1. A break in grammatical construction within a sentence, where the structure shifts unexpectedly and the sentence does not follow a consistent syntactic pattern.
Usage: Rhetoric and grammar term; Often used in literary analysis and composition studies

Examples

• The sentence 'If you want to succeed, hard work is essential' contains an anacoluthon because it shifts from a conditional clause to a noun phrase.
• In the phrase 'The book, which I read it yesterday, was fascinating,' the anacoluthon occurs due to the redundant pronoun.
• Shakespeare sometimes used anacoluthon for dramatic effect, as in 'To be or not to be—that is the question' where the structure breaks from typical syntax.
• The speaker's anacoluthon—'When I arrived at the store, the shelves were empty'—made the sentence harder to parse.
• Poets occasionally employ anacoluthon to create emphasis or reflect a character's emotional state.