Sentence Structure How to create complete sentences and avoid the sentence fragment.

Sentence Fragments A sentence fragment tries its best to be a sentence, but it just can’t make it. It’s missing something. A sentence fragment is missing 1 of the 3 elements that make a sentence complete: a SUBJECT a VERB (an action word) OR a COMPLETE THOUGHT.

Example For example: When Susan walked down the road. This fragment has a subject; Susan, and it has a verb; walked, but it does not complete the thought that it begins. The sentence starts with the word “When”, but does not tell us about When Susan walked down the street. It needs a whole other sentence added to it to make it complete! Let's try this: When Susan walked down the street, she saw her friends. Now the fragment has become a sentence because the thought has been completed!

Avoiding Sentence Fragments Watch out for: phrases that seem to give a lot of detail but that have no subject and/or verb For example: Traveling many kilometers each night. Immediately after founding the youth centre during those early years. phrases that don’t finish the thought that they began For example: The hat that Joe is wearing! The ring that I lost.

If the phrase causes you to ask: “Who is doing this?” “What is being done?” “Why is this happening?” or “When is this happening?” then it is probably a sentence fragment that requires you to add a subject, an action word, or to complete the thought. Avoiding Sentence Fragments