Because my children were sick and I was up all night.

[birgit33]

"Because my children were sick and I was up all night." Why is this a fragment ? It has a dependent clause "Because my children were sick" and an independent clause "I was up all night". Where do I go wrong ?

 

[Barb_D]

You went wrong with the "and" which links to independent clauses.

Change that "and" to a comma and you're in business.

Delete the "because" and leave the "and" and you're good too.​

 

[rainous]

Not a teacher-

The only circumstance in which your original text can work
is when you add something at the end like:

Because my children were sick and I was up all night, I got sick too.
(talking about a real catch 22!!!)

Then you are open for business(?).

 

[rainous]

What if you added something at the beginning?

Then you gonna have to lowercase "B".

 

[5jj]

Then you gonna have to lowercase "B".

I'll forgive you your 'you gonna' for that. ;-)

 

[rainous]

I'll forgive you your 'you gonna' for that. ;-)

Much obliged, Sir.

 

[Barb_D]

For the record, I do know my first post should have had "two" instead of "to" and I appreciate anyone who charitably thought I meant "linking to."

 

[5jj]

For the record, I do know my first post should have had "two" instead of "to" and I appreciate anyone who charitably thought I meant "linking to."

I just uncharitably ignored it. I am not going to condone sneaky attempts to build up your record of typos. I am the undisputed heavyweight tpyo champion of the usingebglish.com forum, and will remain so for many years yeti.

 

[TheParser]

Why is this a fragment ?


NOT A TEACHER


(1) This is one of the most common mistakes that learners and some native speakers make.

(2) If a stranger on the street (sidewalk) came up to you and said

"Because my children were sick and I was up all night," you would probably think that

the person was crazy. You would "feel" that something was missing. You would

ask that person what he was talking about.

(a) Then that person might reply:

Oh, excuse me. This is what I wanted to say:

"I was late to work because my children were sick and I was up all night."

Because my children were sick and I was up all night, I arrived at work almost two hours late.