Week 14 · Chapter

Chapter 14 — Editing: Grammar, Mechanics & Common Errors

English Composition Free sample edition

The module's primary reading · ~40–50 minutes · Objective 7 (revise globally and edit locally: re-see a draft's thesis, structure, argument, and evidence; then sharpen sentences for concision, variety, emphasis, and voice; and correct the most common surface errors — fragments, comma splices, fused sentences, agreement, pronoun reference, apostrophes, and commas), Objective 1 (analyze the rhetorical situation — writer, audience, purpose, genre, and context — and approach writing as a recursive process of invention, drafting, revision, editing, and reflection, distinguishing revision (re-seeing ideas and structure) from editing (sentences and surface)) · Read it first this week; the lecture, the tutorial, the quiz, and the Writing Studio all build on it.

In plain language

This week is the last pass on a draft: catching the small errors that make a reader stop trusting you. You learn to proofread (check a finished draft slowly for surface errors) as a skill with three moves. Then you learn one tool, the independent clause (a word group that can stand alone as a sentence), and use it to find the three errors at sentence boundaries: a sentence that is missing its core, two sentences joined by a comma alone, and two sentences run together with nothing between them. You also match verbs to their subjects, point pronouns at one clear word, place apostrophes, and put every comma to work. You practice on eight short error sentences written for this course, a neighborhood newsletter notice, and the running draft's revised paragraph.

Why you already care about this

Picture a cover letter for a job you really want. You read it three times before you hit send. Two hours later, you open it again and see it: "The company and it's mission." One small apostrophe, sitting in the first paragraph, where the hiring manager read it first.

Or picture a text to a landlord about a broken heater: "The heater stopped last night the apartment is cold." You meant two sentences. The landlord read one long breath. Neither mistake changed what you meant to say. Both changed what the reader thought of the person saying it.

Here is why you missed them. When you reread your own writing, your brain reads what you meant, not what you typed. It fills in the missing word and skips the extra apostrophe. That is not carelessness; it is how reading works. The cure is a set of habits that make you see the page the way a stranger sees it. This chapter gives you those habits and one tool that diagnoses most sentence errors at once.

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

proofread a draft with three moves: read it aloud, make it unfamiliar, and hunt one error type at a time;
find the independent and dependent clauses in any sentence;
identify a fragment, a comma splice, and a fused sentence with the clause test, whatever their length;
repair a comma splice or a fused sentence five different ways and choose the fix that fits;
match a verb to its real subject and a pronoun to one clear antecedent;
place an apostrophe for possession or a contraction, and choose between "its" and "it's";
place a comma after an introductory element, before a coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses, and around a nonessential aside;
test a chatbot's grammar fix before you accept it.

Carry this sentence with you: count the clauses — not the words — then check the joint.

Where we are

Already covered: Week 1, The Writing Process & the Rhetorical Situation, placed proofreading as the last surface pass inside editing. Week 3, The Paragraph, introduced two comma moves from the course's sentence-error set and the seven coordinating conjunctions. Week 12, The Research-Based Argument, added the citation (Beland and Murphy 61) to the running draft's revised paragraph. Week 13, Revision & Style, separated global revision from local editing and taught you to combine sentences by coordination and subordination.
This week: editing for grammar, mechanics, and the common errors. You proofread on purpose, find the clauses, and name the fragment, the comma splice, and the fused sentence. Then you use the five valid fixes, match verbs and pronouns, place apostrophes and commas, and test a chatbot's corrections.
How they connect: Week 13's global pass decided what your draft says. This week's local pass makes sure each sentence says it without a stumble.
Where we're going next: Week 15, Reflection & the Writing Portfolio, asks you to look back at the whole term's writing and show, with evidence, what you learned to do.

Three earlier ideas carry this chapter. From Week 1, editing improves a draft's sentences and surface, and proofreading is the last, slow check inside it. From Week 3, a coordinating conjunction is one of the seven words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, and a comma comes before one only when it joins two independent clauses. From Week 13, the main clause is the part of a sentence that could stand alone, and subordination makes one idea depend on another with a word such as "because" or "although". This week those three ideas become one editing tool.

1. Proofread on purpose

Think about the last time you lost your keys and they were sitting in plain sight on the counter. You looked right at them. Your eyes were searching for "keys in a pocket", so they skipped "keys on the counter". Proofreading your own draft fails the same way: you look for what you meant, and you skip what is there.

