Writing Center Tutorial - Grammar
Sentence Fragments
A sentence fragment is part of a sentence punctuated as if it were a complete one. Here are some examples:
Fragment: The telephone with two outside lines.
Fragment: Rang loudly for ten minutes.
Fragment: Because the telephone rang loudly.
To correct sentence fragments, you have to be able to spot them. Here are some useful questions to ask while you are looking for fragments.
1. Is there a verb?
If there is no verb, you have written a sentence fragment. Verbs convey information about what is happening, what has happened, or what will happen.
Let's look at the first example:Fragment: The telephone with two outside lines.Adding a verb to this fragment produces a complete sentence.
(what did the telephone do?)
Corrected: The telephone has two outside lines
2. Is there a subject?
If there is no subject, you have written a sentence fragment. To find a subject, ask who? or what
Let's look at the second example:Fragment: Rang loudly for ten minutes. (what rang?)To make a complete sentence, add a subject to this fragment.
Corrected: The telephone rang loudly for ten minutes.
3. Do the subject and verb start with a subordinating word and lack an independent clause to complete the thought?
If the answer is yes, you have written a sentence fragment. Clauses beginning with subordinating words are called dependent clauses. They cannot stand alone as independent units. A dependent clause must be paired to an independent clause to form a complete sentence.
The third example follows:Fragment: Because the telephone rang loudly. The family was awakened.To make a complete sentence, join this dependent clause to the preceding or following independent clause.
Corrected: Because the telephone rang loudly, the family was awakened.
Corrected: The family was awakened because the telephone rang loudly.
Resource: Troyka, Lynn Quitmann. Handbook for Writers. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1990.
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