Embedded Files
6 . Avoid fragments:
Do not break sentences in two.
In other words, do not use periods for commas.
Incorrect: I lost Jake in the last rapid. Coming down the Salmon River.
Correct: Coming down the Salmon River, I lost Jake in the last rapid .
Incorrect: She was an amazing athlete. A woman who excelled at soccer, cross country skiing, and white water kayaking.
Incorrect: She was an amazing athlete. A woman who excelled at soccer, cross country skiing, and white water kayaking.
Correct: She was an amazing athlete who excelled at soccer, cross country skiing, and white water kayaking.
Correct: She was an amazing athlete who excelled at soccer, cross country skiing, and white water kayaking.
Incorrect: Aspen has multiple ski hills and a nearby white water kayak park; known to be an amazing winter and summer destination vacation resort.
Correct: Known to be an amazing winter and summer destination vacation resort, Aspen has multiple ski hills and a nearby white water kayak park.
Correct: Known to be an amazing winter and summer destination vacation resort, Aspen has multiple ski hills and a nearby white water kayak park.
-commentary: the semicolon implies that there is a sentence before and after it. In the incorrect sentence there is a past participial phrase after the semicolon, and, therefore, it is a fragment.
It is permissible to make an emphatic word or expression serve the purpose of a sentence and to punctuate it accordingly:
Ex= Again and again he called out. No reply.
Ex= Again and again he called out. No reply.
The writer must, however, be certain that the emphasis is warranted, and that he will not be suspected of a mere blunder in punctuation.
Page updated
Report abuse