Sentences in English exist to express a COMMON THEME OR IDEA- The sentence should be a COMPLETE THOUGHT on its own –> INDEPENDENT!
When a sentence DOESN’T do this it is either a:
COMMA SPLICE, or a
FRAGMENT.
A Comma Splice occurs in the middle of a line where, in fact, a PERIOD [ . ] or either a SEMICOLON [ ; ] or COLON [ : ] should be.
For example:
“He looked worried when he arrived, his clothes were messy and he was sweating.”
Where the COMMA [ , ] is there should either be
a PERIOD:
“He looked worried when he arrived. his clothes were messy and he was sweating.”;
a SEMICOLON:
“He looked worried when he arrived; his clothes were messy and he was sweating.”; or
a COLON:
“He looked worried when he arrived: His clothes were messy and he was sweating.”
With a Colon, the second part is a further detailed description of the first sentence.
With a Semicolon, the second part is a separate-but-equal section of the same sentence; again with further description.
A Sentence Fragment occurs when there is NO MAIN CLAUSE or INDEPENDENT idea in the sentence.
For example, using the first part of the same sentence above:
“He looked worried. When he arrived.”
The second part is a FRAGMENT because it doesn’t carry a complete idea.
Here’s another,
“As soon as I type this. I will meet her.”
Here the first part is a FRAGMENT because the reader loses any idea of what the writer is saying: We are left thinking, “And… what?” Only the next sentence explains it– this means these two parts should stand together in ONE COMPLEX SENTENCE.
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