Saturday, October 18, 2008

Writing - Avoiding Sentence Fragments

Have you ever read something that wasn't a complete thought and you're wondering about the other information that was needed? In cases like that, the sentence was probably a fragment. This is something you definitely want to stay away from in your writing. Let's look at some examples of fragments and ways they could be fixed.

Example 1: Went to the mall.
Problem: This sentence is missing a subject. Who went to the mall?
Solution: Add the subject into the sentence.
Possible sentence: Sharon went to the mall.

Example 2: The basketball player at the gym.
Problem: This sentence is missing a verb. What did the basketball player do?
Solution: Add the verb into the sentence.
Possible sentence: The basketball player at the gym drank some water.

Example 3: Such as books and magazines.
Problem: This is a subordinate clause and actually needs a subject & a verb.
Solution: Add the subject and verb into the sentence.
Possible sentence: The library is filled with great things, such as books and magazines.

For more information about sentence fragments, how to avoid them, and how to fix them, please visit Lauren Scerbo's Elluminate session from 10/15/08. Navigate through the slides and then post here to state what part you found to be most helpful!

(If you're wanting more information about sentence fragments, visit Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_frag.html.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well those slides were really helpfull. I found out the meaning of sentence fragment and example of it too. This was most helpfull because I never knew what this meant.

Aneilia Persad

Anonymous said...

Fragment are cool because it teaches you how a sentence surpose to sound.

Delbon Johnson

Anonymous said...

Tiffany has read most the hint and tick to writing a good paper for the ged test hope i do well.tiffany f.

Anonymous said...

I'm guilty of using sentence fragments, usually in email. I think this post and the one about comma usage are very helpful. Thanks. -Angelia M.