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Shmoop challenge: read the following chunk o' words out loud.
As you know a sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought every sentence must include a subject and a predicate sentence fragments and run-on sentences are incorrect sentences.
Besides noticing the inherent dryness of language used to talk about grammar (we like to think of it as good dry, like English wit or white wine or kindling), you probably noticed how very long that sentence was. Your voice got a little drone-y.
That's because it wasn't a well-formed sentencethat you read. It was a run-on sentence. They're as unalike as leopards and leopard seals. Scary leopard seals.
Which brings us to…
"Scary leopard seals." commits the crime of being a sentence fragment. It is the Lucky Charms "part" of "part of a complete breakfast."
Just like you can't just eat a bowl of delicious freeze-dried marshmallows and expect to not be hungry forty-five minutes later, you can't just throw out a sentence fragment and expect to get away with it on, say, the SAT.
That's what Shmoop is here for.