Chemistry

09. Sentence fragments

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The sentence fragment is a sub-clause masquerading as a complete sentence. The fragment may contain a verb (a doing word) but the verb does not set the action in time, i.e. it does not tell us when or if an action was, is being, will be or might be performed. Verbs which set an action in time are called 'driving verbs', 'main verbs' or 'finite verbs'. These terms - driving, main or finite - are interchangeable. To be a complete, a sentence needs a main verb.

Examples of fragments:

'Weakening' is not a main verb. It is a style of verb called a gerund, i.e. a verb working as a noun. It does not power the sentence by telling us when the action was, is, will, or could be performed.

‘Can’ is a verb but the sentence leaves the reader hanging in mid air because it lacks a main clause telling us what must be done 'so that you can win ...'

I blame political speech-writers. They love fragments. In Tony Blair's 1998 oration to the Labour party, there were over a hundred fragments. He is often laughed at for this, but fragments have their uses: they make perfect soundbites.

For certain types of writing, including novels and journalism, fragments are very useful. In chemistry essays, however, sentences need to be complete.

Here is an easy way of identifying fragments:
How to correct a fragment

Correcting a fragment is not hard. Often, the fragment just needs joining to the sentence of which it clearly forms a part:

sentence with fragment
sentence without fragment
N.B. Do not imagine that all short sentences are fragments.
This is not a fragment. It has a subject - it - and a main verb - failed. To understand the sentence fully, you may need to know what ‘it’ stands for, but if you replace ‘it’ with a noun, the sentence can stand alone.
TaskTask TypeDifficulty
Task 1Free textEasier
Task 2Free textModerate
Task 3Free textEasier
Task 4Multiple choiceModerate
Task 5Free textMore Challenging
Task 6Free textMore Challenging
Task 7Multiple choiceModerate
Task 8Multiple choiceEasier