Created by Kathryn Reilly Correcting Sentence Fragments

Sentence Fragment Review Sentence Fragments are incomplete sentences. – Yelling at the bear. (missing subject) – The huge, brown bear. (missing verb) All sentences must have a subject and verb. – The correct shortest sentence may be two words. He ran. – However, most sentences contain many more words in order to convey important details to the reader.

Identifying Sentence Fragments Two ways exist to help a writer identify fragments: – Ask who or what is doing the action to identify the subject – Ask what the subject is doing to identify the verb. If either of these questions cannot be answered, then the sentence is a fragment. – The new student with red sneakers. (missing verb) What is the new student doing? The reader doesn’t know! – Placing the backpack under the chair. (missing subject) Who placed the backpack? The reader doesn’t know!

Correcting Sentence Fragments A writer must add information. – The new student with red sneakers. (missing verb) What is the new student doing? Add information: The new student with red sneakers sat down. – Adding the verb sat explains what the student did, completing the sentence.

Correcting Sentence Fragments A writer must add information – Placing the backpack under the chair. (missing subject) Who placed the backpack? Add information: Placing the backpack under the chair, Sophia greeted the new student. – Identifying who placed the backpack under the chair clarifies the subject for the reader.

Correcting Sentence Fragments Remember: Just because a sentence is short, doesn’t mean it’s a fragment! Sentence fragments may be long. The following examples are all fragments: – The purple crayon. – The purple crayon, sitting lonely in a drawer. – Waiting patiently at the doctor’s office. – Waiting patiently at the doctor’s office, listening to people cough. Although sitting appears similar to a verb, it is actually a gerund.

Correcting Sentence Fragments Let’s fix the sentence fragments. The first set of sentences is missing a verb: – The purple crayon waited for the little boy. – The purple crayon, sitting lonely in a drawer, waited for the little boy. – The purple crayon waited for the little boy sitting lonely in a drawer. The second set of sentences is missing a subject: – Thirteen patients were waiting patiently at the doctor’s office. – Waiting patiently at the doctor’s office, thirteen patients were listening to people cough.

Subordinators and Fragments Sometimes sentence fragment begin with subordinators. This means the sentence should be attached to the previous sentence as it is continues its thought. Sentences beginning with a subordinator will have a subject and verb; however, because the sentence begins with a subordinator, it needs to be connected to the previous sentence to eliminate reader confusion. To correct subordinated sentences, connect the two sentences with a comma as the subordinated phrase is dependent upon the independent clause.

Correcting Subordinator Fragments The subordinators appear in red. Maria signed up to run a marathon. So every week she ran one more mile to meet her goal. – Maria signed up to run a marathon, so every week she ran one more mile to meet her goal. A new café opened up down the block. Which is great for me since I can walk to get breakfast. – A new café opened up down the block, which is great for me since I can walk to get breakfast.

Correcting Fragments Review Identify if the fragment is missing a subject or verb. Insert the subject or verb to complete the thought. If the fragment begins with a subordinator, connect it to the previous sentence with a comma.