NOUN CLAUSES A noun clause is a group of words used as a noun There are two kinds of clauses – Dependent and Independent. An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself as a sentence A dependent clause does not express a complete thought

A comma splice happens when you use a comma to join two independent clauses. For example, “Moby is a robot, he doesn’t have to eat.”

“Moby is a robot” and “he doesn’t have to eat” are two independent clauses, which means that you have to join them up with a coordinating conjunction like “and” or “so.”

A run-on sentence can happen when you don’t have any punctuation at all to separate two independent clauses. For example, “Moby is a robot he doesn’t have to eat.” You can fix these by adding a period, semicolon, or comma plus coordinating conjunction: “Moby is a robot. He doesn’t have to eat.” “Moby is a robot; he doesn’t have to eat.” “Moby is a robot, so he doesn’t have to eat.”

Noun clauses are introduced by the following words: if, that, whatever, what, when, where, whether, which, whichever, who, whom, whose, why, etc.

A sentence fragment happens when you treat a dependent clause as though it were independent. For example, “because he is a robot” is a dependent clause. It starts with the dependent clause marker “because,” and it doesn’t complete a thought. You can fix a sentence fragment by sticking it next to an independent clause and adding a comma: “Because he is a robot, Moby doesn’t have to eat.”

For example, “Moby is a robot, so he doesn’t have to eat For example, “Moby is a robot, so he doesn’t have to eat.” Be especially careful with coordinating adverbs like “however,” “therefore,” and “nevertheless.” Because these aren’t conjunctions, you need to use a semicolon or period, but never just a comma. So: “Moby is a robot; therefore, he doesn’t have to eat.”

Sentence Fragments https://www.brainpop.com/english/grammar/sentencefragments/

Main and Subordinate Clauses A clause is a part of a sentence. A clause must contain a verb. The main clause makes sense on its own. A subordinate clause gives further meaning to the main clause. EXAMPLE: Since I don’t have money, I will attend a free concert this evening.