Proofreading moves are the three habits that turn proofreading into a skill: reading the draft aloud, making the draft unfamiliar so you stop reading from memory, and hunting one error type at a time.

Read it aloud. Your ear catches what your eye skips. A missing word makes you stumble, and two sentences with no break between them make you run out of breath.
Make it unfamiliar. Change the font or its size, print the draft, or read it one sentence at a time from the last sentence up. A draft that looks new stops triggering your memory of what you meant.
Hunt one error type at a time. Make one pass for sentence boundaries, one for agreement, one for apostrophes, and one for commas. A search for everything at once tends to find nothing.

Worked example — three moves on one sentence. The sentence is illustrative, written for this course: "Gloves are in the shed, the city will supply bags."

Read it aloud. Your voice wants to stop hard after "shed", but the comma tells you only to pause. That mismatch is a clue.
Make it unfamiliar. Read it alone, away from the paragraph around it. Now you can see two complete thoughts, each able to stand by itself.
Hunt one type. On your boundary pass, you ask one question: how many sentences are inside this one? You find two, held together by a comma alone. Section 4 names that error.

In words: the three moves did not fix the sentence. They made you see it. Seeing it comes first.

In practice (your tools). In Microsoft Word, Review › Read Aloud reads your draft in a computer voice, so you hear it the way a stranger would. In any word processor, select all the text and change the font or its size before your final pass. Use Find (Ctrl+F, or Command+F on a Mac) to hunt one error type at a time: search for "it's" and test each one, then search for each comma and ask what job it is doing.

Misconception check — "editing is running spell-check." Students often think that once the spell-checker shows no red lines, the draft is edited. It is tempting because the software looks thorough. But spell-check reads words one at a time. It cannot hear a comma splice, it does not know whether you meant "its" or "it's", and it cannot tell a fragment from a sentence. The cure is to treat spell-check as the first step of proofreading, never the last.

2. Find the clauses

Picture a train. An engine can run down the track on its own. A passenger car can carry people, but it cannot move unless it is hooked to an engine. Sentences are built the same way, and the engine is the independent clause.

A clause is a word group with a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a verb (what the subject does or is). Clauses come in two kinds.

An independent clause is a word group with a subject and a verb that can stand alone as a sentence, such as "The library closes at ten."
A dependent clause is a word group with a subject and a verb that cannot stand alone, because it opens with a word such as "because", "although", "when", or "which"; it has to lean on an independent clause.

The opening word is what changes everything. "The library closes at ten" is an engine. Put "Because" in front of it, and it becomes a passenger car: "Because the library closes at ten" still has a subject and a verb, but now it leaves the reader waiting for the rest.

Here is the one tool for the rest of this chapter. The clause test is the one check for every sentence-boundary error: count the independent clauses in a sentence, then look at what joins them.

Worked example — the clause test, four outcomes. The results come from the sentences in the next three sections.

0 independent clauses: the word group is a fragment.
2 independent clauses joined by a comma alone: a comma splice.
2 independent clauses joined by nothing at all: a fused sentence.
2 independent clauses joined by one of the five valid fixes: a correct sentence.

In words: you never have to guess whether a sentence "sounds too long" or "feels choppy". You count, and you look at the joint.

A sentence-boundary error is a mistake in where one sentence ends and the next begins; the three kinds are the fragment, the comma splice, and the fused sentence.

Misconception check — "a subject and a verb make a sentence." Students often think any word group with a subject and a verb is a complete sentence. It is tempting because that is the rule many of us learned first. But "Because the library closes at ten" has a subject and a verb, and it is not a sentence. The cure is to check the first word too. If it is a word like "because", "although", or "when", the clause is dependent and needs an engine.

3. Name the fragment

You have probably seen a notice taped to a door that reads, "Because of the storm." You wait for the rest. Is the office closed? Is the meeting moved? The notice stops right where the news should start. That is a fragment.

A fragment is a word group punctuated as a sentence that has no independent clause, most often a dependent clause cut off from the sentence it belongs to; its length is not the test.

Worked example — the sentence-error set's fragment (item 1). The item and its corrected form are illustrative, written for this course.

