Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Richards.

Lovely to have you back.

I am working on grammar with you now until the end of this unit.

So last lesson we looked at fragments and this lesson, we're going to move that knowledge on.

Before we can start though, you're going to need, a pen and something to write on.

So some paper or an exercise book if you've got one.

It's really useful as well if you can go somewhere nice and quiet, if you can turn off all your devices, all your notifications and just get really, really focused.

So if you want to pause the video now, get yourself set up and then press "play" when you're ready to begin.

Fantastic.

So hopefully everything that you need and we're ready to get going.

So, today we're going to be going over our definition of a sentence, which we've met last lesson.

And actually we're going to really stretch now our understanding will be much more technical by introducing the term, independent clause.

Once we're secure on that, we're going to look at mistakes that students make all the time when they think about independent clauses.

But also how to correct those errors so that you don't make the same mistakes.

Then you've got a task to do, so you get to have a go and we'll finish with a quiz, like always.

Last lesson we used the phrase, sentence, which is quite a broad term, really when we're thinking about sentences.

So we're going to become much more technical now.

And we're going to use the term independent clause.

This should be a term that you already know either because your teacher's done it with you, or because it was a term that was used earlier on when you looked at subordinate clauses.

But just to make sure in case you can't remember, or you're not very confident, we're going to have a look at it in a little bit more detail and make sure we really understand.

So last lesson, we have this definition of a sentence.

That a sentence contains a subject and a verb.

Which it does and that's true, but we want to be much more technical and much more accurate now, so let's introduce independent clause.

An independent clause is a complete idea which includes a subject, a verb and all the information for it to make sense.

It can be understood by itself.

Now that phrasing should be really familiar 'cause that's actually what we looked at last lesson anyway.

When we thought about fragments.

We have to look for complete ideas, we had to make sure that was a subject, a verb and that we had all the information needed for it to make sense.

So although last lesson we called them sentences, we were actually looking at independent clauses.

Let's makes sure we're really secure on that.

So I've got an example for you here.

I did not like the film.

And, "I did not like the film," is an independent clause.

I have my subject, I have my verb and my verb phrase, which is, "did not like." Now, if I just had, "I did not like," I couldn't understand that by itself.

I don't have all the information I need.

So I have to have this extra bit of information, "the film," in order for it to make sense.

Now you might have heard, "the film," referred to as the object of the sentence.

So the extra information is the object, but it's fine to just call it, extra information.

We must have a subject, a verb and that extra information.

Okay.

You do know this already because we did it last time with fragments and you've done it in your previous grammar work, we're just giving it a new name.

So in a moment, I'm going to ask you to pause the video and complete the definition.

I'd like you to write this down.

An ___ ___ is a complete idea which includes a ___, a ___, and all the ___ for it to make sense.

It can be understood by itself.

Pause the video now, write that down and press play when you're ready.

Nice and easy, right? An independent clause is a complete idea, which includes a subject, a verb and all the information for it to make sense.

It can be understood by itself.

This isn't really anything new.

Like I said, you did this when we did fragments last week and you've done it in your previous grammar work as well.

We're just being really technical now and using the phrase independent clause.

So this term independent clause, it's going to be something that I use quite a lot now throughout this lesson and the lessons that are coming up.

Fantastic.

So, we know what independent clause is we're brilliant at those, but students still make mistakes.

And what we want to do now is, look at some of the mistakes that lots of students make and maybe you make them yourself and then work out how to correct them.

So the first mistake we're going to look at is something called fused sentences.

I've got this example here for us today.

"I did not like the film it was scary." I'm going to use this example a lot in today's lesson to really help us understand.

"I did not like the film it was scary." This is an example of a fused sentence.

So let's look at it in a little bit more detailed.

"Film" and "it" both are referring to the same thing, I did not like the film it was scary.

"It" refers to the film.

So that's great, because our sentence are connected and "it was scary," is giving us that extra information about why we didn't like the film.

But it's not correct.

So if I look at my first independent clause, "I did not like the film," I can see that I've got my subject, my verb phrase and my extra information on my object.

So I have an independent clause there.

Then when I look at, "it was scary," I've actually got an independent clause here as well.

"It," is the subject, "was," is the verb and "scary," is that extra information to help it make sense.

Otherwise I just have, "it was," and I don't get anything in that.

"I did not like the film it was scary." It's this "it" that's the problem.

Because "I did not like the film," "the film," was the extra information.

But now "it," has become the subject of our next independent clause.

So what I need to do is, I need to break that up and the easiest way, its just a full stop and a capital letter.

"I did not like the film.

