Attach fragmented subordinate clauses or turn them into sentences - Repair sentence fragments - Grammar

Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Attach fragmented subordinate clauses or turn them into sentences
Repair sentence fragments
Grammar

19 Sentence fragments

20 Run-on sentences

21 Subject-verb agreement

22 Pronoun-antecedent agreement

23 Pronoun reference

24 Pronoun case (I and me etc.)

25 who and whom

26 Adjectives and adverbs

27 Verb forms, tenses, and moods

Language is not static. The rules of grammar change over time, and these rules are not always inclusive of how everyone speaks and writes. The guidelines laid out here are meant to help you make your writing as clear as possible to readers. When your purpose or audience calls for it, you may want to consider putting the rules aside.

19Repair sentence fragments.

A sentence fragment is a word group that pretends to be a sentence. Sentence fragments are easy to recognize when they appear out of context, like these:

✵ When the cat leaped onto the table.

✵ Running for the bus.

When fragments appear next to related sentences, however, they are harder to spot.

✵ We had just sat down to dinner. When the cat leaped onto the table.

✵ I tripped and twisted my ankle. Running for the bus.

Recognizing sentence fragments

To be a sentence, a word group must consist of at least one independent clause. An independent clause includes a subject and a verb, and it either stands alone or could stand alone.

To test whether a word group is a complete sentence or a fragment, use the flowchart in this section. By using the flowchart, you can see exactly why When the cat leaped onto the table is a fragment: It has a subject (cat) and a verb (leaped), but it begins with a subordinating word (When). Running for the bus is a fragment because it lacks a subject and a verb (Running is a verbal, not a verb). (See also 49b and 49e.)

TEST FOR FRAGMENTS

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*Do not mistake verbals for verbs. A verbal is a verb form (such as walking or to act) that does not function as a verb of a clause. (See 49b.)

**The subject of a sentence may be you, understood but not present in the sentence. (See 48a.)

***A sentence may open with a subordinate clause, but the sentence must also include an independent clause. (See 19a and 50a.)

Repairing sentence fragments

You can repair most fragments in one of two ways:

✵ Pull the fragment into a nearby sentence.

✵ Rewrite the fragment as a complete sentence.

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FOR MULTILINGUAL WRITERS

Unlike some other languages, English sentences always have a subject and a verb (except in commands, where the subject you is understood but not present: Sit down). See 30a and 30b.

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19a Attach fragmented subordinate clauses or turn them into sentences.

A subordinate clause is patterned like a sentence, with both a subject and a verb, but it begins with a word that marks it as subordinate.

WORDS THAT INTRODUCE SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

after

how

unless

who

although

if

until

whom

as

since

when

whose

as if

so that

where

why

because

than

whether


before

that

which


even though

though

while


Subordinate clauses function within sentences as adjectives, as adverbs, or as nouns. They cannot stand alone. (See 49e.)

Most fragmented clauses can be pulled into a sentence nearby.

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If a fragmented clause cannot be attached to a nearby sentence or if attaching it would be awkward, try turning the clause into a sentence. The simplest way to do this is to delete the opening word or words that mark it as subordinate.

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