Part I Effective Sentence for Writing
Chapter 3 Fragment Sentence
A. What is Fragment ¿
To fix this kind of fragment, add an independent clause to it.
COMPLETE SENTENCE: The teacher passed out pencils and paper before the test began.
COMPLETE SENTENCE: Call me as soon as you get home.
A sentence fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence, but actually isn’t a complete sentence. Sentence fragments are usually missing a subject or verb, or they do not express a complete thought. While it may be punctuated to look like a complete sentence, a fragment cannot stand on its own. Distinguishing Features;25
Here are the distinguishing features of a sentence fragment:
1. It is missing a subject
o Example: Ran to the store faster than a rabbit. (Who ran?)
2. It is missing a verb or has the wrong verb form
o Example: My favorite history teacher. (What did the teacher do or say?)
3. It is a leftover phrase
o Example: For better or worse. (What is better or worse?
What is it modifying?) 4. It is an abandoned clause
o Example: When my mother married my father. (What happened when “my mother married my father?”) 5. It is a misuse of “such as, for example, especially,” etc.
o Example: Such as, my brother was practicing martial arts. (It is unclear; did something happen when my brother was practicing martial arts?)
Three Ways to Turn a Fragment into a Complete Sentence;
1. Attach
Attach the fragment to a nearby complete sentence
o Incorrect: I forgot to eat breakfast. On the morning of my driver’s test.
o Correct: I forgot to eat breakfast on the morning of my driver’s test.
25 https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/sentence-fragments
o Incorrect: If the front door is locked. Use the back entrance.
o Correct: If the front door is locked, use the back entrance.
2. Revise
Revise the fragment by adding whatever is missing – subject, verb, complete thought.
o Incorrect: Loves to lie around in the sun all day.
(A subject is missing. Who loves to lie around?)
o Correct: My roommate’s pug loves to lie around in the sun all day.
o Incorrect: Joe to train every day.
(A verb is missing. Also, “to train” is the wrong verb form. Joe does what every day?)
o Correct: Joe trains every day for the marathon next month.
o Correct: Joe is training every day for the marathon next month.
3. Rewrite
Rewrite the fragment or the entire passage that contains the fragment.
o Incorrect: Our new landlord was expected to make changes. Such as fixing the plumbing, installing a new washer, and replacing the security gate. Has not done any of it yet and weeks have passed.
o Correct: Our new landlord was expected to make changes, such as fixing the plumbing, installing a new washer, and replacing the security gate lock. Weeks have passed, and he still has not done any of it yet.
Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause. One of the easiest ways to correct them is to remove the period
between the fragment and the main clause. Other kinds of punctuation may be needed for the newly combined sentence.26
Below are some examples with the fragments shown in red.
Punctuation and/or words added to make corrections are highlighted in blue. Notice that the fragment is frequently a dependent clause or long phrase that follows the main clause.
Fragment: Purdue offers many majors in engineering. Such as electrical, chemical, and industrial engineering.
Possible Revision: Purdue offers many majors in engineering, such as electrical, chemical, and industrial engineering.
Fragment: Coach Dietz exemplified this behavior by walking off the field in the middle of a game. Leaving her team at a time when we needed her.
Possible Revision: Coach Dietz exemplified this behavior by walking off the field in the middle of a game, leaving her team at a time when we needed her.
Fragment: I need to find a new roommate. Because the one I have now isn't working out too well.
Possible Revision: I need to find a new roommate because the one I have now isn't working out too well.
Fragment: The current city policy on housing is incomplete as it stands. Which is why we believe the proposed amendments should be passed.
Possible Revision: Because the current city policy on housing is incomplete as it stands, we believe the proposed amendments should be passed.
26 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/sentence_fragments.html
You may have noticed that newspaper and magazine journalists often use a dependent clause as a separate sentence when it follows clearly from the preceding main clause, as in the last example above.
This is a conventional journalistic practice, often used for emphasis.
For academic writing and other more formal writing situations, however, you should avoid such journalistic fragment sentences.
Some fragments are not clearly pieces of sentences that have been left unattached to the main clause; they are written as main clauses but lack a subject or main verb.
No main verb
Fragment: A story with deep thoughts and emotions.
Possible Revisions:
o Direct object: She told a story with deep thoughts and emotions.
o Appositive: Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," a story with deep thoughts and emotions, has impressed critics for decades.
Fragment: Toys of all kinds thrown everywhere.
Possible Revisions:
o Complete verb: Toys of all kinds were thrown everywhere.
o Direct object: They found toys of all kinds thrown everywhere.
Fragment: A record of accomplishment beginning when you were first hired.
Possible Revisions:
o Direct object: I've noticed a record of accomplishment beginning when you were first hired
o Main verb: A record of accomplishment began when you were first hired.
No Subject
Fragment: With the ultimate effect of all advertising is to sell the product.
Possible Revisions:
o Remove preposition: The ultimate effect of all advertising is to sell the product.
Fragment: By paying too much attention to polls can make a political leader unwilling to propose innovative policies.
Possible Revisions:
o Remove preposition: Paying too much attention to polls can make a political leader unwilling to propose innovative policies.
Fragment: For doing freelance work for a competitor got Phil fired.
Possible Revisions:
o Remove preposition: Doing freelance work for a competitor got Phil fired.
o Rearrange: Phil got fired for doing freelance work for a competitor.
These last three examples of fragments with no subjects are also known as mixed constructions, that is, sentences constructed out of mixed parts. They start one way (often with a long prepositional phrase) but end with a regular predicate. Usually the object of the preposition (often a gerund, as in the last two examples) is intended as the subject of the sentence, so removing the preposition at the beginning is usually the easiest way to edit such errors.
B. Exercises