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A sentence fragment is a part, or piece, of a sentence placed by itself as if it were a complete sentence. The fragments appearing most.
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A sentence fragment is a part, or piece, of a sentence placed by itself as if it were a complete sentence. The fragments appearing most frequently are either phrases or dependent clauses.
PHRASE FRAGMENTS DEPENDENT CLAUSE FRAGMENTS Through the door. When she left him. Driving to New York. Although it rained. To learn her fate. That he could defeat the Zorf. The dry, baked earth. Who broke the bank at Monte Carlo.
When should a student use a fragment? When speaking, not when writing for school. (That, by the way, is a fragment.) Although sometimes used very effectively by professional writers, especially journalists and novelists, sentence fragments should be avoided in academic writing. Some fragments confuse the reader, but more importantly, most instructors consider them to be "against the rules." What follows are more sentence fragments:
Fragment made from an appositive The hillside was covered with horses of many colors. Chestnuts, bays, roans, paints, and an occasional palomino.
Corrected The hillside was covered with horses of many colors—chestnuts, bays, roans, paints, and an occasional palomino.
Fragment made from a prepositional phrase The Lost Chipmunks Motel was at the end of a winding asphalt road. On the north side of the lane.
Corrected The Lost Chipmunks Motel was at the end of a winding asphalt road on the north side of the lane.
Fragment made from a participial phrase The two runners pulled away from the pack and raced across the finish line together. Winning in record time.
Corrected The two runners pulled away from the pack and raced across the finish line together, winning in record time.
Fragment made from an infinitive phrase After months of patiently waiting, I finally received permission from my parents. To travel across Europe during the summer.
Corrected After months of patiently waiting, I finally received permission from my parents to travel across Europe during the summer.
Fragment made from a relative pronoun clause After many years of hard work at low pay, he finally received a grant. Which made possible the continuation of his private research.
Corrected After many years of hard work at low pay, he finally received a grant which made possible the continuation of his private research.
FRAGMENT The Soviet MIG appeared suddenly, circled twice, and set down. Braking with parachutes. (Participial Phrase)
CORRECTED The Soviet MIG appeared suddenly, circled twice, and set down, braking with parachutes.
FRAGMENT Japan's largest department store. Mitsukoshi even sells $60,000 Rolls-Royces. (Appositive Phrase)
CORRECTED Japan's largest department store, Mitsukoshi even sells $60,000 Rolls-Royces.
FRAGMENT The train sped on. The bridge ahead swept away by the flood. No one aboard the train knew what awaited them around the curve. (One verb is missing.)
CORRECTED The train sped on. The bridge ahead had been swept away by the flood. No one aboard the train knew what awaited them around the curve.
Source: Frew, Robert. Write: Preparing for Success in English Composition. Palo Alto, California: Peek Publications.
Exercise I Directions: Each of the 15 items in this self-test is in two parts. In the spaces to the right of each item, indicate whether each part is a fragment (F) or sentence (S).
Examples: a. Not really knowing what to do. So running away from home. F F b. I studied for hours. Preparing myself for the next test. S F c. We jogged around the park. We covered five miles in 40 minutes. S S
ANSWERS: 1.a 2. X 3. X 4.a 5.a 6. X 7.a 8. X 9. X 10. X
Exercise IV Directions: Correct the fragments in the following paragraph.
The weary group paused to rest their animals before they climbed the long hill in front of them. Leather created as one of the men twisted in his saddle. To look back the way they had come. Across miles of dry, brown grass. A horse twitched at a fly. A trickle of sweat rolled down Molly’s neck. Under her faded cotton dress. She looked around at the faces powdered with dust. And streaked with sweat. No one spoke. After awhile, Jim gave the signal and the little group began to move. A dog that had flopped in the scant shade of the main wagon scuttled out just in time. Looking put upon. Molly straightened in the saddle and took a deep breath. Determined not to show how tired she was. The sensitive bay mare quickened her pace. Until she had come abreast of Jim and the others. Molly looked straight ahead. Trying to concentrate on the dusty track before her. Instead of the rough cotton chafing her skin. And the dust caking her face. As they neared the crest of the hill, Molly leaned forward in the saddle. The bay mare gathered her legs under here. And ran the rest of the way to the top. Suddenly, spread out before her, Molly saw a watered green valley. Poised at the top of the ridge, she saw the horses and wagons winding up the steep trail behind her in a churning cloud of dust. While below her lay a brilliant green meadow. Dotted with cottonwoods a willow-lined stream curving across it.
Revised: Summer 2005 Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC)
Texas State University-San Marcos