Module: English Skills
Lesson: Sentence Fragments
Frag. = Sentence Fragment
If you see the symbol above on an essay, lab report, or other text, it means that you have written an incomplete
sentence, which is also known as a sentence fragment or fragment.
What attributes must a sentence have in order to be a complete sentence and not a fragment?
1. A complete sentence has a subject.
2. A complete sentence has a verb. In fact, it must have a complete verb.
3. A complete sentence expresses a complete idea.
A Basic Overview of Sentence Fragment Errors
1. Missing Subject
Fragment: Began the search for a space in the crowded student parking lot.
In the sentence above, the writer does not tell the reader who was searching for a parking space.
Correct: Ned began the search for a space in the crowded student parking lot.
To correct this type of error, add a subject to the sentence to indicate who or what is/was/will be doing the action.
2. Missing Verb
Fragment: Five minutes before class, Ned still searching for a space in the crowded student parking lot.
Correct: Five minutes before class, Ned was still searching for a space in the crowded student parking lot.
In the first sentence above, there is a verb, but it is incomplete. The helping verb “was” is needed. Errors such as this
often occur because writers mentally fill in the blanks and do not proofread closely enough.
3. Incomplete Idea
Prepositional Phrases
Fragment: Next to an empty space in the crowded student parking lot.
Correct: Ned saw a broken bottle next to an empty space in the crowded student parking lot.
When using one or more prepositional phrases, be careful to add a complete sentence. For example, in the corrected
sentence above, the reader learns that a broken bottle sat next to the empty parking space.
Subordinate Conjunctions
Fragment: When Ned began the search for a space in the crowded student parking lot.
Correct: When Ned began the search for a space in the crowded student parking lot, he was already five
minutes late for class.
Correct: He was already five minutes late for class when Ned began the search for a space in the crowded
student parking lot.
Subordinate conjunctions are very useful. They help writers to explain relationships between ideas, to create smooth
transitions, and to vary sentence patterns. Experienced writers often use subordinate conjunctions when constructing
sentences. When beginning a sentence with one of these words, however, be careful to express a complete idea. In
each of the corrected sentences above, a complete sentence needed to be added.
Some commonly used
subordinate conjunctions:
After
Although
As
Because
Even though
If
Once
Since
Unless
Until
When
Whenever