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Sentence Fragments

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So subordinating words change perfectly good sentences into dependent clauses or ... Deleting the subordinating word or relative pronoun is the least desirable way ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Sentence Fragments


1
Sentence Fragments
  • Identifying and Revising
  • By
  • Alfred Taylor

2
Sentence Fragments
  • A sentence must have three qualities in order to
    be a sentence. It must
  • 1) express a complete thought
  • 2) contain a subject
  • 3) contain a verb
  • If a sentence lacks one of these qualities, it
    is a fragment.

3
Sentence Fragments
  • Without fear or thought drank a Coke.
  • This is a fragment because it lacks a subject.
  • Spock, without fear or thought, a Coke.
  • This is a fragment because it lacks a verb.
  • When Spock, without fear or thought, drank a
    Coke.
  • This is a fragment because it is a dependent
    clause and does not express a complete thought.

4
Sentence Fragments
  • A dependent clause is a clause that cannot
    stand alone as an independent grammatical unit.
    It depends upon another part of the sentence to
    give it meaning. In the example of When Spock,
    without fear or thought, drank a Coke. The word
    When is a subordinating word. It drains the
    meaning from the sentence. When Spock without
    fear or thought drank a Coke, what happened?

5
Sentence Fragments
  • So subordinating words change perfectly good
    sentences into dependent clauses or fragments.
  • Spock, without fear or thought, drank a Coke.
  • This is a sentence.
  • When Spock, without fear or thought, drank a
    Coke.
  • This is a dependent clause fragment, because it
    no longer has any meaning.

6
Sentence Fragments
  • Subordinating words include words such as
  • after before until although
  • if when as once
  • where as if since whenever
  • that because unless wherever
  • while
  • And Relative Pronouns such as
  • that whatever who(m) whose
  • what which whoever whomever

7
Sentence Fragments
  • Fragments arent always easy to spot. Like
    little monsters, they can creep into writing when
    they are least expected.

8
Sentence Fragments
  • Which sentence is a fragment?
  • Its me.
  • Spock sitting under an old oak tree, with an icy
    cold Pepsi in his hand, in the park by the lake
    on a sunny day with duckies and bunnies dancing
    and frolicking by the water.
  • Spock, like a little school girl, cried.

9
Sentence Fragments
  • The correct answer is B.
  • Spock sitting under an old oak tree, with an icy
    cold Pepsi in his hand, in the park by the lake
    on a sunny day with duckies and bunnies dancing
    and frolicking by the water.
  • This is a verbal phrase fragment. Sitting,
    dancing and frolicking are verbals not verbs.

10
Sentence Fragments
  • Verbals are words that look like verbs and smell
    like verbs, but they are not verbs. There are
    three types of verbals present participle, past
    participle, and infinitive.
  • Of the three types of verbals, the present
    participle is the one that gives writers the most
    problems.

11
Sentence Fragments
  • Present participle verbals are words that end in
    ing like running, thinking, swearing, and
    laughing. This is the most difficult type of
    verbal to spot because it looks so much like a
    verb.
  • When a present participle is used as the subject
    of a sentence, it is called a gerund. Basically,
    the writer is taking a verb and forcing it to be
    a noun.

12
Sentence Fragments
  • Take the verb play. Change it to a present
    participle playing. Normally present
    participles are used as adjectives or even
    adverbs, but in some cases it can be used as a
    noun.
  • The playing field was wet. (adjective)
  • She was playing hard. (adverb modifying was)
  • Playing is difficult today. (noun or gerund)
  • But it may not be used as a verb.
  • She playing hard. (this is a fragment)

13
Sentence Fragments
  • Past Participles are the ed form of the verb
    however, they are only past participles when
    used with a helping verb. Otherwise the past
    participle is merely a past tense verb.
  • I walked. Walked is a past tense verb.
  • I had walked. Walked is a past participle with
    the helping verb had.
  • It would be difficult to create a fragment with
    a past participle, but I suppose it could be done.

14
  • I dislike the term helping verb because it is
    a misnomer. In the sentence I had worked. had
    is the actual verb while worked is the past
    participle. The only way to spot a past
    participle is by its helping verb.

15
Sentence Fragments
  • A infinitive phrase is the word to plus a
    verb.
  • To be, to run, to eat, to think, to type, and to
    go are all infinitive phrases. It is rare for a
    writer to create a fragment with an infinitive,
    but it is possible. For example Spock to go
    home. May seem like a clunky sentence, but it is
    actually a fragment. A correct version would be
    Spock is to go home.

16
Sentence Fragments
  • To test if a word is a verbal or a verb, put I
    in front of it. If it forms a sentence, then it
    is a verb. If it isnt a sentence then its a
    verbal.
  • I worked (sentence, this is a past tense verb.)
  • I working (fragment, this is a present
    participle.)
  • I to work (fragment, this is an infinitive
    phrase.)
  • In the case of past participles, the helping
    verb is actually the verb, so past participles
    dont create fragments in this manner.

17
Sentence Fragments
  • Determining if a sentence is a fragment is the
    difficult part, correcting fragments is
    relatively easy.
  • If a fragment is formed due to a subordinating
    word, either remove the subordinating word or
    attach the fragment to an adjoining sentence.
  • Spock drank a Pepsi. When he was thirsty.
    (fragment)
  • Spock drank a Pepsi. He was thirsty.
    (corrected)
  • Spock drank a Pepsi when he was thirsty.
    (corrected)

18
Sentence Fragments
  • Deleting the subordinating word or relative
    pronoun is the least desirable way to revise a
    sentence fragment because it is likely to produce
    two choppy sentences and make it difficult for
    the reader to perceive the connection between
    them.

19
Sentence Fragments
  • If the sentence is a fragment because it lacks a
    subject or verb, insert the required word.
  • Spock wanting to drink Pepsi. (verbal not a
    verb.)
  • Spock wanted to drink Pepsi. (corrected)

20
Sentence Fragments
  • If the dependent clause takes the form of a
    list, add the list to an independent clause with
    a colon.
  • Spock likes to travel. Venice, Florence,
    Canterbury, and Bath. (the list is a fragment)
  • Spock likes to travel Venice, Florence,
    Canterbury, and Bath. (the list has been attached
    to the sentence, so it is no longer a fragment.)

21
Sentence Fragments
  • Sentence fragments are often used in
    advertising, fiction, and common speech, but they
    are not appropriate for college writing. Please
    do not use them in your papers.

22
Sentence Fragments
  • The End
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