Fragments
Fragments are not
real sentences because they lack a subject, a verb, or a complete thought.
Fragment: All day
on the beach. (There is no subject, verb, or complete thought here. It leaves us asking, “What happened on the
beach?” “Who did it?”)
Sentence: We played all day on the beach. (Here
there is a subject [we], verb [played], and complete thought.)
Some kinds of
fragments may contain a subject and a verb, but still need more informa-tion to
be a complete thought.
Fragment: As Jake
was eating ice cream. (We have a subject [Jake] and a verb [was eating], but we
are left waiting for more information because of the word “as.”)
Sentence: As Jake
was eating ice cream, he saw his
ex-girlfriend. (Now we have all three components of a sentence, so the
statement makes complete sense.)
Identifying and Correcting
Fragments
Fragments do not
easily stand out when read with other sentences. Notice how the frag-ment in
the following example seems to hide because it fits so nicely with the surround-ing
sentences.
Anorexia, a
growing problem among teens, is a type of eating disorder. Where people starve
themselves for fear of becoming overweight. Learning about this problem is the
first step in preventing it.
Identify fragments
by looking at each sentence individually, and ask if it makes sense on its own.
1.
Anorexia, a growing problem among teens, is a type of eating
disorder.
2.
Where people starve themselves for fear of becoming overweight.
3.
Learning about this problem is the first step in preventing it.
Notice how the second “sentence” does not form a complete thought
because of the word “where.”
The most common
way to fix a fragment is to combine it with the sentence that comes before or after.
Anorexia, a growing problem among teens, is a type of eating disorder
where people starve themselves for fear of becoming overweight.
Another way to identify fragments is to apply the “random person” test.
If you were to go up to a random person and state the supposed “sentence”
alone, would you have said something complete and self-contained? Would the
person completely understand you? Let’s say we are suspicious of the following “sentences”
and want to see if one is a fragment:
I eat a
lot of chocolate. Whenever I am nervous or bored.
Imagine
going up to a random person and saying, “I eat a lot of chocolate.” Does that
make sense? Has something complete been communicated? Yes, it makes sense
stand-ing alone. Now imagine you go up and say, “Whenever I am nervous or
bored.” Have you uttered a complete thought? Could the random person make sense
of what you just said?
No. This is a fragment. Again, this fragment is fixed by simply combining it
with the previous sentence.
I eat a
lot of chocolate whenever I am nervous or bored.
Note: When you apply this test,
remember that pronouns can sometimes make it seem like a thought is not complete. For example: “It eats it.” This is a
complete sentence because it contains a subject, verb, and expresses a complete
thought. Out of context, we don’t know what “it” is, but a pronoun functions as a subject because it is replacing a noun.
Common Problem Areas
Fragments are really just “chunks” of sentences that have broken off
from the main sentence. A few types of sentences seem to tempt writers to make
fragments.
Introductory
phrases
Fragment: Walking past the house. The mailman noticed the dog was off
its leash.
Corrected:
Walking past the house, the
mailman noticed the dog was off its leash.
“Add-on” phrases (Phrases
tagged on to the end of a sentence that require a comma, not a period)
Fragment: I love reading good books. Especially when I am not assigned
to read them.
Corrected: I love reading good books, especially when I am not assigned to read them.
Fragment:
I felt like an outcast. Living on the edge of society.
Corrected:
I felt like an outcast, living
on the edge of society.
Subordinating
conjunctions (see “Building a Sentence”)
Fragment:
Whenever I go back home. I hang out with my high school friends.
Corrected:
Whenever I go back home, I hang
out with my high school friends.
Fragment: I hang out with my friends from high school. Whenever I go
back home.
Corrected: I hang out with my friends from high school whenever I go
back home. (Simply omit the period.)
Fragment:
Because I have never had good vision. I will never make a good pilot.
Corrected:
Because I have never had good vision, I will
never make a good pilot.
Note: Sometimes fragments are
intentional. Experienced writers will sometimes use frag-ments for stylistic
purposes. You should avoid writing a fragment, however, unless you are certain
of the particular effect you are trying to create by using it.
