LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Recognize fragments.
  2. Convert fragments to complete sentences.
  3. Write complete sentences.

A complete sentence includes two core components: a subject and a predicate. Fragments are essentially dependent clauses that cannot stand on their own. They result when you attempt to write a sentence without one of those two core components. You can use these pointers to recognize fragments:

When you read a sentence, ask yourself, “Who (or what) performed the action?” If you can answer that question, you are reading a sentence. If not, you are reading a fragment.

Self-Tests for Identifying Fragments

Test these examples:

Fill in this blank with your sentence: Did you know that _________? If the completed question makes sense, you are reading a sentence. If it doesn’t make sense, you are reading a fragment.

Test these examples:

To identify fragments, when you have a group of sentences within a paragraph, read the sentences from last to first so that no sentence can gain information from the preceding sentence. This technique will help sentence fragments stand out since they will not make sense alone.

Ultimately all these pointers are designed to get you into the habit of asking whether your sentences stand on their own. If you have problems with writing fragments, perform these tests until recognizing a sentence becomes second nature to you. When you recognize a fragment, you can turn it into sentence by adding the missing component. Try these examples:

Just as sentences require a subject and a predicate, they also have boundaries. See Section P “Punctuation”, which covers “Eliminating Comma Splices and Fused Sentences,” “Using Commas Properly,” and “Writing with Semicolons and Colons” for guidelines on fixing fused sentences and comma splices and for options on punctuating independent clauses.


Adapted from “Sentence Building” in Writer’s Handbook, 2012, used according to Creative Commons  CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

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