It was scary." Maybe you know how to do that already, which is brilliant.

We're just going to look in a bit more detail, because full stop and capital letter is not the only way we're going to fix this.

That was an example of a fused sentence.

So a fused sentence is two independent clauses that have been joined without any punctuation, or without using a coordinating conjunction.

Let's just go through that again.

It's two independent clauses that have been joined without any punctuation or without a coordinating conjunction.

If that sounds really familiar, but you've never heard the term fused sentence before it might be because you've heard of it as something else.

You might have heard of it as a run on sentence.

They're the same thing.

It's two independent clauses, that have been joined without any punctuation or coordinating conjunction.

Let's go back to our first example then.

"I did not like the film it was scary." And you can see now that these are two independent clauses.

So independent clause one, "I did not like the film." And independent clause two, "it was scary." And they've not been joined with anything.

There's no punctuation, there's no coordinating conjunction.

So let's look at how to fix it.

And luckily it's really, really easy.

I promise you, so simple.

We look at where one independent clause finishes and the next one starts.

And then like we did before, we can put a full stop and a capital letter.

Nice and easy.

Maybe you want a little bit more variety than that as well.

So we could use a coordinating conjunction, like, "because." "I did not like the film because it was scary." And that means our second independent clause, "it was scary," actually ends up giving us the reason for the first.

"I did not like the film because it was scary." So I have an explanation now.

Could also use something like, "as." "I did not like the film as it was scary.

Again, it just joins my two independent clauses, but now it means that they both relate to each other and they give me a reason as well.

Lastly, I could actually use the semi-colon.

"I did not like the film; it was scary." Now, just like with my coordinating conjunctions, I don't put a capital letter at the start of the second independent clause if I use a semi-colon.

"I did not like the film; it was scary.

And you can see, I haven't a capital letter on "I," 'cause there's a semi-colon.

Doesn't overly matter how you choose to fix a fused sentence.

It doesn't matter if you choose to just, full stop, capital letter and create separate independent clauses or if you choose to use coordinating conjunctions or semi-colon, they're all fine.

What we find is, that when we're writing particularly creative writing, but also in our essays and in our extended writing across all of our subjects.

Is it's quite important that you look at what else you've written, either side of the fused sentence.

If you've already used, "because," or you've already used lots of coordinating conjunctions, you might want to put a full stop and a capital letter so that you really break it up.

And you're not constantly using the same words.

If you've done lots of full stops, capital letters, and you've got lots of really short, independent clauses, because they're all broken by a full stop and capital letters.

It might be nice to put a coordinating conjunction or even a semi-colon in there and have some variety.

So there's no right one way of fixing fused sentences.

We just have to make sure that we have fixed them, have a look at what else you've written in the rest of your piece of writing.

And that will help you know, which one to pick so that you keep it really varied.

Okay, I've got a task for you now.

So in a moment I'd like you to pause the video.

Each of my examples are fused sentences.

I'd like you to correct them by using a piece of punctuation or a coordinating conjunction.

At the bottom of your screen I've given you six things that you could use.

There's four pieces of punctuation and two coordinating conjunctions.

You've only got four sentences.

You don't need to use all six.

The reason I've given you six is because it's your choice, which ones you want to use.

And there are lots of different options that we can use, which are all correct.

A bit of advice when you are fixing fused sentences is to read the sentence aloud and that will help you know, whether a coordinating conjunction makes sense or whether you're better of having a bit of punctuation in there.

Pause the video now and complete your task.

Here are some possible answers for you.

Now, yours might look different to mine and that's okay.

Like I said, we can use different ways of splitting off fused sentences.

We just have to make sure that we have split them.

Sara and Jerry are getting married in the autumn as they didn't want a summer wedding.

Did you put "as," in there or did you choose something else? You might've put a full stop and a capital letter.

That's actually fine too.

These are just possible answers.

B I love to exercise to rock music because it's so loud and fast that it gets you moving quickly.

You might put something else in there you could've put "as." I love to exercise to rock music as it's so loud and fast that it gets you moving quickly.

That's okay too.

For C, I decided to use a full stop and a capital letter.

Baking cupcakes is amazing.

They taste delicious.

And for D, I really challenged myself in this one and I went with a semi-colon.

Did you challenge yourself to use semi-colon on any of these or did you stick to the punctuation of the full stop with the exclamation mark or question mark or any of the coordinating conjunctions? Let's look at D.

The long, dark tunnel loomed before us; its darkness was almost intoxicating.

And you'll notice there that I don't have a capital "I" because I don't have the letter at the start of my independent clause, if I've used semi-colon.