The item: "Because the library closes at ten."
The clause test: the subject is "the library", and the verb is "closes". But "Because" makes the clause dependent, so the word group has 0 independent clauses. It is a fragment.
The cure: join it to an independent clause that finishes the thought. "Because the library closes at ten, the study group meets in the dining hall."
Check again: the dependent clause now leans on 1 independent clause, "the study group meets in the dining hall". The comma marks where the dependent clause ends.

In words: the fragment was not too short. It was missing its engine, and the fix supplied one.

Worked example — length is not the test. Both word groups are illustrative, written for this course.

A long fragment: "Although the neighborhood committee spent three long meetings arguing about the new bus schedule and the fare change." It is 18 words, and "Although" leaves it with 0 independent clauses. It is a fragment.
A short sentence: "Riders complained." It is 2 words, with a subject ("Riders") and a verb ("complained") and no word that makes it dependent. It has 1 independent clause, so it is a complete sentence.

In words: 18 words with no engine is a fragment; 2 words with an engine is a sentence. Count clauses, not words.

Misconception check — "a fragment is always short." Students often hunt for fragments by looking for short sentences. It is tempting because many fragments are short. But the long committee sentence shows that a word group can run on and on and still lack an independent clause. Meanwhile "Riders complained." is complete. The cure is the clause test: count the engines, not the words.

Pause and think. Choose one of these two options.

(a) Think of a sign, a menu, or a text message you have seen that stopped mid-thought, and say what independent clause would have finished it.
(b) Think of a very short sentence you have written that you worried was "too short", and say whether it passes the clause test.

4. Spot the comma splice and the fused sentence

Imagine two people talking on a walkie-talkie. Each one says "over" when they finish, so the other knows it is safe to talk. If one of them forgets to say "over", the two voices pile on top of each other. Sentences need a signal at the handoff too.

A comma splice is two independent clauses joined by a comma alone, with no coordinating conjunction after the comma.
A fused sentence is two independent clauses run together with no punctuation and no joining word between them; it is also called a run-on, and its length is not the test.

Worked example — the bus sentence, a comma splice. The sentence is illustrative, written for this course on the comma-splice shape of the sentence-error set.

The sentence: "The bus was late, the meeting started without us."
Count: "The bus was late" can stand alone. "the meeting started without us" can stand alone. That is 2 independent clauses.
Check the joint: a comma, and nothing else. A comma by itself is a pause, not a full stop, so it cannot hold two sentences apart. It is a comma splice.

Worked example — the sentence-error set's fused sentence (item 3). The item and its corrected form are illustrative, written for this course.

The item: "I read the essay aloud I caught two run-ons."
Count: "I read the essay aloud" and "I caught two run-ons" are 2 independent clauses.
Check the joint: nothing at all sits between "aloud" and "I". It is a fused sentence.
The corrected form: "I read the essay aloud, and I caught two run-ons." A comma plus the coordinating conjunction "and" now holds the two clauses together correctly.

Worked example — a long sentence that is not a run-on. The sentence is Strunk's, copied exactly from Rule 13 of The Elements of Style, "Omit needless words": "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."

Length: 30 words.
Count: "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words" is 1 independent clause. "a paragraph no unnecessary sentences" has no verb of its own; it borrows "should contain" from the first clause, so it cannot stand alone. "for the same reason that…" is a phrase that explains the rule, not a second independent clause.
Result: 1 independent clause. The sentence is correct, however long it is.

In words: the bus sentence is short and wrong; Strunk's sentence is long and right. The test is the clause count and the joint, never the length.

The corrected item 3 shows one more thing. "I read the essay aloud, and I caught two run-ons." is a compound sentence, a sentence made of two or more independent clauses joined correctly, for example by a comma plus a coordinating conjunction or by a semicolon. A comma splice and a compound sentence can hold the very same two clauses. The difference is the joint.

Misconception check — "a long sentence is a run-on." Students often call any long sentence a run-on and chop it up. It is tempting because "run-on" sounds like "runs on too long". But a run-on is two independent clauses with nothing between them, at any length. Strunk's 30-word sentence has 1 independent clause and is correct. The cure is to count clauses before you cut.

Misconception check — a comma splice confused with a compound sentence. Students also mix up the comma splice and the correct compound sentence, because both have two clauses and a comma. The difference is one word: a compound sentence puts a coordinating conjunction after the comma, and a comma splice has the comma alone.

