Sentence Fragments
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Because they can push each other off a horse with a bit of stick! 1
If your grammar sensitivities are all a-flutter, then you’ve spotted a sentence fragment. Nothing good will come of this! It’s time to edit!
What do sentences need?
A complete sentence has a subject, verb, and a complete idea. A fragment lacks one or more of these parts.
Running wild. (Fragment)
This sentence is a fragment because it contains only a verb and an adjective. It leaves us wondering: Who is running wild? To make it complete, we must add a subject.
The geese are running wild. (Complete sentence)
Now it’s a complete sentence thanks to our friendly subject: the geese!
Fragments can be tricky.
Let’s look at the first sentence example again:
Because they can push each other off a horse with a bit of stick! (Fragment) (Yes, it is.)
You might be scrutinizing this line again, and wondering why it’s wrong. It has the necessary pieces: subject (they), verb (push), and a seemingly full thought, so what’s wrong with it?
Say hello to my little…dependent clause.
These are aptly named, for dependent clauses literally depend on another sentence (or an independent clause) for their full meaning. They are incomplete sentences when standing alone.
But I see sentences like this all the time. Why is it wrong?
In informal writing, the style can be conversational. You'll find sentences like, "And she ran home," because it adds dramatic emphasis, so we excuse the fact that it's grammatically incorrect.
In informal writing, the style can be conversational. You'll find sentences like, "And she ran home," because it adds dramatic emphasis, so we excuse the fact that it's grammatically incorrect.
Since much of the early academic writing process begins as a conversation between the writer and their sources, many of us have a tendency to slip into an informal style. This, however, should be avoided in academic writing, as grammatical errors (deliberate or not) run the risk of tarnishing your credibility.
What's the easiest way to identify dependent clauses?
Dependent clauses typically begin with words like because, whether, although, so that, whereas, and so on. We call these words and phrases subordinate conjunctions because they join a complete sentence with an incomplete one (a "subordinate" sentence).
What betrays our sentence example as a fragment?
Because they can push each other off a horse with a bit of stick!
This line makes us ask questions: Because what? What’s the rest of the idea? Why not simply declare that this is what jousting knights did? In the end, we need more (or less) to have a happy sentence.
They can push each other off a horse with a bit of stick! (Complete sentence)
We’re explaining jousting.
They're a lot of brainless unicorns swaggering about and calling themselves educated just because they can push each other off a horse with a bit of a stick! (Complete sentence)
This suggests that knights earned too much respect for acting foolishly. This additional information transforms the dependent clause’s meaning, and changes our interpretation: The sentence is not about jousting, but about the knights, their attitude, and others' opinions of their behavior.
We needed the first part (They're a lot of brainless unicorns swaggering about and calling themselves educated) to direct us towards the proper meaning. The use of the word Because at the start of our dependent clause tells us that more information is available somewhere. Be nice to your readers, and give them their meaning-gleaning tools up front.
How do you fix a sentence fragment?
The easiest way to fix a sentence fragment is to look at the sentences on either side of it. Most of the time, your fragment will belong with one of these.
The Wart dreamed of being a knight, for he believed them noble men. While Merlyn only thought them foolish.
The swiftest edit is to combine these two sentences: The Wart dreamed of being a knight, for he believed them noble men, while Merlyn only thought them foolish.
1“A lot of brainless unicorns swaggering about and calling themselves educated just because they can push each other off a horse with a bit of a stick!” ― T.H. White, The Once and Future King
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