#A fragment sentence how to#

How do you know if a sentence is a fragment?Ī: You can recognize sentence fragments because they will be lacking either a subject or a verb or they will fail to express a complete thought. Clothes and toys scattered around the room.The following are some examples of sentence fragments: A phrase lacking one or more of these elements is considered a sentence fragment as it cannot stand on its own as a complete sentence. It requires a subject which is the person or thing performing the action, a verb which is the action being performed and it must express a complete thought or idea. There are three things a sentence needs in order to be complete.

#A fragment sentence how to#

Correct: While Gretchen milked the cows, Helga tended the sheep.A: If you want to know how to fix a fragment in an essay or some other text you must first understand what it is.Correct: Helga tended the sheep while Gretchen milked the cows.However, the presence of the word while, a subordinating conjunction, turns the group of words into a dependent clause, so it cannot function as a complete sentence. It contains both a complete subject ( Gretchen) and a complete predicate ( milked the cows). In the above example, While Gretchen milked the cows is a sentence fragment. Sentence fragments that are dependent clausesĪ sentence fragment can occur when a dependent clause is treated as if it were a complete sentence. Correct: No matter the cost, Jamie’s mother said she would make sure he got into college.Correct: Jamie’s mother said she would make sure he got into college, no matter the cost.It is neither a complete subject nor a complete predicate. In the above example, No matter the cost is a sentence fragment. Incorrect: Jamie’s mother said she would make sure he got into college.Sentence fragments with neither complete subjects nor complete predicatesĪ sentence fragment can occur when a group of words functions as neither a complete subject nor a complete predicate. Correct: Veronica had a great time at the beach, relishing the big blue open water.Correct: Veronica had a great time at the beach.The big blue open water calmed her soul.Īdd a subject and predicate to the fragment. This sentence fragment can function as a complete subject, but it lacks a complete predicate. In the above example, The big blue open water is a sentence fragment.

Incorrect: Veronica had a great time at the beach.

Sentence fragments without complete predicatesĪ sentence fragment can occur due to the lack of a complete predicate.

Correct: I caught a cold right before my honeymoon.

Rephrase the fragment so it has a subject.

Correct: I caught a cold right before my honeymoon, which totally sucked.

Incorporate the fragment into a nearby sentence. It contains a complete predicate ( totally sucked) but no subject.

In the above example, Which totally sucked is a sentence fragment. Incorrect: I caught a cold right before my honeymoon.Sentence fragments without complete subjectsĪ sentence fragment can occur due to the lack of a complete subject. The sentence fragment is a dependent clause.The sentence fragment is missing both a complete subject and a complete predicate.The sentence fragment is missing a complete predicate.The sentence fragment is missing a complete subject.Sentence fragments generally occur for the following reasons: For this reason, it is important to communicate in complete sentences.Īs a reminder, a complete sentence requires an independent clause that contains a complete subject and a complete predicate. However, academic writing must communicate ideas as professionally as possible. Sentence fragments are common in informal writing and everyday speech. A sentence fragment is a word or group of words that cannot function as a complete sentence.