5. Use the five valid fixes

Think of five ways to connect two train cars: a hook, a chain, a bar, a coupling, a cable. Each one works, but each one suits a different load. The fixes for a comma splice work the same way.

The five valid fixes are the course's five repairs for a comma splice or a fused sentence: a period, a semicolon, a comma plus a coordinating conjunction, subordinating one clause, or a dash or colon where it fits.

Worked example — five repairs of the bus sentence. The sentence and its repairs are illustrative, written for this course. The splice: "The bus was late, the meeting started without us."

A period: "The bus was late. The meeting started without us." Two sentences, each with its own full stop.
A semicolon, a punctuation mark that joins two closely related independent clauses on its own, without a coordinating conjunction: "The bus was late; the meeting started without us."
A comma plus a coordinating conjunction: "The bus was late, so the meeting started without us."
Subordinating one clause: "Because the bus was late, the meeting started without us." The first clause now depends on the second.
A dash: "The bus was late — the meeting started without us."

That is 5 repairs of 1 error. Each one is correct, and each one sounds a little different. The period gives two separate facts. The semicolon says the facts belong together. The dash adds a jolt.

Now check what fixes 3 and 4 add. The words "so" and "because" claim that the late bus caused the meeting to start without us. That is a claim about the world, not only about punctuation. Use those fixes only when the cause is true. If you do not know why the meeting started, the period or the semicolon is the honest choice.

Worked example — the non-fix. A writer tries to repair the bus sentence by adding another comma: "The bus was late, the meeting, started without us."

Count: still 2 independent clauses, still joined by a comma alone. The splice is still there.
Check the new comma: it sits between the subject, "the meeting", and its verb, "started". That is a second error.

In words: a comma cannot do a period's job, and two commas cannot do it either.

Misconception check — a comma splice "fixed" by adding another comma. Students often sense that something is wrong with a splice and add a comma to "help". It is tempting because commas seem like the all-purpose patch. But the problem is at the joint between two independent clauses, and no number of commas closes it. The cure is to choose one of the five valid fixes.

6. Find the real subject

Picture a box of crayons on a classroom table. Someone asks, "Is the box of crayons on the table?" Nobody says, "Are the box of crayons." You know without thinking that the box is what sits there, not the crayons. In a short sentence your ear gets agreement right. In a longer sentence, a phrase in the middle can fool it.

Subject–verb agreement is the match between a verb and its real subject in number, so a singular subject takes a singular verb even when a plural noun sits between them.

Worked example — the sentence-error set's agreement item (item 4). The item and its corrected form are illustrative, written for this course.

The item: "The list of sources are on the last page."
Find the phrase in the middle: "of sources". Cover it with your finger.
Read what is left: "The list … are on the last page." The real subject is "list", which is one thing.
Match the verb: one list "is". Corrected: "The list of sources is on the last page."

In words: "sources" sat right next to the verb and pulled your ear toward "are", but the list is what is on the page.

Misconception check — the verb matched to the nearest noun. Students often match the verb to whatever noun comes right before it. It is tempting because that noun is the loudest one in your ear. But the noun inside a phrase such as "of sources" or "of volunteers" is never the subject. The cure is to cover the phrase and match the verb to the word that is left.

7. Point every pronoun at one thing

Imagine a friend telling you, "My sister called my mom, and she was upset." Who was upset, the sister or the mom? You have to ask. A pronoun is a shortcut, and a shortcut only helps when everyone knows where it leads.

An antecedent is the word a pronoun stands for, such as "the tutor" in a sentence where "she" later refers back to the tutor.
Pronoun reference is the link between a pronoun and its antecedent, which should point to one clear word so the reader never has to guess who or what is meant.

A pronoun also agrees with its antecedent: one writer, "they" or "she" or "he"; two writers, "they".

Worked example — the sentence-error set's pronoun item (item 5). The item and its corrected form are illustrative, written for this course.

The item: "When the tutor met with the writer, she suggested a new thesis."
Find the pronoun: "she".
Find the possible antecedents: "the tutor" and "the writer". That is 2 people, and "she" could point to either one.
Name the person: "When the tutor met with the writer, the tutor suggested a new thesis." Now the reader knows who made the suggestion.

In words: when a pronoun could point to two people, replace it with the name of the one you mean.

