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Sentences vs fragments
Sentence structure is a very simple subject that most of us learn at an early age. Well, simple enough in concept, that is. When we take a close look, there's a requirement that may not be quite as well known.
In addition, it's likely you may already understand the difference between a sentence and a sentence fragment. If so, you probably know that when it comes to writing, fragments are generally not acceptable. While that's true, there are some instances where the rules may not apply.
Here, I'll be discussing the rules of sentence structure and how fragments break those rules, as well as how to correct those fragments.
One other, and perhaps more interesting topic I'll cover is when it's actually okay to use sentence fragments in your writing. (Yes, there are some instances in which it's okay.) As always, I'll include some helpful examples.
What is a Sentence?
In English grammar, the simplest definition of a complete sentence is a part of speech that includes a subject and a predicate. The subject is almost always a noun, and the predicate will be a verb.
So, by definition, David slept.
is a complete sentence, since David
is the subject and slept
is the predicate. Chances are, you recognize that right away, from practicing normal conversation.
There's another reason the example above is complete, and it's a requirement that isn't often stated, but should be.
For instance, David went.
probably leaves you wondering where he went. That's where the less familiar rule comes into play. A complete sentence must express a complete thought.
To better understand how that works in the examples provided so far, we'll need to take a closer look at the required parts of a sentence. Let's take a trip back to those grammar lessons from your early school years.
What is a Subject?
The subject of a sentence is the noun (person, place or thing) that does something in the sentence. It's always a noun or pronoun, which, of course, is just a type of noun.
What is a Predicate?
The predicate of a sentence is, simply, what the noun does. That means it's always going to contain a verb (action word) or verb phrase. It can include other information and in many cases, will need to, in order to form a complete statement.
The type of verb also has a significant effect on the sentence, too. An intransitive verb doesn't require any further information to complete a sentence.
These verbs will usually provide information about who or what, while a transitive verb will provide further information.
Those verbs will answer questions about things like where, how, or when, and will need the support of another part of speech: an object.
In our examples about David above, slept
is an intransitive verb, while went'
is transitive, because it leaves the possible questions of how, where, and when unanswered. That information would need to be included in the predicate to complete the sentence, though technically, it's grammatically correct
.
In other words, the predicate in Dave slept.
is complete enough with only the verb, even though it could include more information, like, Dave slept fitfully.
Dave went.
, on the other hand, needs more context. It needs to answer the question of how, where or when Dave went, to complete the thought. Dave went to the party.
is one possible example.
Are Fragments Always Wrong?
While it's best to avoid sentence fragments in formal writing, there are instances where they might be allowed, and even some special cases where they might be necessary to add ambiance.
Our Fragment or Sentence Checker above will give you detailed information on the rules.
The most common usage is in creative writing, especially when describing casual conversations. The average speaker will often leave out information that would seem redundant:
Who went to the party last night?
Dave went. I understand he was one of the earliest arrivals.
In the short dialog above, Dave went.
counts on supporting context from both the preceding and following sentences. So, it would seem that Dave went to the party early last night, as implied by supporting text.
A Word About Clauses
I'm just going to touch on this particular element of a sentence, because it's complex enough to warrant its own article. Clauses are groups of words, somewhat related to sentences, in that they must contain both a noun and a verb. The term most often applied to these elements is building blocks
and it's a good description.
Clauses can be used as nouns, adjectives or adverbs. They can also be classified as dependent or independent. An independent clause can be used on its own as a sentence, whereas a dependent clause functions with at least one other clause to complete the message.
Let's use our good friend, Dave, to illustrate: Dave went to the party
is a clause that can stand alone as a sentence.
It can also be used with another clause to form a complex sentence: Dave went to the party in the car that his wife rented.
As you can see, The car that his wife rented
is a dependent clause that doesn't work well on its own.
There's much more to know about clauses, but, as promised, I'm not going to go into depth on them here.
Just a Couple More Little
Things
No discussion about sentence structure would be complete without mentioning the two things that every sentence must have: capitalization of the first word, and ending punctuation, that is, a period, exclamation point or question mark.
Punctuation, of course, is another complex topic, but I think it's important to include that little bit of information here.
Finally, for those readers who noted this: Yes, I used some quotation marks unconventionally to denote a few sentences and fragments in this piece, for clarity. Quotes, of course, are another lesson altogether.
Thanks for Reading
I hope you've found something of value. Proper sentence structure is a very complex subject and our wish is to make the rules, as well as the exceptions, easier to understand. Now that you understand the rules, go ahead and use our Fragment or Sentence Checker above to check your work.