "…extended its hours, but students still complained." A semicolon also works.
On the board
half 1: full sentence ✓
half 2: full sentence ✓
glue: a bare comma ✗
comma splice
fix: comma + but
contrast between the halves
…hours, but students still complained.
Answer
The library extended its hours, but students still complained about crowding.
A second one, in a different form
Is this a sentence? "While the committee reviewed the final budget proposal from the mayor's office."
starts with "while"
leaves you waiting
no finished thought
while they reviewed… THEN what?
fragment ✗
fix: delete While, or finish it
"…office, the staff waited."
Answer
No — a fragment. Delete "While" or attach the waiting main clause.
The usual mistake
Hearing a long sentence as correct because it sounds like natural speech.
Check yourself
Read the words after the comma out loud by themselves. If they could be their own sentence, a bare comma is not allowed to hold them — you need a period, a semicolon, or comma + and/but/so.
Practice it
Reading a worked example is not the same as doing one. score145 generates fresh Language Arts questions on this and 17 other topics, scores them on the real 100–200 scale, and keeps every question you miss so it comes back. Try five questions free with no account; a plan opens the full practice tests $6.99 a month, 3 days free.
Try 5 questions free →