Singular they is the use of "they" for one person, which the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., accepts both for a person who uses "they" and when a person's gender is unknown or beside the point. In the illustrative sentence "Every neighbor should bring their own water.", the word "their" refers to one neighbor, whose gender is unknown and does not matter, so it is accepted. Where a reader or an assignment expects a plural, you can rephrase: "Neighbors should bring their own water."

Misconception check — "they can never mean one person." Students often mark every singular "they" as an agreement error. It is tempting because older rules said so. But the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., the style guide this course follows, accepts it. The cure is to check two things: is the antecedent clear, and does the paper's audience expect a plural? If the antecedent is clear, singular "they" is correct; rephrasing to a plural is a choice, not a correction.

8. Place the apostrophe

Think of a café sign that reads "Todays special's". It probably still sells soup. But a reader notices, and the noticing costs the café a little trust. Apostrophes are tiny, and readers see them anyway.

An apostrophe does two jobs, and only two.

A possessive is the form of a noun that shows ownership or belonging, usually made with an apostrophe and an s, as in "the essay's thesis".
A contraction is two words shortened into one, with an apostrophe marking the missing letters, as in "it's" for "it is".

One group of words breaks the pattern. A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that shows ownership on its own, such as "its", "hers", "ours", or "theirs", and never takes an apostrophe.

Worked example — the sentence-error set's apostrophe item (item 6). The item and its corrected form are illustrative, written for this course.

The item: "The essays thesis is in it's last sentence."
Test "essays": the thesis belongs to one essay, so it needs a possessive. "essays" becomes "essay's".
Test "it's" by reading it as "it is": "The essay's thesis is in it is last sentence." The sentence breaks. So this word is not a contraction; it shows belonging, and the possessive pronoun is "its".
Count: 2 apostrophe errors, one missing and one extra. Corrected: "The essay's thesis is in its last sentence."

In words: an apostrophe marks either who owns something or which letters are missing. "Its" already shows ownership, so it needs no apostrophe.

Misconception check — "it's" as the possessive. Students often write "it's" for belonging, because every other possessive seems to need an apostrophe. It is tempting because "the dog's bowl" has one. But possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe, the same way "his" and "hers" never do. The cure is the "it is" test: if "it is" does not fit, write "its".

Pause and think. Choose one of these two options.

(a) Think of a sign, a menu, or a social media post where you noticed an apostrophe error, and say how it changed what you thought of the writer.
(b) Think of a word you often hesitate over when writing, such as "its" and "it's" or "your" and "you're", and write the test you will use to decide.

9. Put each comma to work

Picture a hiking trail with markers. Each marker tells you something: turn here, rest here, a side path splits off here. A trail with markers everywhere is as confusing as a trail with none. A comma is a marker, and every comma should have a job.

This week you use three comma jobs and one semicolon job.

A comma follows an introductory element, a word, phrase, or clause that comes before the main clause.
A comma comes before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses.
Commas set off a nonessential aside, a part of a sentence that adds information but could be lifted out without changing who or what the sentence means; commas set it off on both sides.
A semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses on its own, as in section 5.

Worked example — the two comma items from the sentence-error set (items 7 and 8). The items and their corrected forms are illustrative, written for this course.

Item 7: "After the class finished its peer review the draft doubled in length." → "After the class finished its peer review, the draft doubled in length." The comma marks where the introductory element ends and the main clause begins.
Item 8: "The claim is clear but the evidence is thin." → "The claim is clear, but the evidence is thin." "The claim is clear" and "the evidence is thin" are 2 independent clauses, and "but" joins them, so a comma goes before "but". The corrected form is a compound sentence.

Worked example — an "and" that needs no comma. The sentence is illustrative, written for this course: "The claim is clear and specific." Here "and" joins 2 words, "clear" and "specific", not 2 independent clauses. No comma goes before it.

Worked example — the nonessential aside. The sentences are illustrative, written for a cover letter.

"My current supervisor, who trained me on the scheduling software, has agreed to serve as a reference."
Lift out the part between the commas: "My current supervisor has agreed to serve as a reference." You still know exactly which person is meant, because you have one current supervisor. The aside is nonessential, so the commas stay.
Compare: "The applicant who interviewed first got the job." Lift out "who interviewed first" and the sentence no longer says which applicant. That clause is essential, so it takes no commas.

