Sentence Fragments in a Paragraph (段落中的病句)
Sometimes a sentence fragment may be difficult to identify識別 because it is part
of a paragraph. With other information around it, a fragment病句 may appear 出現to
have all the elements組成部分 of a sentence. Read the following paragraph from a
handbook手冊 and see if you can identify the fragment.
The process程序方法 for store opening is easy to follow if you read
the manual指南 carefully. Most employees 雇員have no trouble with the
lock 鎖system係統 and the cash register start-up開動. Instructions說明書
are clearly posted郵寄 in both locations. Printed印好的 in red ink. When
you arrive in the morning, be sure to allow yourself at least fifteen
minutes of preparation準備 time before you admit接待 customers.
The fragment is Printed in red ink. This group of words does not tell what is
printed in red ink. There is no subject to make it a sentence. You may infer推斷
from the rest其他 of the paragraph that it is the instructions that are printed in red
ink. This is why fragments are a greater challenge to find when embedded 深入的in
a paragraph like this one.
__________________________________________________________
EDITING TIP 編輯的提示
Read the paragraph first. Then read each group of words separately分離地
and decide if the three elements組成部分 of a complete sentence are present.
__________________________________________________________
Let’s look at another example. Where is the fragment in this paragraph?
At the end of a business day, it is crucial that all employees
follow proper closing procedures. Section Two of the manual
outlines the necessary steps. Be sure to turn on the phone
answering system. When you have phoned in the last security
code. Activating使活動 safety安全 lights should be the last action動作
taken.
Here is the fragment in this paragraph:
When you have phoned in the last security code.
Although there is a subject, you, and a predicate謂語, have phoned in the last
security安全 code密碼, a complete thought is not expressed表達. The
conjunction連詞 when is what creates造成 the fragment here. We are left
wondering疑惑的 what happens when you have phoned in. Even though 即便如此
the information can be found in the paragraph, this group of words is still a
fragment because it cannot stand alone.
To make this fragment a complete sentence, you can connect連接 it to another
sentence from the paragraph.
Be sure to turn on the phone answering system when you have
phoned in the last security code.
(改正此病句隻是把system與 when中間的句點去掉即可。)
