Sentence Fragments

English 15

English 20

A sentence fragment is not a complete sentence. It is only part of a sentence. It might be missing a subject, a verb, or simply the sense of what the sentence is about. Often writers will miss sentence fragments during the editing process because when taken in context, the fragment makes sense; however, when looked at in isolation, the sentence is definitely lacking crucial information.

Sentence Fragments happen for a variety of reasons, and often students will have several fragments in an essay, but all the fragments are the same type. If this is what you are doing, take heart. As soon as you sort out the one issue, the fragments should disappear.

In general, fragments are easy to correct because you will either attach the fragment to the sentence before or the sentence after, or you will add the missing subject or verb to complete the sentence.

Let's review some of the ways fragments are created.

Missing Subjects

Some sentence fragments are the result of a missing subject.

Jose tossed Raphael the envelope containing two tickets to the Lakers game. Then watched the look on his face.
When we go to the beach, we need to take towels and sunscreen. Also sandwiches and sodas.

In both of these examples, the second phrase is a sentence fragment. When reading it through, it makes sense, but if you take each sentence in isolation, you will see that the second sentence does not have a subject. The writer here assumed that the subject applied to both sentences, and in a way it does, but then the sentences would need to be combined, not separated. There are a couple of ways these sentences could be revised to eliminate the sentence fragment.

Jose tossed Raphael the envelope containing two tickets to the Lakers game and watched the look on Raphael's face.
Jose tossed Raphael the envelope containing two tickets to the Lakers game. Then he watched the look on Raphael's face.

--ing Words

Beginning a sentence with an --ing word will often set you up for a sentence fragment.

After the Lakers won the championship, the fans celebrated. Dancing in the streets.
Erik was especially happy about the Lakers' win. Shouting with joy.

The trouble with --ing verb is that they are not complete verb. They need helpers to make them complete. If you find that you have a fragment that is due to an --ing verb, you can either attach the fragment to the sentence before or after, or you can add the missing words to complete the sentence.

After the Lakers won the championship, the fans celebrated, dancing in the streets.
After the Lakers won the championship, the fans celebrated. They were dancing in the streets.

"To" Clauses

Beginning a sentence with "to" is another way to set yourself up for a fragment.

I am taking painting classes. To help me relax.
Maria went shopping. To get her mind off her research paper.

Just like the --ing fragments, this type of fragment can be eliminated by attaching it to the sentence before or after, or by adding the missing words to complete the sentence.

Maria went shopping to get her mind off her research paper.
Maria went shopping. She wanted to get her mind off her research paper.

You can also attach fragment to the front of the sentence, but watch the punctuation.

To get her mind off her research paper, Maria went shopping.

Dependent Words

There are some words that can also set you up for fragments. (Okay, here comes some English lingo) Relative Pronouns and Subordinate conjunctions can set you up. There is only one way to eliminate this type of fragment. It must be joined to the sentence before.

Here is a list of relative pronouns (I'll bet you were hoping to see a list!) that will set you up for fragments:

Who	Whom	Whose
Which	That

We inspected the closet. Which had become a dumping ground for old computer equipment.
Next month we will honor Professor Mixon. Who helped us earn scholarships for college.

If we attach the fragment to the sentence that precedes it by using a comma instead of a period, the fragment is eliminated.

We inspected the closet, which had become a dumping ground for old computer equipment.

Here is a list (I knew that you would want another list) of subordinate conjunctions that can set you up.

after	although	as if
because	before	even if
even though	if	in order that
now that	once	provided that
rather than	since	so that
than	that	though
unless	until	when
whenever	where	wherever
whenever	where	wherever
whether	while	why

Although Renee did all her homework. She still flunked math.
Even though students do all their essays. They often do not do their reading.

To eliminate these fragments, you simply need to attach them to an adjoining sentence.

Although Renee did all her homework, she still flunked math.
Renee still flunked math; although, she did all her homework.

Adding Details

Although English teachers are always asking for more specific details, you have to be careful how you go about adding those details. Sometimes added details can also create sentence fragments. Here is another list of words to watch out for.

Especially	Including	Except
not even	particularly	such as
in addition	for example

Everyone in the class did well on the research paper. Except Virginia.
Some kinds of essays are more difficult for students to write. For example, argument essays

Again, these fragments simply need to be attached to the sentence they add details to.

Everyone in the class did well on the research paper, except Virginia.

Sometimes if the added detail is long, it can be made into a separate sentence.

It is important for students to get involved with programs and activities on campus. For example, honor societies or research projects that could help with them get accepted at the university. (FRAGMENT)
It is important for students to get involved with program and activities on campus. For example, honor societies or research projects can help students get accepted at the university. (CORRECTED)

As you try to sort out why you are getting marked for sentence fragments, look at your paper and see which categories your fragments fit into. Remember, just because a sentence is short doesn't mean that it is a fragment, and just because it is long doesn't mean it can't be a fragment. Look at how you are putting words together, not at long or short.

Finally, if you still feel confused, you can come and talk to me, you can talk to a tutor, or you can check out a couple of web sites. Sometimes hearing the same information presented a different way can make a difference.