2. © Capital Community College Introduction A sentence fragment tries its best to be a sentence, but it just can’t make it. It’s missing something. Often, it’s missing a verb or part of a verb string: John working extra hard on his hook shot lately. Here, for instance, we’re missing an auxiliary — has been, in this case, probably — that would complete the verb string and the sentence.

3. © Capital Community College Incomplete Verb, Part Two A sentence fragment tries its best to be a sentence, but it just can’t make it. It’s missing something. Spending hours every day after school and even on weekends. This time we’re missing a whole verb. “Spending” is a participle wanting to modify something, but there is no subject-verb relationship within the sentence. Often, it’s missing a verb or part of a verb string: