{"id":213,"date":"2016-08-08T21:00:59","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T21:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/styleguide\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=213"},"modified":"2023-07-31T18:47:15","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T18:47:15","slug":"sentence-fragments","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/chapter\/sentence-fragments\/","title":{"raw":"Sentence Fragments","rendered":"Sentence Fragments"},"content":{"raw":"Fragments are grammatically incomplete sentences\u2014they are phrases and dependent clauses. These are\u00a0grammatical structures that cannot stand on their own: they need to be connected to an independent clause to\u00a0work in writing. So how can we tell the difference between a sentence and a sentence fragment? And how can we fix fragments when they already exist?\r\n<h2>Common Causes of Fragments<\/h2>\r\nPart of the reason we write in fragments is because we often speak that way. However, there is a difference between colloquial speech and standardized academic English. Additionally, fragments often\u00a0come about in writing because a\u00a0sentence may already seem too long.\r\n\r\nGerunds, participles, and infinitives can often trip people up as well because they appear to be verbs, but when they occur in phrases, they need an additional verb that acts as a verb in the sentence. Let's look at a few\u00a0examples of these fragments:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Running away from my mother.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>To ensure your safety and security.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Beaten down since day one.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWords like\u00a0<em>since<\/em>,\u00a0<em>when<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>because<\/em> turn an independent clause into a dependent clause. For example, \"I was a toddler in 1999\" is an independent clause, but, \"Because I was a toddler in 1999\" is a dependent clause. This class of word includes the following:\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>after<\/td>\r\n<td>although<\/td>\r\n<td>as<\/td>\r\n<td>as far as<\/td>\r\n<td>as if<\/td>\r\n<td>as long as<\/td>\r\n<td>as soon as<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>as though<\/td>\r\n<td>because<\/td>\r\n<td>before<\/td>\r\n<td>even if<\/td>\r\n<td>even though<\/td>\r\n<td>every time<\/td>\r\n<td>if<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>in order that<\/td>\r\n<td>since<\/td>\r\n<td>so<\/td>\r\n<td>so that<\/td>\r\n<td>than<\/td>\r\n<td>though<\/td>\r\n<td>unless<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>until<\/td>\r\n<td>when<\/td>\r\n<td>whenever<\/td>\r\n<td>where<\/td>\r\n<td>whereas<\/td>\r\n<td>wherever<\/td>\r\n<td>\u00a0while<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nRelative pronouns, like <em>that<\/em> and <em>which<\/em>, do the same type of thing as those listed above.\r\n\r\nCoordinating conjunctions (our FANBOYS) can also cause problems. If you start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, make sure that it is followed\u00a0a complete clause, not just a phrase.\r\n\r\nAs you're identifying fragments, keep in mind\u00a0that command (a.k.a. <em>imperative<\/em>) sentences are\u00a0<em>not<\/em> fragments, despite not having a subject. Commands are the only grammatically correct sentences that lack a subject:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Drop and give me fifty!<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Count how many times the word\u00a0<em>fragrant<\/em> is used during commercial breaks.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Fixing Sentence Fragments<\/h2>\r\nLet's take a look at a couple of examples:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Nicola appeared at the committee meeting last week. And made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The committee considered her ideas for a new marketing strategy quite powerful. The best ideas that they had heard in years.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ana spent a full month evaluating Matthew's computer-based instructional materials. Which she eventually sent to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nThe phrase, \"And made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product,\" in example\u00a0one contains no subject, so the easiest fix is to simply delete the period and combine the two statements:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Nicola appeared at the committee meeting last week and made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product.<\/p>\r\nThere is no verb contained in the phrase \"the best ideas they had heard in years.\" 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:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The committee considered her ideas for a new marketing strategy quite powerful; they were the best ideas that they had heard in years.<\/p>\r\nWhat about example\u00a0three? Let's look at the clause\u00a0\"Which she eventually sent to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.\" This is a\u00a0dependent clause; the word\u00a0<em>which<\/em>\u00a0signals this fact. If we change \"which she eventually\" to \"eventually, she,\" we also turn the dependent clause into an independent clause.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Ana spent a full month evaluating Matthew's computer-based instructional materials. Eventually, she sent the evaluation to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.<\/p>\r\nAs with run-on sentences, there are often multiple ways to solve the problem of fragments. We're modeling some options for you here, but our models aren't necessarily\u00a0the\u00a0only answers.\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nIdentify the fragments in the sentences below. Why are they fragments? What are some possible solutions?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>The corporation wants to begin a new marketing push in educational software. Although, the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Include several different sections in your proposal. For example, a discussion of your personnel and their qualifications, your expectations concerning the schedule of the project, and a cost breakdown.