Sentence Fragments

Definition: A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence.  Most fragments are missing the subject, the verb, or both.  Identifying some fragments can be confusing because   they may actually contain a subject and a verb.  However, these nouns and verbs do not form an independent clause when they follow subordinating conjunctions, adverbs, or relative pronouns. (See below for an explanation of these terms.) Example of a sentence fragment:  After the party starts.                                                  party=subject       starts=verb This phrase has a noun and a verb; however, the subordinating conjunction ‘after’ makes it a dependent clause.  Therefore, this dependent clause needs to be linked to an independent clause.  Correct sentence: After the party starts, I will be able to relax.   (complex sentence) ‘I will be able to relax’ is an independent clause that can stand alone.  It expresses a complete thought.  Remember to separate a dependent clause and an independent clause with a comma (when the dependent clause appears before the independent clause).

Avoiding Sentence Fragments

Types of Fragments

Each example below illustrates a different type of sentence fragment.  Any fragment can be corrected by linking the fragment to an independent clause—one which comes before or after it and which makes sense within the paragraph. 

1. Subordinating Conjunction and Relative Pronoun Fragments Example: While I was waiting for my car to be repaired. How to find this type of fragment: When proofreading a paper, pay attention to subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns.  These words (see box below) turn subjects and verbs into dependent clauses.  Identifying proper usage of dependent clauses can help in recognizing fragments.

Examples of Subordinating Conjunctions and Relative Pronouns

after	how	unless	whichever
although	if	until	while
as	in order that/to	what	whether
as if	once	whatever	who
as soon as	rather than	when	whoever
as though	since	whenever	whom
because	so that	where	whomever
before	than	whereas	whose
even if	that	wherever	why
even though	though	which

2. “-ing” Fragments Example:           Her expertise being in chemistry and biology. How to find an “-ing” fragment: If the only verb in the sentence ends in ‘–ing’ and does not have a helping verb, you have a fragment.  While the word ‘being’ is a verb, in the above sentence, it is not properly formed.  In the below sentence, notice that the ‘-ing’ verb has a helping verb: I was walking down the street when it started raining.  (This sentence is correct.  ‘Was’ functions as the helping verb.) When added to a verb, ‘-ing’ sometimes makes a verb do the job of a noun: Walking outdoors is my favorite form of exercise. (In this sentence, ‘walking’ is a noun that functions as the subject.  ‘Is’ functions as the main verb.)

3. Missing Subject Fragments Example: Security set off the alarm and evacuated the building.  Next, closed all the entrances. How to find this type of fragment: The second phrase above (noted in bold) is a fragment because there is no subject.  ‘Entrances’ is a noun, but it is the object of the verb ‘closed.’  Who or what is closing the entrances is unknown.  That is, the subject of the sentence is missing.

4. “Extra Information” Fragments Example:           For instance, clean water and electricity. How to find and fix this type of fragment: In these kinds of fragments, usually the verb is missing.  Watch out for transitional phrases that signal an example, a list, added details, or information, such as those listed in the box below.

Transition Words Indicating a List or Examples

also	especially	except	for instance	including
in addition	furthermore	for example	such as	next

Practice: Avoiding Fragments

Correct these sentences using the strategies previously discussed. 

1.      The dog loved his new toys.  Especially the ones that squeaked.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.      Maggie remembered her childhood.  Her mother making pancakes for dinner in the       

      small apartment.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3.      She decided to meet her new friend in a public place.  That they had arranged over e-mail.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4.      Because she met him on MySpace.  She thought it was a good idea to be cautious.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.      I cannot wait until President’s Day.  Finally, a day off.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 1 Grammar

WEEK 1 – The Sentence

A sentence is

– a unit of words

– simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex

– made of a subject and a verb, and a complete thought

Subject

– The simple subject is the singular noun or plural nouns that do the action of the verb.

– The complete subject is the simple subject with any modifiers.

Verb

– The simple verb may consist of one word or a group of words.  These are the action words of the sentence.

– The complete subject is also called the predicate.  It contains modifiers, direct objects, and indirect objects.

Fragment

– A fragment often looks like a sentence with a capital letter and an end punctuation.  However, it is missing either a subject, a verb, or a complete thought.

            Examples:

The Run-on

– A Run-on sentence is two or more sentences improperly joined by wrong puncutaion, no punctuation, or a conjunction that needs help from some kind of punctuation. 

