Activity: Find and Correct Fragments

Find the Fragments Sentence Activity

Read the following groups of sentences. Each item has at least one fragment. Find the fragment and using the two methods listed above, correct it so it is part of a complete sentence.

1. The people at the sandwich shop save money. By watering down the coffee and using the cheapest grade of deli meat. Few people go there anymore.
2. While we waited in line to get tickets to the concert.  The police showed up to arrest someone near the front of the line. Apparently there was a warrant, and the person was wanted for a bank robbery over a month ago!
3. Mark had exciting plans for the summer. After a month of travel. He was going to work as a camp counselor with two of his best friends.
4. Between taking care of her elderly mother, working thirty hours a week, and taking a full time load of classes. Maria has a very intense schedule.
5. Getting married is a huge step in anyone's life. Because it involves a whole series of changes. For example finances. One partner may want to spend money all the time. While the other wants to save.
6. I felt like a fool on our first date at a fancy restaurant for many reasons. The first was that I had a hard time pronouncing the names of some of the dishes. Such as "quinoa" and "banh mi".
   
7. When the window shade snapped up with a loud bang. My cat, Buddy, jumped two feet into the air!
8. Having been friends since they were five. Todd and Amir did everything together. Moving away to attend different colleges after graduation.  Was going to take some getting used to for both of them.
9. Running untouched into the end zone. The halfback raised his arms in triumph. Then he slammed the football to the ground. And did a little victory dance.
10. The candle on the table at the restaurant was starting to blacken. And scorch the back of my menu. Trying to be casual. I quickly poured some water from my drink on the candle to put it out.

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

Answer Key

1. The people at the sandwich shop save money by watering down the coffee and using the cheapest grade of deli meat. Few people go there anymore.
2.  While we waited in line to get tickets to the concert, the police showed up to arrest someone near the front of the line. Apparently, there was a warrant, and the person was wanted for a bank robbery over a month ago!
3. Mark had exciting plans for the summer. After a month of travel, he was going to work as a camp counselor with two of his best friends.
4. Between taking care of her elderly mother, working thirty hours a week, and taking a full-time load of classes, Maria has a very intense schedule.
5. Getting married is a huge step in anyone's life because it involves a whole series of changes. For example, finances can be a major issue. One partner may want to spend money all the time while the other wants to save.
6.  I felt like a fool on our first date at a fancy restaurant for many reasons. The first was that I had a hard time pronouncing the names of some of the dishes such as "quinoa" and "banh mi".
7. When the window shade snapped up with a loud bang, my cat, Buddy, jumped two feet into the air!
8. Having been friends since they were five, Todd and Amir did everything together. Moving away to attend different colleges after graduation was going to take some getting used to for both of them.
9. Running untouched into the end zone, the halfback raised his arms in triumph. Then he slammed the football to the ground and did a little victory dance.
10. The candle on the table at the restaurant was starting to blacken and scorch the back of my menu. Trying to be casual, I quickly poured some water from my drink on the candle to put it out.

Correcting Fragments in a Paragraph Activity

Please rewrite the following paragraph to correct all fragments (there are a total of eight). Keep an eye out for dependent words and some of those red flags from above and if you are using that first method of correcting your fragments (attaching them to the sentence before or after), be sure to follow the comma rules.

Answer Key

There are many ways playing lacrosse has affected my body. The first way has been positive because lacrosse has made me stronger and more fit. When I was young, I was a skinny and clumsy kid who mostly stayed inside playing video games. Lacrosse gave me a good reason to be active. Between working out to be better at it and the many hours of practice league play involves, I am now very athletic and strong. While there has been that benefit, a second effect has been the harm it has done to my limbs. As a part of regular game play, I get whacked and slashed by a metal lacrosse stick. I have broken an arm and a finger, twisted my left ankle three times, and almost always have deep bruises and cuts up and down my arms and legs. The last time I twisted my ankle, I had to take a season off and needed crutches to get around for a whole month. The effect that worries me the most is the damage lacrosse has done to my brain. Since a lacrosse ball is made of hard solid rubber, I have had three different concussions from being hit with it. Concentrating on tasks and remembering what I need to do has been harder since I had these injuries. I do love playing lacrosse, but I need to be more careful so the negative effects don't cause me long term damage.