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The research team has completely reorganized the workload. Making sure that members work in areas of their own expertise and that no member is assigned proportionately too much work.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"361665\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"361665\"]Here are some possible revisions for the sentences. Remember, there are multiple solutions. Pay attention to the principles used to create the revised sentence.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>In the fragment \"Although, the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical,\" the subordinating conjunction <em>although<\/em> is being used as an adverbial conjunction in this sentence. There are two simple revisions to resolve the fragment.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Change <em>although<\/em> to an adverbial conjunction: \"The corporation wants to begin a new marketing push in educational software. <em>However,<\/em> the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Move the fragment\u00a0to the beginning of the sentence and link it to the independent clause with a comma after it: \"Although the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical, the corporation wants to begin a new marketing push in educational software.\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The first sentence is a command; it is a correct sentence. The second sentence is a fragment, however. The simplest\u00a0change is to switch the period before \"for example\" out for\u00a0a colon. Colons can be followed by a phrase or dependent clause.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Include several different sections in your proposal: for example, a discussion of your personnel and their qualifications, your expectations concerning the schedule of the project, and a cost breakdown.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The second sentence is a fragment. You can either change <em>making<\/em> to\u00a0\"they made\" and have two sentences, or you can change <em>making<\/em> to \"in order to make sure.\"\u00a0<em>In order to<\/em> is a subordinating conjunction, so it does not require a comma beforehand:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The research team has completely reorganized the workload. They made sure that members work in areas of their own expertise and that no member is assigned proportionately too much work.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The research team has completely reorganized the workload\u00a0in order to make sure that members work in areas of their own expertise and that no member is assigned proportionately too much work.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>Fragments are grammatically incomplete sentences\u2014they are phrases and dependent clauses. These are\u00a0grammatical structures that cannot stand on their own: they need to be connected to an independent clause to\u00a0work in writing. So how can we tell the difference between a sentence and a sentence fragment? And how can we fix fragments when they already exist?<\/p>\n<h2>Common Causes of Fragments<\/h2>\n<p>Part of the reason we write in fragments is because we often speak that way. However, there is a difference between colloquial speech and standardized academic English. Additionally, fragments often\u00a0come about in writing because a\u00a0sentence may already seem too long.<\/p>\n<p>Gerunds, participles, and infinitives can often trip people up as well because they appear to be verbs, but when they occur in phrases, they need an additional verb that acts as a verb in the sentence. Let&#8217;s look at a few\u00a0examples of these fragments:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Running away from my mother.<\/li>\n<li>To ensure your safety and security.<\/li>\n<li>Beaten down since day one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Words like\u00a0<em>since<\/em>,\u00a0<em>when<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>because<\/em> turn an independent clause into a dependent clause. For example, &#8220;I was a toddler in 1999&#8221; is an independent clause, but, &#8220;Because I was a toddler in 1999&#8221; is a dependent clause. This class of word includes the following:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>after<\/td>\n<td>although<\/td>\n<td>as<\/td>\n<td>as far as<\/td>\n<td>as if<\/td>\n<td>as long as<\/td>\n<td>as soon as<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>as though<\/td>\n<td>because<\/td>\n<td>before<\/td>\n<td>even if<\/td>\n<td>even though<\/td>\n<td>every time<\/td>\n<td>if<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>in order that<\/td>\n<td>since<\/td>\n<td>so<\/td>\n<td>so that<\/td>\n<td>than<\/td>\n<td>though<\/td>\n<td>unless<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>until<\/td>\n<td>when<\/td>\n<td>whenever<\/td>\n<td>where<\/td>\n<td>whereas<\/td>\n<td>wherever<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0while<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Relative pronouns, like <em>that<\/em> and <em>which<\/em>, do the same type of thing as those listed above.<\/p>\n<p>Coordinating conjunctions (our FANBOYS) can also cause problems. If you start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, make sure that it is followed\u00a0a complete clause, not just a phrase.<\/p>\n<p>As you&#8217;re identifying fragments, keep in mind\u00a0that command (a.k.a. <em>imperative<\/em>) sentences are\u00a0<em>not<\/em> fragments, despite not having a subject. Commands are the only grammatically correct sentences that lack a subject:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Drop and give me fifty!<\/li>\n<li>Count how many times the word\u00a0<em>fragrant<\/em> is used during commercial breaks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Fixing Sentence Fragments<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a look at a couple of examples:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Nicola appeared at the committee meeting last week. And made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product.<\/li>\n<li>The committee considered her ideas for a new marketing strategy quite powerful. The best ideas that they had heard in years.