– Correcting a Run-on sentence

1.      Make two sentences.

2.      Join the two clauses by using a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

3.      Join the two clauses with a semicolon.

4.      Join the two clauses with a semicolon and a connector with a comma (but not a coordinating conjunction.

5.      Subordinate one of the clauses.

Week 2 Grammar Worksheets -- Sentence Fragments & Run-Ons

DIRECTIONS Determine which of the following word groups are sentence
fragments and which are complete sentences.
If the group of words is a complete sentence, write S.
If the group of words is a fragment, write F.
______ 1. If your parents think today’s fashions are weird.
______ 2. They should see the clothes people wore in the Middle Ages.
______ 3. Patterns of floral or geometric shapes popular.
______ 4. Liked clothes that were half one color and half another.
______ 5. Might have one green leg and one red leg.
______ 6. People often heavy leather belts decorated with metal and jewels.
______ 7. Edges of clothing into shapes called dagges.
______ 8. Sleeves with streamers that were two or three feet long.
______ 9. Shoes had long toes that were padded to retain their shape.
______ 10. Tights of velvet or silk.
______ 11. When clothes were edged and lined in fur.
______ 12. Layers very common in medieval clothing.
______ 13. Was a way of displaying wealth.
______ 14. The more clothes a person could afford to wear, the wealthier that person was.
______ 15. Might wear a short-sleeved tunic over a long-sleeved tunic, with a sleeveless mantle
over all.
______ 16. The usual head covering for men a hood with an attached shoulder cape and a long,
extended point, like a tail.
______ 17. Women wore a neckcloth pinned to their braids, hiding their hair.
______ 18. On top of the head, would wear a veil, a linen crown, or a small, round hat.
______ 19. In the later Middle Ages, women wore jeweled metal nets over their coiled braids.
______ 20. Current fashions a little boring in comparison.

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
____________________________________________________________

DIRECTIONS Determine which of the following word groups are sentence
fragments and which are complete sentences.
If the group of words is a complete sentence, write S.
If the group of words is a fragment, write F.
______ 1. Antarctica has the highest average elevation of the seven continents.
______ 2. No native people on Antarctica.
______ 3. Because it is too cold.
______ 4. Although scientists and other workers live in Antarctica for about a year at a time.
______ 5. These people there to study many things.
______ 6. Examine the ozone layer, sleep patterns, and fish survival in subzero temperatures.
______ 7. Ninety-five percent of Antarctica covered with ice.
______ 8. Antarctica approximately 70 percent of the world’s fresh water in its ice.
______ 9. Even though Antarctica is covered in ice and snow, it can be considered a desert.
______ 10. Adesert an area that gets very little precipitation.
______ 11. Antarctica receives only two inches of rain each year.
______ 12. Also has very high winds.
______ 13. Sometimes winds as high as 200 miles per hour.
______ 14. Many animals in the ocean around Antarctica.
______ 15. Include whales and seals.
______ 16. One type of bird found on Antarctica is the penguin.
______ 17. Antarctica so isolated that its snow and ice are very pure.
______ 18. The continent is far away from pollution.
______ 19. Amountain range across the continent.
______ 20. Antarctica’s Mount Erebus an active volcano.

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
_____________________________________________________________

DIRECTIONS Decide which of the following groups of words are run-on sentences.
If the group of words is correct, write C; if it is a run-on, write R.
Revise each run-on sentence by (1) making it two separate sentences or
(2) using a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
EXAMPLE Bears can live in many different habitats, they occupy mountains, forests,
and arctic wilderness.
______ 1. Brown bears include the grizzly and the kodiak, the largest brown bear is the kodiak.
______ 2. Kodiak bears weigh as much as 1,700 pounds, they grow to a height of ten feet.
______ 3. Bears can live more than 30 years in the wild.
______ 4. Bears’ sense of smell is more developed than their hearing or sight.
______ 5. Females give birth to as many as four cubs, the cubs stay with their mother two
or three years.
______ 6. Many people are afraid of bears, encounters with bears are actually infrequent.
______ 7. Grizzly bears are solitary animals, they do not want to interact with people.
______ 8. Generally, bears attack only when they are surprised, or when they are protecting
their young.
______ 9. People should always store food and garbage properly, bears could be attracted by
the smell.
______ 10. Never try to outrun a bear, it can run more than 30 miles per hour.

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
________________________________________________________

DIRECTIONS Decide which of the following groups of words are run-on sentences.
If the group of words is correct, write C; if it is a run-on, write R.
Revise each run-on sentence by (1) making it two separate sentences or
(2) using a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
EXAMPLE Albert Einstein was one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth
century, he changed the way people view the universe.
______ 1. School in Munich was too rigid and boring for young Einstein he did not do well.
______ 2. However, young Einstein showed a talent for mathematics, at the age of 12,
he taught himself Euclidean geometry.
______ 3. After finishing secondary school, he entered the Federal Polytechnic Academy
in Switzerland, he did not like the teaching methods there.
______ 4. The academy frustrated him he could learn in a way that interested him.
______ 5. Einstein chose to educate himself, he missed classes often and spent the time studying
physics on his own.
______ 6. His professors had low opinions of him, he graduated anyway in 1900.
______ 7. In 1905, he published a paper on physics the University of Zürich awarded him a Ph.D.
for this work.
______ 8. In the same year, he published four more papers that presented new thoughts on the
nature of light and other important concepts.
______ 9. Physicists resisted his ideas at first, eventually his general theory of relativity was
confirmed through observation.
______ 10. Einstein achieved international recognition, in 1921 he received the Nobel Prize
in physics.

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
___________________________________________________________