Transcript Fragments, or Why That’s Not a Sentence

Fragments,
or Why That’s Not a Sentence
One of the most common grammatical
errors is the sentence fragment.
Actually, “Sentence Fragment” is kind of a
misnomer, since the whole point is that the
construction is not actually a sentence.
So What is a Sentence?
A sentence is a construction that can stand
alone as a complete thought.
A sentence always has two key elements:
A subject (the thing the sentence is about)
A verb (the thing the subject is doing)
A sentence always has both of these.
A sentence is never dependent on something
else to complete its meaning.
So What is a Fragment?
A fragment is a construction that is not a
complete sentence.
Either is it missing one of the key elements,
or it is dependent on another sentence for its
meaning.
Fragments are almost always continuations
of the preceding sentences. This is why
they can be hard to catch.
Fragment Type #1:
Renamers
Renamers rename or explain the last noun
in the previous sentence.
I got a card from my mother. Who is in Seattle
this week.
Yesterday I got a package. Two books from
Amazon.com.
Renamers very often begin with who or
which.
Fragment Type #2:
Adverbs
Adverbs are words or clauses that tell when,
where, how, and why something happened.
I didn’t do my homework. Because I left my
book at school.
We all agreed to meet later. After class was
over.
The most common type of adverb fragments
are “because” clauses.
Fragment Type #3
-ing Fragments
-ing fragments begin with a verb in the –ing
form.
Walking three miles every day.
Trying new thing.
The problem here is that this words
(walking and trying) aren’t actually verbs.
No, really, they’re not. Trust me on this.
So What Do I Do?
The reason the fragments are so hard to find
is that they often “sound” correct.
Since the previous sentence provides what’s
missing, we don’t hear the error.
What’s needed is something to break up the
sentences so you can “hear” each one by
itself.
The “I Realize” Test
Our book suggests putting “I realize” in
front of every sentence in your paper.
I realize walking three miles a day.
I realize because I left my book at school.
You can “hear” that these constructions are
not complete.
Isn’t that a lot of work?
Well, yes. For a paper about the length of
our first one, you can reasonably expect this
process to take up to half an hour. There
are, alas, few shortcuts to good writing.
The good news is that if you do this
consistently for several papers, you will
gradually start to catch fragments as you
write.