Sentence Fragments0 Sentence fragments are sentences which are not

complete and therefore might confuse your reader.

0While some sentence fragments can be used for emphasis, you must first know when and how to avoid unintentional fragments in your writing.

0This tutorial will help you learn how to

identify unintentional sentence fragments

and correct them.

In this lesson, you will learn:

0The three elements of a complete sentence.

What a sentence needs:

Subject

Predicate

Complete Thought

Subject

The subject of a sentence is who, or what, the sentence is about.

Kerri rides her bike to class.

Who is the sentence about? Kerri. So “Kerri” is our subject.

Predicate

The predicate of a sentence is the action word, or verb—it tells us what the subject is doing.

Kerri rides her bike to class.

We know that Kerri is our subject—what is she doing?Kerri rides her bike. So “rides” is our predicate.

Complete Thought

The third element a complete sentence requires is that it must express a complete thought.

“Kerri rides” has a subject and a predicate, but it doesn’t express a complete thought—where is she riding, or what is she riding, or why is she riding? We need more information.

Kerri rides her bike to class.

That gives us a subject, a predicate,

and a complete thought.

A sentence needs three elements to be complete.

1. It must have a subject. (Who, or what, the sentence is about).

2. It must have a predicate. (The action word, or verb. What is the subject doing?)

3. It must express a complete thought. (If you aren’t sure what the sentence means, you may have a fragment).

Practice Identifying Sentence Fragments

In this part of this lesson, we will practice identifying some sentence fragments and will offer examples of how to correct them.

Necessary Elements

We already know that the three things a sentence needs to be complete are the subject, the predicate, and a complete thought. So is the sentence below a fragment?

Mozart, at the age of eight.

What’s Wrong With This Sentence?

Mozart, at the age of eight.

Do we have a subject? Yes—Mozart.

Do we have a predicate, or verb? No. At the age of eight, what did Mozart do?

One way to correct this might be:

Mozart wrote his first symphony at the age of eight.

What’s Missing ?

Always worrying about being struck by lightening.

What’s Wrong With This Sentence?

Always worrying about being struck by lightening.

Do we have a predicate? Yes.

Do we have a subject? No.

Who is always worried about being struck by lightening?

To correct this sentence, simply add a subject:

Jessica is always worried about being struck by lightening.

What’s Missing?

Is this a sentence fragment? Let’s check.

Is there a subject? Yes. This sentence is about patriots.

Is there a predicate? Yes. Fought is the predicate.

Finally, does the sentence express a complete thought? No. We don’t know whywe are hearing about these Revolutionary War patriots.

Patriots who fought in the Revolution.

So, how do we correct this sentence?

Patriots who fought in the Revolution.

We need to make it a complete thought. There are plenty of options. Here are two:

1. The patriots who fought in the Revolution did not all wear the same uniforms.

2. Nearly 5,000 of the patriots who fought in the Revolution were African-American.

How to Correct It

Tips for Finding Errors

Read the essay out loud.

Read the essay backwards, from the last sentence to the first.

Have a friend read the essay out loud to you.

Sometimes we are “too close” to our work. Reading it out loud forces us to read what is actually on the page, not what we think is on the page.

ReviewRemember, these are the three things each sentence should have. If any one of them is missing, you will need to revise.

Sources

Don’t Give Me Any Static Please. (2009). Don’t-give-me-anystatic-please.jpg.buckleysautocare.com/dont-give-me-any-static-please/Freefotos.com. (2012). Diverse-Adult-Students-in-class.jpg. http://www.freefoto.com/browse/?query=classroomMueller, Steve. (3 Oct. 2010). music-notes.jpg. www.planetofsuccess.com/blog.Oaks, Linda. (7 Apr 2012 ). libertybell1.jpg. 2011. Pics4Learning. http://pics.tech4learning.comParker, Mark. (07/03/2000). mark4.jpg. Pics4Learning. 7 Apr 2012 http://pics.tech4learning.comRansom, Kenneth. (July 2003). lightening101.jpg. Pics4Learning. 7 Apr 2012 <http://pics.tech4learning.com>Television, OCPS.( 8 Apr 2012 ). keyboard1.jpg. 1998. Pics4Learning. http://pics.tech4learning.comWikipedia. (2 April 2012). Mozart Wolfgang Amedeus. Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart.jpg http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart