. . . They are only a fragment of your imagination . . .

The uh-oh’s of EnglishWhy are fragments so

bad?How to identify a

fragment.

The cantaloupe good but something about it was missing. The cantaloupe good but something about it was missing.

Simply put, fragments are outright confusing. A fragment is kind of like this:

How much sense does this make? You decide.(It seems to have neither a start nor and end,

just a muddled state of being.)

There are three things that sentences need in order to be considered complete, which we reviewed in the previous guide:

1.Sentences need a subject.2.Sentences need a verb.3.If a sentence begins as subordinate, it needs a

complimentary main clause.

If a sentence does not have all of these things, it is considered a fragment. (Of course, if the sentence does not begin as subordinate, you need not worry about #3.)

When creating a sentence, always ask yourself:

Is there a subject? (This sentence doesn’t have a subject.)Went to the store to buy a carton of eggs.

Is there a verb? (This sentence doesn’t have a verb.)The little bee happily amongst the flowers.

If the sentence begins with a dependent clause, is there a complimentary independent clause?While flying over the mountain, the plane began

to hit turbulence.

Do not rely on computer’s spellcheckers to find fragments for you. Sometimes they work, but they are not that reliable.Sometimes spellcheckers label complete sentences

as being incomplete. Do not trust them. Use your own common sense and what you learned in this guide to identify what are and are not fragments for yourself.

Run-ons

The Next Guide: