Sentence Fragments

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Sentence Fragments
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Which of the following are complete sentences?

• I am.
• The horse enjoys eating oats.
• Although most students do not have much
  experience with grammar lessons.
• The most exciting, glorious, and evocative day in
  history.
• A multitude of authors writing popular fiction.

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What are sentence fragments?

• Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences that
  have been made to stand on their own as complete
  sentences.

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Q What must every complete sentence have?
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A simple complete sentence has at least two
components 1 Subject the person or thing
that does the action2 Predicate the action
performed (finite verb) and the
person(s)/thing(s) that receive the action. The
subject and predicate together form a clause.
Eg Today, companies increasingly compete in
global markets.
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A little more complexity

• More complex sentences can be formed by joining
  clauses and phrases.
• Eg The manager held a departmental meeting
• (complete sentence).
• Eg The manager held a departmental meeting
• at 9 a.m. yesterday (phrase added).
• Eg The manager held a departmental meeting,
  which all were expected to attend (dependent
  clause added).
• Eg At 9 a.m. yesterday, the manager held a
  departmental meeting, which all were expected to
  attend (phrase and dependent clause added).

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Q What is a clause?
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A A clause is any combination of words that
contains a subject and a predicate. Some are
independent, called sentences. Others are
dependent, usually called subordinate clauses.
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Q What is the difference between an independent
and a dependent clause?
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• A An independent clause can stand on its own as
  a complete sentence. It contains a subject and a
  predicate and expresses a complete thought
  (though sometimes it doesnt). A simple sentence
  is an independent clause.
• Eg James waited.
• Eg They wanted to go to Granada
• for a holiday.
• Eg Nearly everyone experiences
• some degree of stage fright when
• speaking before a group.

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• A dependent clause requires another statement to
  stand as a sentence. It includes a subject and
  predicate, but with a preposition or conjunction
  that indicates that it is incomplete and related
  to an independent clause. It cannot stand on its
  own.
• Eg I hired him because you
• recommended him.

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Examples of Dependent Clauses

• The jockeys parents, who were residents of
  Kentucky, came to the race.
• Pay careful attention to what I am going to say.
• Unsettled when she forgot the books, the
  professor gave a terrible lecture.
• We dont know if all our stocks will plunge in
  value.

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Q What is a phrase?
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• A Phrase is a group of words that together do the
  work of an adjective or an adverb. They cannot
  stand alone, and must be attached to a clause.
• Eg in a timely manner, one morning, made of
  gold, by the lakeshore, at 9 a.m., such as
  volleyball, etc.

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Examples of Phrases

• We need to order more office supplies, such as
  paper, ink cartridges, and a desk stapler.
• After the meeting, lets all go for a cup of
  coffee.
• Gardens with cool, shady trees surround the
  village.
• It is of no use.

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Three Common Types of Sentence Fragments

• A Dependent Clause or a Phrase is used as a
  stand-alone sentence.
• The main verb in the sentence is missing.
• The subject in the sentence is missing.

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Mistake 1 Confusing a Dependent Clause or Phrase
for an Independent Clause

• Although grammar is important for effective
  writing.
• Students sometimes neglect to proofread their
  work. Unless they are reminded by their
  professors.
• She enjoyed playing many sports. Such as
  volleyball, basketball, and hockey.

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How do I fix it?

• HINT To find dependent clauses or phrases, look
  for subordinating conjunctions or prepositions.

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Examples of Subordinating Conjunctions and
Prepositions

• Cause because, in that, since
• Condition if, although, unless
• Manner as, as though, as if
• Result in order that, so that
• Time after, before, since, until, when,
  whenever, while
• Place over, in, beside, under, in front of

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A Remove the conjunction or preposition to make
the sentence stand on its own ORJoin the
dependent clause or phrase to a complete sentence
with a comma.

• Note Sometimes, this simply means combining the
  dependent clause with an independent clause in
  your paragraph.

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Correct

• Grammar is important for effective writing.
• Students sometimes neglect to proofread their
  work, unless they are reminded by their
  professors.
• She enjoyed playing many sports, such as
  volleyball, basketball and hockey.

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Mistake 2 Omitting the Main Verb

• A group of athletes with amazing team spirit.
• A good way to combat pollution is taking the TTC.
  A weapon at our disposal to fight environmental
  degradation.
• Pages torn from the book.

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Q How do I fix it?

• Add a main verb OR
• Identify the fragment as a clause or phrase and
  attach it to a complete sentence with a comma.

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Correct Adding a Main verb

• The group of athletes had amazing team spirit.
• A good way to combat pollution is taking the TTC.
  This weapon is at our disposal to fight
  environmental degradation.
• Pages are torn from a book.

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Correct Attaching the clause or phrase to a
complete sentence

• They are a group of athletes with amazing team
  spirit.
• A good way to combat pollution is taking the TTC,
  a weapon at our disposal to fight environmental
  degradation.
• We found pages torn from a book under the desk.

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Mistake 3 Omitting the Subject

• For creating a good marketing plan made the
  manager praise the team.
• With a paddle is used to row a canoe.
• Because he was always early gave him the
  promotion.

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How do I fix it

• Identify where the main verb is and add a subject
  who performs this action OR
• Identify the phrase or clause and see if removing
  the conjunction of preposition will provide you
  with the correct subject.

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Correct Adding a Subject

• For creating a good marketing plan, the manager
  praised the team.
• With a paddle, I used to row a canoe.
• Because he was always early, the manager gave him
  the promotion.

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Correct Removing the Preposition or Conjunction

• With Example 1, this is not possible.
• With Example 2, removing the preposition makes
  sense
• Eg The paddle is used to row a canoe.
• With Example 3, the missing subject must be added
  in, and a re-write is needed if the initial
  conjunction is removed
• Eg He was always early, therefore the manager
  gave him the promotion.

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Self Test

• What is wrong with each of the following sentence
  fragments?
• How would you fix the problem?

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1. Speaking in public is a common fear. A
trepidation suffered by most of us at some time
in our lives.
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2. After Jack came back from the store.
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3. Jennifer worried about her grades. As though
worrying could take the place of studying.
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4. The labeling of genetically modified foods is
a contentious issue. A topic open to heated
debate.
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5. Because of torrential rain causes flooding in
the valley.
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