Fragments
Grammar Presentation
Hawthorne, Lee, Louie, Pannu, Saini, Vander Zanden
Professor Mcleish
EWRT 1A
23 October 2014
What is a fragment?
●
Usually, statements that have been separated from the
main clause.
o incomplete sentences
o missing verbs or subjects
o dependent clauses
●
Does not express a complete thought
o lacking action
o ex: Joe is.
o ex: Eating chicken.
But what about…?
●
●
●
^ fragment, watch out!
In journalistic and college writing,
dependent clauses may be used for
emphasis.
“For academic writing and other formal
writing situations, however, you should
avoid such journalistic fragment
statements.” -Purdue OWL
Independent Clauses
●
●
It is a stand alone sentence
containing both a subject and a
verb to express a complete
thought.
An independent clause is
basically just a sentence.
Independent Clauses (cont.)
Ex 1: I enjoy driving to school.
●Subject: I
●Verb: enjoy
●It is a complete sentence.
Independent Clauses (cont.)
Ex 2: He decided to buy a sandwich
instead of a burger.
● Subject: He
● Verb: decide
● It expresses a complete thought
Dependent Clauses
●
A dependent clause may contain a
subject and a verb, but it cannot be a
sentence because it is an incomplete
thought.
●
Prepositional words are commonly used
in dependent clauses.
o ex. since, when, after, at, for, etc.
Dependent Clauses (cont.)
Ex 1: After we left our final class…
● Ask questions: What happened after
class?
● Does not express a complete thought
● The word “after” is a prepositional word.
Dependent clauses (cont.)
Ex 2: Although the students were late to
class…
● What happened to the late students?
● The word “although” makes the
independent clause a dependent
clause.
Connecting both clauses
●
o
o
One can connect a dependent and
independent clause by using:
coordinating conjunctions
 and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet
commas and semicolons
 however, consequently,
nevertheless, etc.
Connecting clauses (cont.)
Ex 1: Since Bob was late for the bus, he had
to wait another ten minutes for the next bus.
●The dependent clause is connected to the
independent clause by a comma in order to
complete the sentence.
Connecting clauses (cont.)
Ex 2: Bob was late for the bus; consequently,
he was forced to wait ten minutes for the
next one.
● Since both sentences are related to each
other, they can be connected by utilizing a
semicolon followed directly by the word
“consequently”.
No verbs
No verb fragments are sentences that do
not contain a verb.
Direct Object: Adding this will give
a subject + verb + who/what
Main Verb: Adding a verb to
complete sentence
No verbs (cont.)
Ex 1: Toys of all kinds thrown everywhere.
Complete Verb: Toys of all kinds
were thrown everywhere.
Direct Object: They found toys of all
kinds thrown everywhere.
No verbs (cont.)
Ex 2: As Mrs. Das was eating rice.
Join dependent with independent
clause: Mrs. Das stormed out of the car, as
(she) was eating rice.
Remove subordinating conjunction to
expose subject: Mrs. Das was eating rice.
No subject
Ex 1: With the ultimate effect of all
advertisements is to sell the product.
Remove preposition: The ultimate
effect of all advertisements is to sell the
product.
No subject: (cont.)
Ex 2: For doing freelance work for a
competitor got Phil fired.
Remove preposition and
rearrange: Phil got fired for doing
freelance work for a competitor.
Works Cited
1. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Sentence Fragments. N.p., n.d.
Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
2. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Independent and Dependent
Clauses. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
3. "Sentence Fragments." YourDictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
4. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Prepositions. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Oct. 2014.