Column One

The Stopped-Short Sentence Situation

The dog was big. The dog was chasing the cat. So the cat was afraid. The poor cat! And they went up the stairs.

The above is an example, exaggerated though it be, of the stopped-short sentence. A writing style using mainly simple, short sentences is known in the writing world as a “choppy” style, and should be avoided. That choppy style is what this month’s grammar column is about.

While I would never accuse anyone of writing a sentence quite as dull as the one above, we would all be surprised at how frequently we slip into this choppy style, whether in our formal essays, short stories, or novels. It is important to note at this point that the simple sentence is not entirely the problem; the overuse of it is. The optimum style includes all lengths and structures of sentences for variety.

We should all be able to easily distinguish a sentence fragment from a simple sentence, and know how to avoid the former. A sentence fragment is not a complete sentence, and should never be used in any formal writing. Its use is occasionally acceptable in informal writing, such as fiction, but even in that venue must not be used frequently. Two examples of a fragment are the third and fifth sentences in the selection above.

A choppy style can be improved by condensing a number of simple sentences and fragments into one or two longer, more complex sentences. For example, we can take the first paragraph above, about the dog and the cat, and condense it into one much more natural sentence:

The big dog chased the poor, fearful cat precipitously up the staircase.

Good luck on improving the choppy writing in your work!

The Grammarian