Is “But to no avail” a fragment?












0














I am trying to write a dialogue and I wanted to end it with "But to no avail."
however I am not sure if it is grammatically correct or not.




“Go ahead!” he begged. “It's going to be okay.” But to no avail.




or should it be




“Go ahead!” he begged but to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”




or




“Go ahead!” he begged to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”











share|improve this question






















  • to no avail and of no avail: Cliché with no effect; unsuccessful. All of my efforts were to no avail. idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to+no+avail
    – user66974
    Dec 14 '15 at 21:01








  • 3




    Please look up other posts here on sentence fragments; you need to ditch any idea that they're inherently wrong.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Dec 14 '15 at 22:58










  • I just want to know if it can stand on its own @EdwinAshworth
    – Curiousstudent
    Dec 14 '15 at 23:11






  • 3




    "But to no avail" is indeed a fragment—but that doesn't mean that it is ambiguous or hard to comprehend in any way, given the context that the sentence before it provides. So unless you are writing under instructions not to use any sentence fragments, there is no reason to object to its appearing as a sentence by itself.
    – Sven Yargs
    Dec 16 '15 at 5:34


















0














I am trying to write a dialogue and I wanted to end it with "But to no avail."
however I am not sure if it is grammatically correct or not.




“Go ahead!” he begged. “It's going to be okay.” But to no avail.




or should it be




“Go ahead!” he begged but to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”




or




“Go ahead!” he begged to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”











share|improve this question






















  • to no avail and of no avail: Cliché with no effect; unsuccessful. All of my efforts were to no avail. idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to+no+avail
    – user66974
    Dec 14 '15 at 21:01








  • 3




    Please look up other posts here on sentence fragments; you need to ditch any idea that they're inherently wrong.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Dec 14 '15 at 22:58










  • I just want to know if it can stand on its own @EdwinAshworth
    – Curiousstudent
    Dec 14 '15 at 23:11






  • 3




    "But to no avail" is indeed a fragment—but that doesn't mean that it is ambiguous or hard to comprehend in any way, given the context that the sentence before it provides. So unless you are writing under instructions not to use any sentence fragments, there is no reason to object to its appearing as a sentence by itself.
    – Sven Yargs
    Dec 16 '15 at 5:34
















0












0








0







I am trying to write a dialogue and I wanted to end it with "But to no avail."
however I am not sure if it is grammatically correct or not.




“Go ahead!” he begged. “It's going to be okay.” But to no avail.




or should it be




“Go ahead!” he begged but to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”




or




“Go ahead!” he begged to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”











share|improve this question













I am trying to write a dialogue and I wanted to end it with "But to no avail."
however I am not sure if it is grammatically correct or not.




“Go ahead!” he begged. “It's going to be okay.” But to no avail.




or should it be




“Go ahead!” he begged but to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”




or




“Go ahead!” he begged to no avail. “It's going to be okay.”








grammaticality writing-style sentence-fragments






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Dec 14 '15 at 20:54









Curiousstudent

55111125




55111125












  • to no avail and of no avail: Cliché with no effect; unsuccessful. All of my efforts were to no avail. idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to+no+avail
    – user66974
    Dec 14 '15 at 21:01








  • 3




    Please look up other posts here on sentence fragments; you need to ditch any idea that they're inherently wrong.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Dec 14 '15 at 22:58










  • I just want to know if it can stand on its own @EdwinAshworth
    – Curiousstudent
    Dec 14 '15 at 23:11






  • 3




    "But to no avail" is indeed a fragment—but that doesn't mean that it is ambiguous or hard to comprehend in any way, given the context that the sentence before it provides. So unless you are writing under instructions not to use any sentence fragments, there is no reason to object to its appearing as a sentence by itself.
    – Sven Yargs
    Dec 16 '15 at 5:34




















  • to no avail and of no avail: Cliché with no effect; unsuccessful. All of my efforts were to no avail. idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to+no+avail
    – user66974
    Dec 14 '15 at 21:01








  • 3




    Please look up other posts here on sentence fragments; you need to ditch any idea that they're inherently wrong.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Dec 14 '15 at 22:58










  • I just want to know if it can stand on its own @EdwinAshworth
    – Curiousstudent
    Dec 14 '15 at 23:11






  • 3




    "But to no avail" is indeed a fragment—but that doesn't mean that it is ambiguous or hard to comprehend in any way, given the context that the sentence before it provides. So unless you are writing under instructions not to use any sentence fragments, there is no reason to object to its appearing as a sentence by itself.
    – Sven Yargs
    Dec 16 '15 at 5:34


















to no avail and of no avail: Cliché with no effect; unsuccessful. All of my efforts were to no avail. idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to+no+avail
– user66974
Dec 14 '15 at 21:01






to no avail and of no avail: Cliché with no effect; unsuccessful. All of my efforts were to no avail. idioms.thefreedictionary.com/to+no+avail
– user66974
Dec 14 '15 at 21:01






3




3




Please look up other posts here on sentence fragments; you need to ditch any idea that they're inherently wrong.
– Edwin Ashworth
Dec 14 '15 at 22:58




Please look up other posts here on sentence fragments; you need to ditch any idea that they're inherently wrong.
– Edwin Ashworth
Dec 14 '15 at 22:58












I just want to know if it can stand on its own @EdwinAshworth
– Curiousstudent
Dec 14 '15 at 23:11




I just want to know if it can stand on its own @EdwinAshworth
– Curiousstudent
Dec 14 '15 at 23:11




3




3




"But to no avail" is indeed a fragment—but that doesn't mean that it is ambiguous or hard to comprehend in any way, given the context that the sentence before it provides. So unless you are writing under instructions not to use any sentence fragments, there is no reason to object to its appearing as a sentence by itself.
– Sven Yargs
Dec 16 '15 at 5:34






"But to no avail" is indeed a fragment—but that doesn't mean that it is ambiguous or hard to comprehend in any way, given the context that the sentence before it provides. So unless you are writing under instructions not to use any sentence fragments, there is no reason to object to its appearing as a sentence by itself.
– Sven Yargs
Dec 16 '15 at 5:34












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