9 2.2 Sentence Fragments
[Author removed at request of original publisher]
Learning Objectives
- Identify sentence fragments.
- Properly correct sentence fragments.
Fragments occur when the sentence is missing the subject and/or verb. Fragments also happen when the sentence is an incomplete thought.
INCORRECT: Walked quickly and quietly away towards the rabbit.
CORRECT: She walked quickly and quietly away towards the rabbit.
There is no subject in this group of words. What or who walked? Notice that the word “rabbit” is a noun and could, in its own sentence, be the subject. But in this case, it is part of the prepositional phrase that tells where the walking is towards. Adding “She walked” answers the question “who walked” and gives us a subject and a complete sentence.
INCORRECT: Because the big, brown cow walked quickly and quietly away.
CORRECT: Because the big, brown cow walked quickly and quietly away, the calf didn’t notice her mother was gone.
The addition of the subordinating conjunction “because” creates an incomplete thought in the first (incorrect) example above. We need to add an independent clause before or after it to make it a complete thought. When we add “the calf . . . ,” we add an independent clause and create a complete sentence.
Additional words that create fragments when added to the beginning of sentences include other subordinating conjunctions and coordinating conjunctions (lists of these are at the end of the section). Coordinating conjunctions are words that indicate that some sort of connection is coming, like a trailer with a hitch. That “trailer” part of the sentence needs something to hook up to, so to speak, before it can go anywhere. Simply put, the trailer needs an engine. Think of the main subject and governing verb as the engine that the dependent clause, or trailer, can be attached to. In other words, the dependent clause (“Because the big, brown cow walked quickly and quietly away”) needs an independent clause, or engine, to hitch to.
How to fix a sentence fragment
Sentence fragments are fixed by either adding the missing words or hooking the fragment onto a sentence that comes before it or after it in the paragraph.
The big brown cow walked quickly and quietly away.
Because the big, brown cow walked quickly and quietly away, I didn’t need to run away in terror from it.
In the examples above, the main (simple) subject is underlined, and the verb is in italics. In the second sentence, “cow” is no longer the subject, since the word “because” has made the entire clause from “because” to “away” into a dependent clause, or a trailer, needing an engine to hitch to.
List of common subordinating conjunctions:
Because
If
Since
When
While
As
Before
Wherever
Once
After
Although
Even (if, though)
Unless
Until
Where
List of coordinating conjunctions:
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Practice what you’ve learned in the self-check below.
Now return to the online classroom to complete your next task.
“You, Writing!” by Glynn, Alexandra Hallsten-Erickson, Kelli Swing, and Amy Jo is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