In words: a comma marks the end of an opening, the joint between two independent clauses, or the edges of an aside you could lift out. A comma with none of those jobs probably does not belong.

Misconception check — "every and needs a comma before it." Students often put a comma before every "and" and "but". It is tempting because the rule they remember is "comma before and". But the rule is narrower: a comma goes before a coordinating conjunction only when it joins two independent clauses. In "clear and specific", the "and" joins two words, so no comma belongs there.

10. Proofread one error type at a time

A mechanic checking a car before a long trip does not stare at the whole engine at once. She checks the oil, then the brakes, then the tires, one system at a time. A paragraph full of errors gives up its problems the same way: one type per pass.

Worked example — the newsletter notice. The notice is illustrative, written for this course and attributed to no one. Before:

"Our block's cleanup day starts at nine. Gloves are in the shed, the city will supply bags. The list of volunteers are posted on the community board. Each street has it's own crew leader. Because the park closes at dusk. Volunteers should finish by five. Every neighbor should bring their own water the forecast calls for heat."

It has 7 word groups punctuated as sentences.

Pass 1, boundaries. Run the clause test on every word group. "Gloves are in the shed, the city will supply bags." is a comma splice. "Because the park closes at dusk." is a fragment. "Every neighbor should bring their own water the forecast calls for heat." is a fused sentence. That is 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 boundary errors.
Pass 2, agreement. "The list of volunteers are" fails: cover "of volunteers", and one list "is". That is 1 error. The "their" in the last sentence refers to one neighbor whose gender is unknown, so it is singular "they" and is accepted. It is not an error.
Pass 3, apostrophes. "it's own" fails the "it is" test, so it should be "its". That is 1 error. "block's" shows that the cleanup day belongs to the block, so it is a correct possessive.
Pass 4, commas. After the repairs, every comma has a job, and none is missing.
The count: 3 + 1 + 1 = 5 errors in 7 word groups, so 7 − 5 = 2 word groups were correct as written.

After:

"Our block's cleanup day starts at nine. Gloves are in the shed, and the city will supply bags. The list of volunteers is posted on the community board. Each street has its own crew leader. Because the park closes at dusk, volunteers should finish by five. Every neighbor should bring their own water; the forecast calls for heat."

The splice took a comma plus "and". The fragment joined the sentence after it, so the notice now has 7 − 1 = 6 sentences. The fused sentence took a semicolon, because the heat forecast is the reason for the water.

Worked example — proofreading the running draft. The paragraph is the running draft's revised body paragraph (Model A, Stage 4), with the citation Week 12 added. It is illustrative and attributed to no one.

"The strongest reason for a phone-free default is that the benefit is not spread evenly. Research on schools that banned phones found the gain in exam results concentrated among the lowest-achieving students, while higher-achieving students were largely unaffected (Beland and Murphy 61). That pattern matters for a policy decision: a rule that costs most students little and helps the students with the least slack is a rule a college can defend. The same logic explains why an exception for documented needs does not undo the policy — it protects the students the policy exists for."

Pass 1, boundaries: 4 sentences and 0 boundary errors. In sentence 2, "while higher-achieving students were largely unaffected" is a dependent clause, and the comma before "while" sets it off correctly.
Look at the joints. The colon in sentence 3 joins 2 independent clauses, and the second explains the first. The dash in sentence 4 joins 2 independent clauses too. So the paragraph already uses 2 of the 5 valid fixes.
Passes 2 and 3: "The strongest reason … is", "Research … found", and "That pattern matters" all agree with their real subjects, and the paragraph has no apostrophes to test.

In words: a proofreading pass that finds nothing is not wasted. It tells you the sentences are ready, and it shows you which joints a later "fix" must not break.

Here is an honest caveat. The four passes here are a classroom routine, not a law. On a short email, one careful read-aloud may be enough. On an essay you will be graded on, separate passes catch what one read misses.

Misconception check — "one careful read catches everything." Students often reread a draft once, slowly, looking for every kind of error at the same time. It is tempting because one read feels efficient. But attention spread across everything lands on nothing. The cure is separate passes, each with one question.

11. Check the machine: the fix that broke a sentence

Chatbots are fluent, and fluency feels like correctness. Ask one to "fix the grammar" and it hands back a smooth version in seconds. Some of its changes are right. Some "fix" sentences that were already correct, and some swap one error for another.

