Fragments, run-on sentences and reported speech

Three errors appear in almost every grammar screening and in almost every call note written in a hurry: the fragment, which is not a full sentence; the run-on, which is two sentences stuck together; and faulty reported speech, where the tense or pronoun shifts wrongly when you write down what someone said. This lesson shows how to recognise each one and fix it in seconds.

Fragments: a sentence needs a subject and a main verb

"Because the invoice was unpaid." has a subject and a verb, but "because" makes it a dependent piece waiting for the rest. "Regarding your order." has no verb at all. Both are fragments.

Fix by joining to the main idea or adding what is missing: "Because the invoice was unpaid, the account was paused." "I am writing regarding your order."

Test trick: read the part alone. If it leaves you asking "and then what?", it is a fragment.

Run-ons and comma splices

A run-on joins two complete sentences with nothing between them: "The parcel left on Monday it should arrive Thursday." A comma splice joins them with only a comma: "The parcel left on Monday, it should arrive Thursday." Both are marked wrong.

Three fixes, all correct:

1. Full stop: "The parcel left on Monday. It should arrive Thursday."
2. Comma plus a joining word: "The parcel left on Monday, so it should arrive Thursday."
3. Semicolon: "The parcel left on Monday; it should arrive Thursday."

Words like "however", "therefore" and "then" are not joining words. "It was late, however it arrived" is still a splice; write "It was late; however, it arrived."

Reported speech in call notes

Direct: The customer said, "I have not received my refund and I want it today." Reported: The customer said that she had not received her refund and wanted it that day.

The rules: the tense moves one step back (have not becomes had not, want becomes wanted), pronouns change to match the writer's view (I becomes she), and time words shift (today becomes that day, tomorrow becomes the next day, yesterday becomes the day before).

One exception: facts that are still true can stay in the present. "He said the shop closes at 6 pm" is fine if it still does.

Questions lose the question mark and the question word order: "Can you call me back after 3 pm?" becomes "He asked whether we could call him back after 3 pm."

Common mistakes

• Writing "The customer said that he is angry yesterday." Past report, past verb: "was angry".
• Starting a sentence with "Which" or "Such as" and stopping there.
• Using a comma before "however" in the middle of two full sentences.

Practice habit: After any call or meeting, write three lines of notes in reported speech, then read each line and check: full sentence, one tense step back, pronouns changed. Three lines a day is enough to make it automatic.