<\/li>\n<li>Ana spent a full month evaluating Matthew&#8217;s computer-based instructional materials. Which she eventually sent to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The phrase, &#8220;And made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product,&#8221; in example\u00a0one contains no subject, so the easiest fix is to simply delete the period and combine the two statements:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Nicola appeared at the committee meeting last week and made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product.<\/p>\n<p>There is no verb contained in the phrase &#8220;the best ideas they had heard in years.&#8221; By adding &#8220;they were&#8221; to the beginning of this phrase, we have turned the fragment into an independent clause, which can now stand on its own:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The committee considered her ideas for a new marketing strategy quite powerful; they were the best ideas that they had heard in years.<\/p>\n<p>What about example\u00a0three? Let&#8217;s look at the clause\u00a0&#8220;Which she eventually sent to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.&#8221; This is a\u00a0dependent clause; the word\u00a0<em>which<\/em>\u00a0signals this fact. If we change &#8220;which she eventually&#8221; to &#8220;eventually, she,&#8221; we also turn the dependent clause into an independent clause.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Ana spent a full month evaluating Matthew&#8217;s computer-based instructional materials. Eventually, she sent the evaluation to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>As with run-on sentences, there are often multiple ways to solve the problem of fragments. We&#8217;re modeling some options for you here, but our models aren&#8217;t necessarily\u00a0the\u00a0only answers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Identify the fragments in the sentences below. Why are they fragments? What are some possible solutions?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The corporation wants to begin a new marketing push in educational software. Although, the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical.<\/li>\n<li>Include several different sections in your proposal. For example, a discussion of your personnel and their qualifications, your expectations concerning the schedule of the project, and a cost breakdown.<\/li>\n<li>The research team has completely reorganized the workload. Making sure that members work in areas of their own expertise and that no member is assigned proportionately too much work.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><textarea aria-label=\"Your Answer\" rows=\"4\"><\/textarea><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q361665\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q361665\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">Here are some possible revisions for the sentences. Remember, there are multiple solutions. Pay attention to the principles used to create the revised sentence.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>In the fragment &#8220;Although, the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical,&#8221; the subordinating conjunction <em>although<\/em> is being used as an adverbial conjunction in this sentence. There are two simple revisions to resolve the fragment.\n<ul>\n<li>Change <em>although<\/em> to an adverbial conjunction: &#8220;The corporation wants to begin a new marketing push in educational software. <em>However,<\/em> the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Move the fragment\u00a0to the beginning of the sentence and link it to the independent clause with a comma after it: &#8220;Although the more conservative executives of the firm are skeptical, the corporation wants to begin a new marketing push in educational software.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The first sentence is a command; it is a correct sentence. The second sentence is a fragment, however. The simplest\u00a0change is to switch the period before &#8220;for example&#8221; out for\u00a0a colon. Colons can be followed by a phrase or dependent clause.\n<ul>\n<li>Include several different sections in your proposal: for example, a discussion of your personnel and their qualifications, your expectations concerning the schedule of the project, and a cost breakdown.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The second sentence is a fragment. You can either change <em>making<\/em> to\u00a0&#8220;they made&#8221; and have two sentences, or you can change <em>making<\/em> to &#8220;in order to make sure.&#8221;\u00a0<em>In order to<\/em> is a subordinating conjunction, so it does not require a comma beforehand:\n<ul>\n<li>The research team has completely reorganized the workload. They made sure that members work in areas of their own expertise and that no member is assigned proportionately too much work.<\/li>\n<li>The research team has completely reorganized the workload\u00a0in order to make sure that members work in areas of their own expertise and that no member is assigned proportionately too much work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-213\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision, Adaptation, and Original Content. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Gillian Paku. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: SUNY Geneseo. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Punctuation: Commas. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David McMurrey. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/gram1.html\">https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/gram1.html<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Punctuation: Commas\",\"author\":\"David McMurrey\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/gram1.html\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision, Adaptation, and Original Content\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and Adaptation\",\"author\":\"Gillian Paku\",\"organization\":\"SUNY Geneseo\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-213","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":284,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1868,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213\/revisions\/1868"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/284"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/213\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}