Avoiding

Sentence
Fragments
MAKING SURE YOUR SENTENCES ARE
COMPLETE
Complete Sentences
To be complete, a sentence must have
a subject
and
a verb
and
express a completed
idea.
Note: It has a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the
end. (Period = full stop)
Example:
My homework is taking every waking hour.
Complete sentence!

INCLUDES
Subject (My homework)
Verb (is taking)
and
Expresses a complete idea (Im tired!)
So all you have to remember
is:
A sentence is not complete
or correct, unless
It has a subject,
it has a verb,
and it expresses a
completed idea.
Check this out
My math homework.
No VERB: Doesnt express the action

Taking every waking hour.
No SUBJECT: Doesnt explain who or what
No COMPLETED IDEA. Because of this, what?
Because my math homework is taking every
waking hour.
Fragments
s a group of words that might
lack a subject or a verb and
does not make a complete
thought.
Common Fragment Types

I tried everything I could think of to get an A. Such as
bribing the professor.

I tried everything I could think of to get an A, such as
bribing the professor.
Common Fragment Types
APPOSITIVE PHRASE: Words that explain or add extra
information

I tried everything I could think of to get an A. Such as
bribing the professor.

I tried everything I could think of to get an A, such as
bribing the professor.
Correct
Common Fragment Types
I hope to complete the requirements for my
major. By the end of next semester.


I hope to complete the requirements for my major
by the end of next semester
Common Fragment Types
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
I hope to complete the requirements for my
major. By the end of next semester.


I hope to complete the requirements for my major
by the end of next semester.
Correct
Common Fragment Types
The student sleeping in the back row.


The student was sleeping in the back row.

Common Fragment Types
INCOMPLETE VERBS: past or present participles
without the helping verb
The student sleeping in the back row.


The student was sleeping in the back row.

Correct
Common Fragment Types

I kept working on my essay. Although I
was tired.


I kept working on my essay, although I
was tired.
Common Fragment Types
Dependent Clause: Group of words that
contains a subject and verb but doesnt
express a complete thought because of
the beginning word.

I kept working on my essay. Although I
was tired.


I kept working on my essay, although I
was tired.
Correct
One Common Problem
Area
It is OK for a subject to be a pronoun.

Example: I cant decide what to do. It is a
difficult situation.
Subject: It
Verb: Is
Completed idea: a difficult situation

As long as there is a word that acts as
subject (it) the sentence fits the
subject/verb/completed idea formula.
How To Check for
Fragments
Put the words It is clear that in front of the possible fragment.
Does it make sense? If so, its a complete sentence.
EXAMPLE:
It is difficult. Fragment or sentence?
Its clear that it is difficult. (Makes sense, so not a fragment.)
Because it is difficult. Fragment or sentence?
Its clear that because it is difficult. (?? Doesnt make sense
so is a fragment.)
Watch Out for a Common
Trap!
Just because you write a lot of
words, you dont necessarily have
a complete sentence.
Although I have tried many ways to get
an A, such as paying off the professor
and offering to carry her books to class
each day and assuring her that I love my
writing class more than life itself.

FRAGMENT! You havent finished the although
idea, so you havent finished your thought.
But you knew that, because
you remembered that
a sentence is not complete or correct, unless
It has a subject;
it has a verb,
and it expresses a
completed idea.