Sentence completeness

Fragments
Run-on-sentences
parallelism
 Fragments
 Sentence fragment occurs as a result of sentence
error. A sentence fragment looks like a sentence but
it’s only part of a sentence.
 Any sentence can be examined from a mechanical
point of view and from a grammatical point of view.
 From a mechanical point of view: - sentence begins
with a capital letter and end with a full stop or any
appropriate terminal punctuation.
 From a grammatical point of view:- sentence has
subject and predicate and makes complete sense.
 Fragments
 A sentence fragment may begin with a capital
letter and end with one of the end punctuation
mark, but it lacks independent clause
 Fragments are unattached phrases or dependent
clause
 Fragments
 1. Fragment: As soon as the show ended.
 2. Fragment: After the flood the barn roof in
the yard.
 3. Fragment: While talking in class.
 4. Fragment: When I cash my cheque.
 5.Fragment: That he had thrown on the floor
days ago.
 6. Fragment: Until I hear from you.
 fragments
 Complete: When I cashed my cheque, I treated myself to
a sumptuous dinner.
 Complete: Alfred finally picked up the socks that he had
thrown on the floor days ago.
 Complete: I won’t leave the house until I hear from you.
 Complete: After the show ended, we had coffee.
 Complete: After the flood, the barn roof lay in the yard.
 Complete: while Amadou was talking in class, the
teacher arrived.
 Examine the following sentences
 The telephone with a red cord.
 Rang loudly for ten minutes.
 At midnight.
 Because the telephone rang loudly.
 Which really annoyed me.
 TYPES OF FRAGMENTS
 The most common types of fragments are:
 a) Dependent-word fragments
 b) –ing and to fragments
 c) Added detail fragments
 d) Missing-subject fragments
 e) Appositives
 DEPENDENT-WORD FRAGMENTS
 usually begin with dependent words such as
 after, although, because, until (most often
subordinating conjunction) – and cannot
standalone.
 It depends on another statement to complete
the thought.
Examples of dependent word fragments
 After I had eaten dinner.
 While I was walking through the thick and
scary forest.
 Because the man beat the rude boy who beat
Julian, his daughter, yesterday.
 Correction of dependent word fragments
 Replace the full stop with a comma, follow
through and complete the thought by providing
the main clause or start with a main clause and
end with the fragment
 After I had eaten dinner.
 While I was walking through the thick and
scary forest.
 Because the man beat the rude boy who beat
Julian, his daughter, yesterday.
 -ING AND TO FRAGMENTS
 When an –ing word appears at, or near the start
of a word group, if care is not taken, a
fragment may arise or result. In such cases, the
fragment usually lacks a subject.
 On the other hand, when “to” appears at, or
near the start of a word group, a fragment
sometimes results.
 examples
 1) Badou walked all over the place yesterday.
Trying to find his ball.
 2) We sat back to watch the movie. Not
expecting anything special
 3) I telephoned the balloon store. It being the
day before our wedding anniversary.
 4) At the restaurant, Sana used the fork and
knife. To impress his girlfriend. He spent one
hour eating a small bowl of rice.
 To correct these kind of fragments
 attached the fragment to the sentence that
comes before it
 Badou walked all over the place yesterday
trying to find his ball.
 add a subject to the fragment and change the –
ing verb part to the correct form of the verb
 We sat back to watch the movie. We did not
expect anything special
 To correct these kind of fragments
 change being to the correct form of the verb be
(am, are, is was, were) to have the sentence
 I telephoned the balloon store. It was the day
before our wedding anniversary.
 by adding it to the preceding sentence
 At the restaurant, Sana used the fork and knife
to impress his girlfriend.
 ADDED--DETAIL FRAGMENTS
 When a fragment lacks a subject and a verb,
we refer to it as a fragment that lacks details.
Usually, such types of fragments begin with
one of the following words: such as, including,
like, for example, except, also, especially.
 Examples of such fragments
 1) Before the race, I eat starchy foods. Such as
bread and spaghetti.
 2) Buba is taking a private class in English
Literature. Also, one in history. He wants to
read political science at the university.
 3) His brother keeps several pets in his room.
Including cats and dogs.
 Correction of such kind of fragments
 attach the fragment to the sentence that precedes
it
 1) Before the race, I eat starchy foods such as
bread and spaghetti.
 2) Buba is taking a private class in English
Literature and also, he is taking one in history. He
wants to read political science at the university.
 3) His brother keeps several pets in his room

including cats and dogs.

