Download Correct and Complete Sentences

Avoiding Sentence Fragments
Making Sure Your
Sentences Are Complete
What is a fragment?


A sentence fragment is part of a
sentence that is written as if it were a
complete sentence.
However, it is missing a subject, a verb,
or both.
Complete Sentences
To be complete, a sentence must have



a subject
and
a verb
and
express a completed idea.
Note: It has a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the
end. (Period = full stop)
Example:
•My homework is taking every waking hour.
Complete sentence!
INCLUDES
•Subject (My homework)
•Verb (is taking)
and
•Expresses a complete idea (I’m tired!)
So all you have to remember is:
A sentence is not complete or
correct, unless

It has a subject,

it has a verb,

and it expresses a
completed idea.
Fragments
My math homework.
 No VERB: Doesn’t express the action
Taking every waking hour.
 No SUBJECT: Doesn’t explain who or what
Because my math homework is taking every
waking hour.
 No COMPLETED IDEA. Because of this, what?
Common Fragment Types
APPOSITIVE PHRASE: Words that
explain or add extra information


I tried everything I could think of to get
an A. Such as bribing the professor.
I tried everything I could think of to get
an A, such as bribing the professor.
Correct
Common Fragment Types
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
 I hope to complete the requirements for
my major. By the end of next semester.

Correct
I hope to complete the requirements for
my major by the end of next semester.
Common Fragment Types
INCOMPLETE VERBS: past or present
participles without the helping verb
 The student sleeping in the back row.

The student was sleeping in the back
row.
Correct
Common Fragment Types
Dependent Clause:
Group of words that contains
a subject and verb but doesn’t express a complete
thought because of the beginning word.

I kept working on my essay. Although I was tired.

I kept working on my essay although I was tired.
Correct
One Common Problem Area

It is OK for a subject to be a pronoun.
Example: I can’t decide what to do. It is a difficult
situation.



Subject: It
Verb: Is
Completed idea: a difficult situation
As long as there is a word that acts as subject (it) the
sentence fits the “subject/verb/completed idea”
formula.
How To Check for Fragments
Put the words “It is clear that …” in front of the
possible fragment. Does it make sense? If so, it’s a
complete sentence.
EXAMPLE:
It is difficult. Fragment or sentence?
It’s clear that it is difficult. (Makes sense, so not a
fragment.)
Because it is difficult. Fragment or sentence?
It’s clear that because it is difficult. (?? Doesn’t
make sense so is a fragment.)
Watch Out for a Common Trap!
Just because you write a lot of
words, you don’t necessarily have
a complete sentence.
Although I have tried many ways to get
an “A”, such as paying off the professor
and offering to carry her books to class
each day and assuring her that I love my
writing class more than life itself.
FRAGMENT! You haven’t finished the “although”
idea, so you haven’t finished your thought.
But you knew that, because you
remembered that…
…a sentence is not complete or correct,
unless
It has a subject;
• it has a verb,
• and it expresses a
completed idea.
•
Your Turn
Number 1-8 on a sheet of paper. First determine if the
sentence is a (F) fragment or a (CS) complete sentence. If
it’s a fragment, identify the type and then fix the sentence.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
We all arrived early this year.
When my little brother won the watermelon- seed-spitting contest.
Rocky Road and the Detours at the festival.
My splashing around made everyone laugh.
A lot of equipment, such as lifejackets, fishing rods, and picnic
supplies.
Your parents should see the clothes people wore during the Middle
Ages.
By the time we reached the end of our trip
Was a way of displaying wealth.