Sentence Fragments

Learning Objectives

  • Recognize sentence fragments
  • Revise sentence fragments

Key Takeaway: Sentence Fragments

A sentence fragment is a grammatically incomplete sentence—one that lacks a necessary component and cannot stand alone. To determine whether a sentence is complete, ask:

  • Does it have a subject?
  • Does it have a verb?
  • Does it express a complete thought?

Types of Sentence Fragments

Let’s explore common types of sentence fragments and how to fix them.

Missing a Subject

A sentence must have a subject—the person or thing performing the action.

Example: Missing a subject

Fragment: Slammed the door and left.

What’s missing? Who slammed the door?

Corrected: Suleika slammed the door and left.

As you’re identifying fragments, keep in mind that command sentences are not fragments, despite not having a subject. Commands are the only grammatically correct sentences that lack a subject because the subject is implied.

Example: Commands

  • Drop and give me fifty! (You drop and give me fifty.)
  • Count how many times the word “fragrant” is used during commercial breaks. (You count how many times the word “fragrant” is used.)

Missing a Verb

A sentence must have a verb that expresses an action or state of being.

Example: Missing a verb

Fragment: The answer to our prayers.

What about the answer? What happened?

Corrected: The answer to our prayers is right in front of us.

Incomplete Thought

Some fragments have a subject and a verb but fail to express a complete idea.

Example: Incomplete Thought

Fragment: Since she never saw the movie.

What happened as a result?

Corrected:

  • Since she never saw the movie, I told her about it.
  • I told her about the movie since she never saw it.

Sentence Length

Note that sentence length does not determine whether it is a fragment. A sentence fragment isn’t always short, and a complete sentence isn’t always long.

Examples: Sentence Length

Complete sentence (short but correct):
She ran.

  • Subject: She
  • Verb: ran

Fragment (long but incorrect):
Which is why we believe the proposed amendments should be passed.

  • What is “which” referring to? The sentence is incomplete.

Sentence fragments can be tricky, but recognizing missing components—subjects, verbs, or complete thoughts—will help you correct them. Try identifying fragments in your writing and revising them into complete sentences.

Common Causes of Fragments

One of the reasons we write in fragments is because we often speak that way. However, there is a difference between formal writing and speech, and it is important to write in full sentences for academic writing.

Watch it

Watch the following video for more examples and practice identifying sentence fragments.

You can view the transcript for “Recognizing fragments” here (opens in new window).

Fixing Sentence Fragments

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples:

Examples

Example 1: 

  • Ivana appeared at the committee meeting last week. And made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product.
  • “And made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product” in this example is not a complete sentence. There is no subject in this phrase, so the easiest fix is to simply delete the period and combine the two statements:

Ivana appeared at the committee meeting last week and made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product.

Example 2: 

  • The committee considered her ideas for a new marketing strategy quite powerful. The best ideas that they had heard in years.

The part after the period, “the best ideas they had heard in years,” is not a complete sentence —there is no verb. By adding “they were” to the beginning of this phrase, we have turned the fragment into an independent clause, which can now stand on its own:

  • The committee considered her ideas for a new marketing strategy quite powerful; they were the best ideas that they had heard in years.

Example 3: 

  • She spent a full month evaluating his computer-based instructional materials. Which she eventually sent to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.

Let’s look at the clause “Which she eventually sent to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.” This is not a complete sentence and is a dependent clause; the word “which” signals this fact. If we change “which she eventually” to “Eventually, she,” we also turn the dependent clause into an independent clause.

  • She spent a full month evaluating his computer-based instructional materials. Eventually, she sent the evaluation to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.

Try It

Check your understanding of sentence fragments in the following interactive.