Sentence Fragments
(Excerpted from Process and Practice: A Guide to Basic Writing by Phillip Eggers)
A sentence fragment is what its name suggests: only a part or fragment of a sentence,
punctuated as if it were a complete sentence. Writers must be careful to avoid using fragments
when instead they are trying to use sentences. Every sentence must have a subject and a tensed
verb. A fragment is usually a phrase or dependent clause.
Three Ways to Correct Fragments
1. Connect fragments to the sentences that precede or follow them.
2. Add subjects or verbs to make fragments complete.
3. Add main clauses to make fragments complete.
Connect the fragment to the preceding sentence:
Fragment:
The students sat in small groups. And read their papers aloud to one
another.
Correction:
The students sat in small groups and read their papers aloud to one
another.
Add a subject or verb to make the fragment complete:
Fragment:
Correction:
The shell of the missile fell to earth. And landed in a forest in Kentucky.
The shell of the missile fell to earth. It landed in a forest in Kentucky.
Add a main clause to make the fragment complete:
Fragment:
Correction:
After Stanley and Evelyn quarreled about her getting a job.
After Stanley and Evelyn quarreled about her getting a job, they kissed
and made up.
In your paragraphs and essays, one of the easiest ways to correct fragments is to join
them to sentences next to them. Fragments are often pieces of longer sentences that were
mistakenly broken off; usually they can be reattached to the sentences in front of them. Just be
sure that the resulting sentence is not too long and complicated. To check for fragments, read
your essay carefully as it were a list of sentence exercises, taking each sentence one at a time.
Notice especially the beginning of each sentence.
UTB Learning Enrichment—Writing Lab—Student Union 2.16