The course rule for every chatbot moment holds here: the tool drafts, and the writer judges. Test every change with two questions. Does the clause test still pass? Does the sentence still mean what you meant?

Worked example — three machine changes. The exchanges are described in words, as illustrations written for this course and attributed to no product.

A correct sentence "fixed". You ask a chatbot to fix the grammar in Strunk's 30-word sentence. It calls the sentence a run-on and splits it into 3 sentences. Run the clause test: 1 independent clause, so nothing was broken. You keep Strunk's sentence.
A comma moved instead of the boundary fixed. You give it "I read the essay aloud I caught two run-ons." It returns "I read the essay aloud, I caught two run-ons." Count: still 2 independent clauses, now joined by a comma alone. The fused sentence became a comma splice. You use one of the five valid fixes instead.
The meaning changed. You ask it to make the running draft's last sentence "flow better". It swaps the dash for a comma: "The same logic explains why an exception for documented needs does not undo the policy, it protects the students the policy exists for." That is a comma splice. Given the tutor sentence, it returns "When the tutor met with the writer, the writer suggested a new thesis." That is grammatical, but now the writer made the suggestion, not the tutor. You reject both changes and keep the corrected forms.

In words: a grammar fix is a draft to check, not a verdict. If a change fails the clause test or changes the meaning, it is not a fix.

Here is one more limitation to keep in mind. A chatbot may also give you a grammar rule that sounds official, such as "never start a sentence with because". That rule is false: section 3 starts a correct sentence with "Because". Check any rule a chatbot states against this chapter or a handbook before you follow it.

Misconception check — "the chatbot's correction is right because it sounds polished." Students often accept a chatbot's version because it reads smoothly. It is tempting because smooth prose feels finished. But the machine does not know what you meant, and it misreads clause structure more often than its confident tone suggests. The cure is to compare each change with your original, sentence by sentence, and run the clause test on every one.

Key terms

proofreading moves — The three habits that turn proofreading into a skill: reading the draft aloud, making the draft unfamiliar so you stop reading from memory, and hunting one error type at a time. (first used: 1. Proofread on purpose)
independent clause — A word group with a subject and a verb that can stand alone as a sentence, such as "The library closes at ten." (first used: 2. Find the clauses)
dependent clause — A word group with a subject and a verb that cannot stand alone, because it opens with a word such as "because", "although", "when", or "which"; it has to lean on an independent clause. (first used: 2. Find the clauses)
clause test — The one check for every sentence-boundary error: count the independent clauses in a sentence, then look at what joins them. (first used: 2. Find the clauses)
sentence-boundary error — A mistake in where one sentence ends and the next begins; the three kinds are the fragment, the comma splice, and the fused sentence. (first used: 2. Find the clauses)
fragment — A word group punctuated as a sentence that has no independent clause, most often a dependent clause cut off from the sentence it belongs to; its length is not the test. (first used: 3. Name the fragment)
comma splice — Two independent clauses joined by a comma alone, with no coordinating conjunction after the comma. (first used: 4. Spot the comma splice and the fused sentence)
fused sentence — Two independent clauses run together with no punctuation and no joining word between them; it is also called a run-on, and its length is not the test. (first used: 4. Spot the comma splice and the fused sentence)
compound sentence — A sentence made of two or more independent clauses joined correctly, for example by a comma plus a coordinating conjunction or by a semicolon. (first used: 4. Spot the comma splice and the fused sentence)
five valid fixes — The course's five repairs for a comma splice or a fused sentence: a period, a semicolon, a comma plus a coordinating conjunction, subordinating one clause, or a dash or colon where it fits. (first used: 5. Use the five valid fixes)
semicolon — A punctuation mark that joins two closely related independent clauses on its own, without a coordinating conjunction. (first used: 5. Use the five valid fixes)
subject–verb agreement — The match between a verb and its real subject in number, so a singular subject takes a singular verb even when a plural noun sits between them. (first used: 6. Find the real subject)
antecedent — The word a pronoun stands for, such as "the tutor" in a sentence where "she" later refers back to the tutor. (first used: 7. Point every pronoun at one thing)
pronoun reference — The link between a pronoun and its antecedent, which should point to one clear word so the reader never has to guess who or what is meant. (first used: 7. Point every pronoun at one thing)
singular they — The use of "they" for one person, which the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., accepts both for a person who uses "they" and when a person's gender is unknown or beside the point. (first used: 7. Point every pronoun at one thing)
possessive — The form of a noun that shows ownership or belonging, usually made with an apostrophe and an s, as in "the essay's thesis". (first used: 8. Place the apostrophe)
contraction — Two words shortened into one, with an apostrophe marking the missing letters, as in "it's" for "it is". (first used: 8. Place the apostrophe)
possessive pronoun — A pronoun that shows ownership on its own, such as "its", "hers", "ours", or "theirs", and never takes an apostrophe. (first used: 8. Place the apostrophe)
nonessential aside — A part of a sentence that adds information but could be lifted out without changing who or what the sentence means; commas set it off on both sides. (first used: 9. Put each comma to work)

