How to Write Great Essays

Examples
At the zoo.
Cried a lot.
Can’t go to the store.
When we finished the game.
RUN-ON SENTENCES
A run-on sentence is made up of two or more independent clauses or complete sentences
placed together into one sentence without proper punctuation.
Examples
We were hungry and John was tired so we had to stop at the first rest area that
we saw.
Kim studied hard for the test that’s why he got an A.
Patty took flying lessons every Saturday so she couldn’t go to the picnic and she
couldn’t go to the graduation party either but she has already signed up for another
group of flying lessons because she likes it so much.
Here are a few ways to correct run-on sentences.
1. Break up the run-on sentence into two or more complete sentences.
2. Use a comma and a conjunction (
and, or, nor, for, so, but, yet
) to set apart an
independent clause.
3. Break up the sentence by inserting a semi colon between two clauses.
4. Use a dash to separate parts of the sentence.
5. Add a dependent clause (use words such as 
because, after, since,
and 
while
).
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HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
CHAPTER 4
Mechanics
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Mechanics
CHAPTER 4 
HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
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V
E R B
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S
H I F T S
Unnecessary shifts from one tense to another sound unskilled, and may obscure meaning.
For instance, when describing an event in the past, all verbs should be in the past tense. This
seems like an obvious point, but tense shifts account for a large share of grammatical errors.
Examples
Incorrect:
When we finished our lunch, we 
decide
to take a walk.