Correcting Fragments

Grammatically, a fragment is not a sentence because it has no subject-verb pair that functions independently.

A sentence fragment is a “non-sentence” that is punctuated as if it were a complete sentence. Sentence fragments are usually treated as serious errors because they often indicate that the writer does not understand the differences among three basic word groups: phrases, dependent clauses, and independent clauses.

Phrases

A phrase has no subject-verb pair, and it does not make a complete statement. Consider these examples:

the red car over there in the parking lot
listening to her favorite country-western station
to finish the paper before the semester ends

A phrase should be attached to a complete sentence. If a phrase is punctuated as a sentence, it is a fragment.

Dependent Clauses

A dependent clause does have a subject-verb pair, but it does not make a complete statement. Consider these examples:

before he parked his car at the mall
although Carol had planned to visit Susan at college
which was the tallest building in the city

Although each of these word groups has a subject-verb pair, none of them is a sentence. Dependent clauses must be attached to a sentence before they can make complete sense.

Learn to identify phrases and dependent clauses, and always attach them to complete sentences.

Independent Clauses

An independent clause has a subject-verb pair and makes a complete statement. Therefore, any independent clause can be correctly punctuated as a sentence, and all complete sentences have at least one independent clause. Obviously, independent clauses are not sentence fragments. The following sentences are examples of independent clauses:

He parked his car at the mall.
Carol was going to visit Susan at college.
The tallest building in the city is a bank.

Remember that every sentence must contain at least one independent clause. An independent clause not only contains a subject and verb combination but also represents a complete thought.

Both of the following groups of words are punctuated as sentences. Click the one that actually is a sentence. Carol nearly out of gas on her trip to visit Susan. Carol nearly ran out of gas on her visit to Susan.