<p>Sentence improvement
1. A thick growth of sunflowers standing ten feet tall, their brown heads drooped over the fence with the weight of their seeds.
My answer E) stood ten feet tall , and their brown heads drooping .
ETS answer D) stood ten feet tall , their brown heads drooping
Identifying errors
2. A great grey owl A)flying low across a forest clearing, its B)wings beating quietly and its ultrasensitive ears tuned to the C) faint sounds made bye small D) creatures concealed under leaves . E) NO ERROR
My answer E)
ETS answer A)</p>
<p>Wouldn’t both the ets answers cause a comma splice in the sentences ? Furthernore which is the main verb of the the second sentence? </p>
<p>ETS is correct on both accounts…</p>
<p>First of all, I don’t believe you’re using the term “comma splice” correctly. A comma splice is a grammatical error consisting of a comma used to separate 2 independent clauses, i.e., two clauses that could each be a stand-alone, complete sentence.</p>
<p>In Question 1, answer choice (E), the set of words after “, and…” is not an independent clause since it lacks a finite verb. Essentially, it’s a sentence fragment. The correct answer is (D), which contains an “absolute phrase,” a.k.a. “nominative absolute.” This phrase is treated as a parenthetical element modifying the entire sentence.</p>
<p>As written, Question 2 lacks a finite verb and is therefore considered a sentence fragment. If “flying” is changed to “flies,” then the problem is solved. The correct answer is (A).</p>
<p>So just to be clear. we can connect an independent clause with a fragment using solely a comma? and my answer is on the first question is wrong as it connects an independent clause with a fragment "and " which is not possible right? </p>
<p>“Fragment” is too broad a term for that question, rendering it unanswerable as asked. Many phrases and clauses can be joined with an independent clause and a comma. Sometimes you don’t even need the comma (IC + DC vs. DC + comma + IC, for example).</p>
<pre><code>“A thick growth of sunflowers stood ten feet tall, and their brown heads drooping over the fence with the weight of their seeds” – your answer – is not a complete sentence. Take out the descriptive part added to “heads,” and what were the heads doing? It would have to be in the past tense to match “stood,” and there is no past tense verb there.
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