If you are telling a story, a few fragments might suit your purpose and style well, but if you are writing an essay or crafting a business document, it’s best to steer clear of them. A sentence fragment is a string of words that does not form a complete sentence there is a necessary component of a complete sentence missing. And he did is a sentence beginning with a conjunction, and it’s a one-sentence paragraph.Īs always, judge for yourself who your audience is and how much wiggle room you have for breaking the rules. Your high school English teacher would find three things wrong with this description. All the same, he was determined to astound us. Often, the fragment has been broken off from the. No one thought that Ethan could make the jump it was just too high. In grammar, the term sentence fragment refers to an incomplete group of words punctuated as a sentence. Journalists, bloggers, and fiction writers often use them. That said, a fragment within a clear context can sometimes serve a valid dramatic purpose. Without question, you should avoid sentence fragments in formal situations and academic writing. READ MORE: When (and how) to fix sentence fragments Stylistic sentence fragments Fragments can sound as if they are carelessly blurted out. It’s a subtle psychological difference, but if you are corresponding in a formal setting, it is worth taking care to write complete sentences. Adding the subject will build a stronger, more confident-sounding sentence: Another famous example of a short-but-complete sentence is “Jesus wept.”Īvoiding sentence fragments not only makes your writing easier to read, but it can also make you sound more polished in polite correspondence. Nothing in the sentence demands further explanation. I ran may be a short thought, but it has a subject ( I) and a verb ( ran). But that doesn’t mean that short sentences can’t be complete. In that example, making the sentence longer was the solution. Now the fragment has become a dependent clause attached to a sentence that has a subject ( the party) and a verb ( was canceled). To complete it, we need further explanation:īecause of the rain, the party was canceled. Revision: Clothes and shoes were scattered around the. Fragment Sentence: Clothes and shoes scattered around the room. Revision: That was a time of wonder and amazement. It leaves us wondering what happened because of the rain. Sentence Fragment Examples Without a Verb Fragment Sentence: That time of wonder and amazement. On its own, because of the rain doesn’t form a complete thought. Here is a glaring example of a sentence fragment: For example, you could hide under their beds and wait for dark.īoth remedies result in structurally sound sentences. There are many ways to frighten little brothers.
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