 MISSING-SUBJECT FRAGMENTS
 To correct such fragments, we either attach it
to a preceding sentence or we add a subject
which can either be a noun or a pronoun.
Examples:
 Samba loved getting wedding presents. But
hated writing thank-you notes.
 2) Mike has orange soda and potato chips for
breakfast. Then eats more junk food like fried
chickens and fruit salad for lunch.
 corrections
 Samba loved getting wedding presents but
hated writing thank-you notes.
 Mike has orange soda and potato chips for
breaks. Then he eats more junk food like fried
chickens and fruit salad for lunch.
 APPOSITIVES AS FRAGMENTS
 Appositive is a word or group of words that
identifies a nearby noun or pronoun. An
appositive cannot be punctuated as a sentence
because it does not express a complete thought
nor does it contain a subject and its verb.
Examples of appositive fragments
 Fragment: One of our family’s favourite foods
is Kima. A spicy Indonesian dish of sautéed
meat vegetables.
 Sentence: One of our family’s favourite foods
is Kima, a spicy Indonesian dish of sautéed
meat and vegetables.
 COMMA SPLICE AND RUN-ON
SENTENCES

 Comma splice and run-on-sentence have

somewhat similar errors.
 A comma splice, also called comma fault,
occurs when a comma instead of a full stop is
used incorrectly to separate complete
sentences. The word splice means to “fasten
ends together.”
 examples
 The boys ran across the field, they hid from the
mad man.
 Aminata plays football, she plays basketball
too.
 We read so hard for the exam, we failed in the
end, after all.
 How to correct comma splice
 Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction-
and, but, for, or, nor, yet, so.
 When the meaning would allow, use a
semicolon or a dash to join the two
independent clause.
 Revise one of the independent clause into a
dependent clause
 Easy way to recognise comma splice
 Watch out for pronouns starting the second
independent clause
 Watch out for conjunctive adverbs such as
furthermore, however, similarly, therefore, and
then
 Watch out for transitional expressions such as
in addition, for example, in contrast, of course,
and meanwhile
 Easy way to recognise comma splice
 Watch out for second independent clause that
explains, say more about, contrast with or give
an example of what’s said in the first
independent clause.
 Example: Lamin knew how to weave mats,
most of the skill he learned, he learned from
his grandmother.
 Run-on-sentences
 A run-on consists of two complete thoughts
running together without adequate punctuation
to signal the break between them.
 A run-on-sentence is also called fused
sentence
 Examples of run-on-sentences
 1. I go to school my brother stays home.
 2. The bus stopped suddenly I found myself in an
old man’s lap.
 3. We heard a noise in the garage two birds had
flown in through the open window.
 4. Bala’s radio doesn’t work anymore she spilled a
glass of soda on it.
 5. The flower is the most important part of a plant it
contains the seeds that enable the plant to reproduce.
 Correction of run-on-sentences
 Run-on-sentences can be corrected much the
same way as comma splice.
 SENTENCE UNITY (parallelism)
 Parallelism in sentence structure exists when
two or more sentence elements of equal rank
are similarly expressed. Stating equal and
closely related ideas in parallel constructions
often adds clarity and smoothness to writing.
 This is matching words, phrases or clause in
the same grammatical forms
 Parallelism provides grace, rhythm and impact
to a sentence.
 parallelism
 It helps you express ideas of equal weight in
your writing.
 It helps you emphasise important information
in your writing.
 It helps give more flavour to your writing by
adding rhythm and grace to your writing style
 parallelism
 Faulty: The committee studied all aspects of the
problem: humane, political, and cost. (The adjectives
humane and political are paired with the noun cost.)
 Parallel: The committee studied all aspects of the
problem: humane, political, and financial.
 2. Faulty: Reading no longer interests me as much as
to go hunting. (gerund reading is paired with
infinitive to go)
 Parallel: Reading no longer interests me as much as
hunting. (Gerund paired with gerund)
 Parallelism in words, phrases and clauses
 Recommended exercises include running,
cycling and skipping.
 Exercise helps people maintain healthy bodies
and handle mental pressures.
 Many people want to exercise because they
want to look healthy, because they need to
increase stamina and because they hope to live
longer.
 What about these?
Love and being married go together.
Differing expectations for marriage can not only
lead to disappointment but also make the
couple angry.
Having a solid marriage can be more satisfying
than the acquisition of wealth.
 More examples
 Faulty: The new clerk soon proved herself to
be not only capable but also a woman who
could be trusted. (Adjective paired with a verb)