How'd you do? Hopefully you found that nice and easy.

Fantastic.

Okay, so now that you're brilliant at fused sentences, I want to look at something called, comma splicing.

Which is another mistake that students make.

You might have noticed that when I gave you the different punctuation, I gave you a full stop, an exclamation mark, question mark and a semi-colon.

I didn't give you the option of putting in a comma.

And a lot of students want to put in a comma to break up two independent clauses.

That's actually really incorrect.

It's called a comma splice and we don't do it.

So let's look at that in a little bit more detail so that you don't make that mistake.

Okay, here's my example from the beginning then, I did not like the film, it was scary.

This was the two independent clauses.

And you'll notice now, that instead of a piece of punctuation or a coordinating conjunction, I've got a comma there.

There we go, there's my comma.

And that's not correct.

It might be tempting to put a comma there.

Lots of students do it, but it's a mistake.

I've just changed my colours back to the two independent clauses.

So my subject verb and my extra information on both independent clauses.

And then I've highlighted that comma.

And you can see it almost creates a barrier in the middle of the two independent clauses.

It sort of blocks them.

That's a comma splice, it's divided the two independent clauses.

So here's a rule for you, really, really important this rule.

We cannot use a comma to join two independent clauses.

I will say that again, 'cause this rule is so important.

We cannot use a comma to join two independent clauses.

You might want to read that aloud to yourself.

You might even want to shout it at the screen right now, we cannot use a comma to join two independent clauses! If we do, it's called a comma splice.

Two independent clauses have been joined with a comma it's a mistake, it's a comma splice.

Don't do it.

Let's go back to that example then, I did not like the film, it was scary.

Now, the big thing about today, before you're thinking, "Oh my goodness, we're learning something else," is, we can fix a comma splice exactly the same way we fixed a fused sentence.

You ready? Full stop, capital letter.

"I did not like the film." full-stop capital "I." "It was scary." Exactly the same as a fused sentence, because I've got the same independent clauses.

I just need to break the independent clauses up and I can't use a common to do that.

So I can also use my coordinating conjunction, "because," I can use my coordinating conjunction, "as," or I can use my semi-colon as well.

Exactly the same as fused sentences which is great, 'cause actually we've learned two things in one go, but we've got the same solution for both.

All right.

What I'd like you to do now, is to complete the rule.

We do not use a ___ to join two ____ ____.

This is called a ____ ____.

It is a mistake.

I'd like you to write this down so that you've got this rule on your page in front of you.

Cause it's so important.

So, pause the video now and complete the rule.

Nice and easy, right? We do not use a comma to join two independent clauses.

This is called a comma splice.

It is a mistake.

There you go.

You got it really, really easy.

But let's just make sure we've definitely got it.

So at the top of your screen is a fused sentence.

The nurse screamed she had seen a mouse.

I'd like you to pause the video and look at the two options, decide which is the correct way of fixing that fused sentence.

Did you pick the right one? Did you get this one? The nurse screamed because she had seen a mouse.

Well done if you did.

If you thought it was the first one, just like in that comma, it's a comma splice.

"The nurse screamed" is an independent clause.

"She had seen a mouse," is also an independent clause.

And we know that we don't put a comma there.

If you've got it, really well done.

Let's have a look at another one.

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day I sat outside and sunbathed.

So I've given you three options this time.

See if you can find the one, that fixes the fused sentence.

Pause your video.

Did you get it? It's the first one.

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day so I sat outside and sunbathed.

If you thought it was a second option, that was a comma splice.

And if you thought the last one, I hadn't actually changed anything, it was still fused, so it's not correct.

But the first one is, because I've got my coordinating conjunction in there.

Let's look at one more.

I've made it even trickier this time.

Specks of dust flew through the air the old bookshop felt as though nobody had been in there for centuries.

Pause the video now and read the four options really carefully to pick the one that fixes that fused sentence.

Did you say option four? Just want to take a moment to look back at these.

Because the first one, hopefully you realise isn't correct, it's a comma splice.

"Specks of dust flew through the air, the old bookshop." That's where my independent clause ends, with air.

And so if I put a comma there I've comma spliced.

But you might have picked option two, option three because they use coordinating conjunctions.

This is where that advice to read them aloud is really, really helpful.

Specks of dust flew through the air because the old bookshop felt as though nobody had been there for centuries.

Does that sound right? If we put, "because" we tend to give an explanation for why the first independent clause is true, "specks of just flew through the air." But our second independent clause, "the old bookshop felt as though nobody had been in there for centuries." Doesn't actually give us a reason why the specks of dust are flying through the air.

