Introduction

A fragment is a group of words that is incorrectly punctuated as a complete sentence. Some fragments lack a subject.

Incorrect: She left early. To get home before the news.
Correct: She left early to get home before the news.

Other fragments lack a verb or verb part:

Incorrect: He going home.
Correct: He is going home.

Fragments can also result when a subject and a verb are present, but a subordinating word like because, if, when, while, that, which, although, or unless precedes them. Subordinating words introduce subordinate clauses, which require an independent clause to form a sentence.

Incorrect: She's leaving early. Because she wants to get home before the news.
Correct: She's leaving early because she wants to get home before the news.

Incorrect: We played Gin Rummy. While her parents slept.
Correct: We played Gin Rummy while her parents slept.

Take three steps to identify fragments:

1. Find the subject. If the sentence is a command, the subject will be an implied you, such as in the sentence, Go!
2. Find the verb. Watch out for -ing verbs: they cannot function on their own without a helping verb, like is or are. Remember the second paired example above: the correct form is He is going home, not He going home.
3. If the subject or verb is missing, supply one.
4. If the group of words begins with a subordinating word like because, if, when, while, that, which, although, or unless, you're dealing with a subordinate clause. Make sure that the sentence also contains an independent clause.

Remember: If it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't a sentence. If you've completed the four steps above and still aren't sure you've fixed the problem, try reading the words out loud. Do they form a complete thought?

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