A sentence is one, complete thought. A sentence expresses something about a subject (a person, place, or thing) and a verb (what the subject is or does).
There are two common problems that occur in sentence construction: Sentence fragments and run-on sentences.
3.3.1. Sentence Fragments
A sentence fragment is a sentence which cannot stand by itself -- that is, it's out of context with the surrounding sentences.
Examples:
"We will release no upgrade before its time." Full, complete sentence.
"We will release no upgrade. At least, before its time." Two sentences, and the second sentence is a fragment, because if it's isolated it can't stand on its own.
Try this exercise: Read your sentences aloud, as if each sentence were the *only* sentence on a piece of paper. If you hear a sentence which wouldn't make any sense all by itself, chances are you've got a sentence fragment.
You can choose to repair the sentence by making it a complete thought, or you can choose to adjust it to work as a "stylistic fragment."
When you choose to maintain a sentence fragment for the sake of variety in your work, you're deciding to use a stylistic fragment.
Deliberately inserting a sentence fragment for the sake of style can add color to the work, and help the reader by providing a break in the tone. That's good.
Be careful: Stylistic fragments can easily become a crutch (Too much of a good thing is not a good thing).