So, "because" isn't the correct way of fixing that fused sentence.

And if we look at option three, specs of just flew through the air but the old bookshop felt as though nobody had been there for centuries.

Again, it doesn't quite work, we're saying that, it felt like nobody had been in there for centuries.

Well then we'd expect specks of dust to be flying through the air, if no one's been in there for centuries, or if it feels like no one's been in there for centuries.

So the "but," normally brings an opposite with it or kind of a contrasting argument.

And that doesn't work for joining these two independent clauses, because they work really well together.

So the answer that we wanted was number four with the semi-colon.

Which is a really nice way of joining the two independent clauses together.

Really well done if you've got that.

Don't worry if you find it a little bit tricky, it was quite hard one.

I really wanted to challenge you there.

Okay, a nice task for you now.

Each of these are comma splices.

You're going to fix them by turning them into two separate independent clauses, or by using a coordinating conjunction to fix them.

So I'd like you to, again, pause the video and write these out, correcting them.

I've given you the same six options below, but you've only got three sentences this time.

So pick the ones that feel the most appropriate.

Nice and easy, right? I'm sure, I'm sure you're brilliant in this now.

So these are my answers and they might look different to yours, that's okay.

These are just possible options.

Like we said, there are lots of different ways that you can fix fused sentences.

So for A, I used a full stop and a capital letter.

I said, "my younger brother was late for school.

Full stop, capital "H." "He rushed so much that he forgot his lunch." For B, I decided to use, "because." Cars at the traffic lights honked their horns because the drivers were frustrated that the lights would not change.

And C, It has always been Jamila's dream to become an astronaut; that's why she works so hard in her science lessons.

And you'll notice I've not put a capital letter on my second independent clause, in C, "that." Because it's semi-colon and we don't put a capital letter at the start of the independent clause after semi-colon.

Now it's absolutely fine if you separated these comma splices in a different way.

You might have just used full stop and capital letter the whole time.

You might have used different coordinating conjunctions or putting some exclamation marks.

That's fine.

It is important that you divided the comma splicing at the point of the comma.

And at the point that I did as well, that you didn't put your punctuation or your coordinating conjunction somewhere else because it comes at the end of the first independent clause and before the second independent clause.

Fantastic.

So you're going to pause the next slide after I've gone through all the instructions, and then you're going to complete the sentence task.

When you've done it, you'll be able to press play and carry on.

This is a great task for you now to really bring all of your knowledge and understanding together.

So a student has written a story about this picture.

The picture is on the right hand side of your screen, and it's four adults and two children sat around a bonfire.

You're going to rewrite the student's story to correct the fused sentences and commas splices.

You'll need to copy this out and then fix the fused sentences and comma splices.

If you really want to challenge yourself, you could extend the story by adding in more description or write another paragraph, explaining what happened next.

That's up to you, that's just a little challenge.

But what is important is that you rewrite the story out and correct the fused sentences and comma splices.

Pause the video now to complete your task.

How'd you get on? Here's an example of how I corrected the story.

Now again, like we know with our comma spacing and we know with a fused sentences, there are different ways that you could do this, with the coordinating conjunctions, or you might put exclamation marks in instead.

So this is just one example, but you should look through and correct your work to make sure that you fix things at the same point that I did.

Cause that shows you found the right end of the independent clause.

And you've put in that full stop, that punctuation mark or that coordinating conjunction between the two independent clauses.

So here is mine.

"Jonathan poured hot chocolate from a thermos." Full stop, capital "H".

"He poured it into Katie's cup." Full stop.

Now that full stop was already there.

Make sure you didn't take it out.

"Anita took a giant bite of her cheese sandwich." Full stop and capital "S." "She watched as Nia ate her own sandwich." Full stop.

That one was correct.

"Nathan and James were both roasting marshmallows." Full stop.

"James," now "James," should have a capital letter because it's a proper noun anyway.

"James was getting cross as he was sat too far away from the fire for his to roast properly." That full stop at the end there is correct.

"The fire burned brightly so it kept the group nice and warm in the chilly woods." And then there was a full stop at the end already.

How'd you get on? Did you get them all right? Sure you did.

I'm sure you're absolutely brilliant.

If you didn't then just pause the video now and correct yours so it matches mine.

Or you might have a look at the choices that you made and decide if yours is better than mine.

That's absolutely fine too.

Well done.

I hope you found that really, really useful.

And now when you're doing your own writing, we won't get any comma splices or any fused sentences 'cause you know how to identify them and how to fix them.

Don't forget that you've got a quiz now to complete and I'll see you next lesson where we will be looking at subordinate clauses.

Bye.