Summary

Proofread with three moves: read aloud, make it unfamiliar, hunt one error type at a time.
Spell-check cannot hear a comma splice.
Count the independent clauses, then check what joins them.
A fragment has no independent clause, at any length.
A comma splice joins two independent clauses with a comma alone; a fused sentence joins them with nothing.
Fix a splice or a run-on with a period, a semicolon, a comma plus a coordinating conjunction, subordination, or a dash or colon.
Match the verb to the real subject, not the nearest noun.
Point every pronoun at one clear antecedent; singular they is accepted.
An apostrophe marks possession or a contraction; "its" never takes one.
Every comma needs a job: after an opening, before a joining conjunction, around an aside.
A chatbot's grammar fix is a draft until it passes the clause test and keeps your meaning.

Check your understanding

Work these before looking at the answers — they are ungraded, and the answers (with reasoning) are at the bottom of the page.

An illustrative line from a food truck's menu board, attributed to no one: "Since the grill heats up slowly on cold mornings and the first batch of tortillas always takes the longest." How many independent clauses does it have, what is the error, and how would you fix it?
An illustrative message in a team chat at a warehouse, attributed to no one: "The shipment arrived early, the forklift is still broken." Name the error, then write two different valid fixes, one that claims a relation between the clauses and one that does not.
An illustrative sentence from a lab report, attributed to no one: "The set of test tubes were labeled before the trial." Find the real subject, then correct the verb.
An illustrative museum sign, attributed to no one: "The museum and it's gift shop are open late, visitors can enter until nine." Find every error and write the corrected sign.

Answers (worked reasoning — read after attempting)

It has 0 independent clauses. "Since" makes "the grill heats up slowly on cold mornings" dependent, and "the first batch of tortillas always takes the longest" is joined to it by "and", so it sits inside the same dependent clause. It is a fragment, even at 19 words. One fix is to finish the thought with an independent clause: "Since the grill heats up slowly on cold mornings and the first batch of tortillas always takes the longest, the truck opens at eight." This item catches the belief that a fragment is always short.
It is a comma splice: "The shipment arrived early" and "the forklift is still broken" are 2 independent clauses joined by a comma alone. A fix that claims no relation: "The shipment arrived early; the forklift is still broken." or a period between them. A fix that claims a relation: "The shipment arrived early, but the forklift is still broken." The word "but" says the two facts pull against each other, which is true here: the boxes are in, and there is no way to move them. This item practices choosing a fix whose relation is true.
Cover "of test tubes". What is left is "The set … were labeled", and the real subject is "set", one thing. Corrected: "The set of test tubes was labeled before the trial." This item catches the verb matched to the nearest noun.
There are 2 errors, so make 2 passes. On the boundary pass, "The museum and its gift shop are open late" and "visitors can enter until nine" are 2 independent clauses joined by a comma alone, a comma splice. The second clause explains the first, so a semicolon or a colon fits. On the apostrophe pass, "it's" fails the "it is" test ("it is gift shop"), so it should be the possessive pronoun "its". The "and" between "The museum" and "its gift shop" joins two nouns, not two independent clauses, so it needs no comma. Corrected: "The museum and its gift shop are open late; visitors can enter until nine." This item catches "it's" as the possessive and the habit of hunting every error type at once.

Next up in this module: the Readings & Resources page, the lecture tutorial, the practice set, and the quiz — and next week, Reflection & the Writing Portfolio uses the before-and-after method you practiced here to show a reader what you learned to do.

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