Because this is a sentence fragment
July 1st 2009 17:31
Incomplete sentences, or sentence fragments, are relatively common in all sorts of writing, but they're also easy to avoid. The rule is simple: a complete sentence consists of two components--a subject and a predicate--in an independent clause. A subject tells the reader what the sentence is about; a predicate tells the reader about the subject, often an action that the subject performs.
Subjects and predicates
Consider the following sentence:
The boy is doing his homework.
The sentence is about the boy, so the subject is "boy"; the sentence tells you that he is doing homework, so the predicate is "doing his homework".
In the following examples, the subjects are underlined and the predicates are italicised:
The baby screams to be picked up.
There are three lemon berry muffins left on the counter.
You and I are the best of friends.
Once you understand subject and predicate, you can move on to discerning between dependent and independent clauses.
Dependent and independent clauses
In grammar, a group of words that contains a subject and predicate is called a clause. An independent clause expresses a complete thought, and a dependent clause does not express a complete thought. As a result, an independent clause can be a complete sentence, but a dependent clause cannot be one.
Consider the following example:
The muffins contain raspberries. Which I detest.
"The muffins contain raspberries" is an independent clause and "Which I detest" is dependent; therefore, "Which I detest" is a sentence fragment.
It was a horrid date. Because he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner.
"It was a horrid date" is an independent clause and "Because he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner" is dependent; therefore, the latter is a sentence fragment.
The sentences can be revised thus:
The muffins contain raspberries, which I detest.
It was a horrid date, because he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner.
You can also split them into two independent clauses:
The muffins contain raspberries. I detest them.
It was a horrid date: he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner.
There are two things to note here. First, conjunctive words such as "which" and "because" are clues that the clauses are dependent. Second, years of schooling may have drilled it into your head to not start sentences with conjunctions, i.e., words such as "and", "but", "so", "because" (more on conjunctions here). This 'rule' might have arisen from a hypercorrecting tendency to avoid sentence fragments such as the one illustrated above. It's best to eschew sentences that begin with conjunctions in formal writing.
Informally, there are many correct ways to start a complete sentence with a conjunction:
Because it was getting late, we skipped dessert and coffee and headed home.
But it started raining and we were drenched by the time we were back.
Subjects and predicates
Consider the following sentence:
The boy is doing his homework.
The sentence is about the boy, so the subject is "boy"; the sentence tells you that he is doing homework, so the predicate is "doing his homework".
In the following examples, the subjects are underlined and the predicates are italicised:
The baby screams to be picked up.
There are three lemon berry muffins left on the counter.
You and I are the best of friends.
Once you understand subject and predicate, you can move on to discerning between dependent and independent clauses.
Dependent and independent clauses
In grammar, a group of words that contains a subject and predicate is called a clause. An independent clause expresses a complete thought, and a dependent clause does not express a complete thought. As a result, an independent clause can be a complete sentence, but a dependent clause cannot be one.
Consider the following example:
The muffins contain raspberries. Which I detest.
"The muffins contain raspberries" is an independent clause and "Which I detest" is dependent; therefore, "Which I detest" is a sentence fragment.
It was a horrid date. Because he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner.
"It was a horrid date" is an independent clause and "Because he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner" is dependent; therefore, the latter is a sentence fragment.
The sentences can be revised thus:
The muffins contain raspberries, which I detest.
It was a horrid date, because he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner.
You can also split them into two independent clauses:
The muffins contain raspberries. I detest them.
It was a horrid date: he ate noisily and made crude jokes during dinner.
There are two things to note here. First, conjunctive words such as "which" and "because" are clues that the clauses are dependent. Second, years of schooling may have drilled it into your head to not start sentences with conjunctions, i.e., words such as "and", "but", "so", "because" (more on conjunctions here). This 'rule' might have arisen from a hypercorrecting tendency to avoid sentence fragments such as the one illustrated above. It's best to eschew sentences that begin with conjunctions in formal writing.
Informally, there are many correct ways to start a complete sentence with a conjunction:
Because it was getting late, we skipped dessert and coffee and headed home.
But it started raining and we were drenched by the time we were back.
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