 Parallel: The new clerk soon proved herself to

be not only capable but also trustworthy.
(Adjective paired with adjective)
 Faulty: I admire people who are honest,
reliable, and have sincerity.
 More examples
 Parallel: I admire people who are honest, reliable,
and sincere.
 Faulty: You should check your spelling, grammar,
and punctuate properly.
 Parallel: You should check your spelling, grammar,
and punctuation.
 Faulty: Cigarette smoking is dirty, risky, and a health
risk.
 Parallel: Cigarette smoking is dirty, risky, and
unhealthy.
 More examples
3. Faulty : To gain entrance they tried both
persuasion and to force their way in. (noun
paired with an infinitive)
 Parallel: To gain entrance they tried both
persuasion and force. (Noun paired with noun)
 Balance sentence
 What is a balance sentence?
 It is a type of parallelism in which contrasting
content is delivered. A balance sentence uses
coordination. The two coordinate structures are
characterized by opposites in meaning,
sometimes with one structure cast in the
negative.
 example
 By night, the litter and desperation disappeared
as the city’s glittering light came on; by day,
the filth and despair reappeared as the sun rose.
 Jennifer Kirt, student
 Parallel sentences: they come like foxes
through the woods. They attack like lions.
They take flight like birds, disappearing before
they really appear.

 Jerome Lalemant, The Jesuit

 impact
 How does parallelism deliver impact?
 Parallel structures emphasise the meaning that
sentences deliver. Deliberate, rhythmic
repetition of parallel forms creates an effect of
balance, reinforcing the impact of a message.
 example
 To travel a thousand miles by trains and you
are a brute; pedal a five hundred on bicycle
and you remain basicallya bourgeoisie; pedal a
hundred in a canoe and you are already a child
of nature.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, “The Ascetic in a

Canoe”
 It is a good country for the honest, industrious
artisan. It is a fine country for the poor
labourer who, after a few years of hard toil,
can sit down in his own log-house and look
abroad on his own land and see his children
well settled in life as independent freeholders.
It is a good country for the rich speculator who
can afford to lay out a large sum in
 Cont.
 purchasing land in illegible situations; for if he
has any judgment he will make a hundred per
cent as interest for his money after waiting a
few years. But it is a hard country for the poor
gentleman whose habit has rendered him unfit
for manual labour.

Catherine Parr Traill, The Backwoods of Canada

 How to avoid faulty parallelism?

 Write the words that accompany

coordinating conjunction in matching
grammatical forms.
 Examples:
 Love and being married go together.
 Love and marriage go together.
 Being in love and being married go together
 Cont.
 Write the words joined by correlative
conjunctions in matching grammatical forms.
 Examples:
 Different expectations for marriage not only can
lead to disappointment but also make the couple
angry.
 Different expectation for marriage not only can
lead to disappointment but also can make the
couple angry.
 Cont.
 Write the elements for comparison using than
and as in matching grammatical forms.
 Having a solid marriage can be more
satisfying than the acquisition of wealth.
 Having a solid marriage can be more
satisfying than acquiring wealth.
 A solid marriage can be more satisfying than
wealth.