Writers often make common errors by adding improper punctuation. Identify and explain the sentence structure error in the following sentence:
Terrance has collected sand from all of the exotic islands he’s visited, his favorite sample is the green sand from Hawaii.
This is a comma splice or run-on sentence.
It has two complete sentences joined by a comma.
The sentence structure error in the given sentence is a run-on sentence or a comma splice. A run-on sentence occurs when two independent clauses are incorrectly joined together without proper punctuation or conjunction.
To correct this error, you can employ one of the following methods:
1. Separate the two independent clauses into separate sentences:
- Terrance has collected sand from all of the exotic islands he’s visited. His favorite sample is the green sand from Hawaii.
2. Use a coordinating conjunction to join the independent clauses:
- Terrance has collected sand from all of the exotic islands he’s visited, and his favorite sample is the green sand from Hawaii.
3. Use a semicolon (;) to separate the independent clauses:
- Terrance has collected sand from all of the exotic islands he’s visited; his favorite sample is the green sand from Hawaii.
By applying one of these methods, you can eliminate the run-on sentence error and improve the sentence's structure and clarity.