Basics about Fragments

Basics about Fragments

Recall the three pieces you learned a sentence needs to be complete:

1. subject
2. verb
3. a complete thought

An incomplete sentence (that is, a fragment) is going to be missing one or more of these pieces.  Think of these three items as a sort of test you are going to use on every sentence you write.    The last item here, a "complete thought", is not something we have to worry about unless there is a dependent word present (you'll read about those in the next section). So really, what you were doing when you were identifying subjects and verbs was practicing the skills you need to check if a sentence is complete or not.   

Please be careful not to fall into the trap of assuming that a short sentence is a fragment or that a long sentence is not a fragment. The following, for example, is a complete sentence:

I walked. 

It has a subject ("I") and a verb ("walked"), and because it does not contain a dependent word (see the green box below), we don't need to worry about a complete thought.

Source: Erin Severs
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License.

Dependent Word Fragments

What does it mean if someone or something is "dependent"?

Dependent words are words that show relationships between what are called clauses (a topic we will talk more about later in the chapter). You might notice as you look at the box of them below, that some of them are words we talked about back when we talked about transitions and the flow of your writing. They are a bit different than some of those transitions we previously talked about in that they change the nature of a sentence and are common culprits behind writing fragments.  

Like the way we commonly use the word "dependent" (to mean something or someone that is reliant on something or someone else), dependent words are going to create word groups that are incomplete until a second word group is added that completes the thought (number three in that list of what a sentence needs to be complete). Another way to think of this is that when we add a dependent word in front of a complete sentence, we make it incomplete (and thus a fragment).

Look what happens when we add a dependent word (I'll place them in italics) to a complete sentence (I'll underline subjects and double underline verbs). Read the pair of sentences aloud and listen to how the fragment sounds. 

Complete Sentence: I went to work.

If we use our checklist, this sentence has a subject and a verb and because there is no dependent word, we don't have to worry about a complete thought; therefore, it is a complete sentence.

Fragment: When I went to work.

If we use our checklist, we find that although this does have a subject and verb, it contains one of those green box dependent words. When we read it aloud, there is a sense of incompletion (an incomplete thought, number three from the checklist). Fragments like this leave readers hanging… in this case wondering, "What did you do when you went to work?"

Complete Sentence: It is raining outside.

Fragment: Although it is raining outside. 

Complete Sentence: I slept through my alarm clock.

Fragment: Because I slept through my alarm clock.

Dependent word groups (called "dependent clauses") are fragments because despite having the first two parts required of a complete sentence (a subject and a verb), they do not have the third part, a complete thought.  

If we wanted to complete the above sentences, we would need to add an idea that completes the thought. 

For example: When I went to work, I took inventory of all our new products. 

Although it is raining outside, we are still going to go hiking.

Because I slept through my alarm clock, I was late to class.      

Notice that the second word group I added on to each of these dependent word fragments, completes the thought and answers the question that was raised by the fragment.

Activity: Completing Dependent Word Fragments

Add a second word group to the following dependent word fragments, so they are complete sentences with complete thoughts.

1. If I can make the Dean's list this semester.
2. Before I had kids.
3. Even though my apartment has leaky windows.
4. After I got out of class.
5. Unless you stop making messes on my side of the room.

Think of a dependent word (any of those in the green box) at the beginning of a sentence as a red flag. It doesn't automatically mean the sentence is wrong, but it does mean that you need to double check for that second word group that will complete the thought.

Clauses

A "clause" is simply a word group. So far, we have talked about dependent clauses which are word groups that start with a dependent word. By themselves, dependent clauses (such as the word groups in the in-class activity above) are fragments. A second type of clause is an independent clause. 

If you think about the meaning of the word "independent" (not relying on anyone or anything), it will help you remember the meaning when we talk about independent clauses. As the word suggests, an independent clause is a word group that can stand alone as a complete sentence. Really, you could just think of "independent clause" being a fancy way of saying "complete sentence." They are word groups that contain a subject and a verb. Generally, you will only call a word group an "independent clause" if it is being used along with one or more additional clauses. When independent clauses stand alone, we just call them complete sentences.

For example: "I was late to class" is a complete sentence because it has a subject and a verb and it can stand alone. However, when we use that word group along with the dependent clause "Because I slept through my alarm clock," to make the two part sentence (also called a complex sentence), "Because I slept through my alarm clock, I was late to class," it is called an independent clause.

Fragment Red Flags

Dependent word fragments can be the trickiest to spot because they generally do contain a subject and a verb (which would indicate a complete sentence were there not a dependent word there). Anytime you see a dependent word, you should check the sentence to make sure it has a complete thought. However, there are a number of other words and types of words that you should also think of as "red flags" if they are at or near the opening of a sentence because they often lead to fragments.

• verbs that end in "ing" (such as "walking")
• verbs that have "to" in front of them (such as "to walk")                
• for example
• especially
• including
• such as

*It should be noted that if the only verbs a sentence contains are verbs that end in "ing" or verbs that have "to" in front of them, it is missing a technical verb and is a fragment