ENGL000: Pre-College English

There are two ways to go about fixing a fragment once you have identified it.

1. Connect the fragment to either the sentence before it or the sentence after it
   
   • Most fragments occur because we accidently put a period where we didn't mean to –    most fragments were supposed to be a part of the sentence before or after them
   • This method is by far the most common way to fix a fragment and should always be what you try first… however, if it doesn't work a 2^nd method is to:
2. Add what is missing
   • Since fragments, by definition, are sentences which lack a subject, verb, or complete thought, if connecting them to the sentence before or after doesn't work, simply determine which of the three parts of a complete sentence is missing and rewrite the sentence adding what needs to be there.

Comma Rule for Connecting Dependent and Independent Clauses (method #1)

When you are connecting dependent clauses (fragments) with the complete sentences that come before or after them (called "independent clauses" once we connect them), there are some rules regarding commas that you need to keep in mind. 

If you are connecting your fragment to the sentence before it, you do not need a comma. If you are connecting your fragment to the sentence after it, you need a comma. Another way to think about this is, if your sentence begins with a dependent word, it will need a comma between the dependent clause and the independent clause that completes the thought. If the dependent word is in the middle of a sentence (meaning that the dependent clause is the second half of a sentence), you do not need a comma. 

For example, if I combine the dependent clause (fragment), "After I got out of class" to the independent word group, "I went to lunch," I would need to use a comma between the two. 

Notice how this changes if I decide to switch the order of these word groups placing the dependent word in the middle of the sentence:

Both sentences say the same thing and both sentences fix the fragment, so as an author, you get to decide which one you like better.

Please note that the comma NEVER actually touches the dependent word. Remember that the comma will always come after the dependent clause, NOT the dependent word itself.     

As stated above, this rule about commas is not just about connecting independent and dependent clauses. It applies more broadly  – if your sentence opens with a word group that alone would be a fragment, use a comma. If your sentence opens with a word group that can stand alone (meaning you are adding your fragment to the sentence that came before it), you don't need a comma.

For example:

In this case, the word group "Driving through northern New York on my way to an interview" is a fragment (note that the only verb here ends in "ing").  Because this sentence opens with what would be a fragment, we need a comma.

Reversed, this sentence would look like this:

Now it opens with a word group that could stand alone, "I saw some gorgeous lakes" and it no longer needs a comma.

Source: Erin Severs
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