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How to Spot a Sentence Fragment

People often have trouble deciding if a sentence is complete or not. If it is not complete, it is a sentence fragment. Follow the steps below to learn how to identify and fix sentence fragments.

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    Difficulty:
    Moderately Easy

    Instructions

      • 1

        Know the difference between independent and dependent clauses. Clauses are groups of words that contain a subject and a predicate. An independent clause is one that can stand on its own as a complete sentence. For example:I went to the store.A dependent clause is one that cannot stand on its own, usually because it is preceded by a subordinating conjunction. For example:Because I needed milk.

      • 2

        Make sure your sentence contains at least one independent clause. If it does not, it is a fragment. For example:Because I needed milk.This is a fragment because it consists of only a dependent clause with no independent clause.

      • 3

        To fix a fragment caused by a dependent clause, link it to an independent clause. Most dependent clause fragments can be remedied by making them part of the preceding or succeeding sentence. For example:I went to the store. Because I needed milk. This can be corrected by linking the fragment with the sentence preceding it:I went to the store because I needed milk.

      • 4

        Make sure transitive verbs have an object. A transitive verb is one in which the action is transferred from the subject to the object. For example: John threw hard.This is a fragment. Since "threw" is a transitive verb, John needs something to throw and thus the sentence requires an object. Intransitive verbs do not need an object. For example:You talk too much.This is a complete sentence even though there is no object.

      • 5

        To fix a fragment caused by a missing object, simply give the sentence an object. For example:John threw the ball hard.

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    Comments

    • Pamela B Dec 15, 2009
      I disagree that "John threw hard" is a fragment. If it were to occur in a narrative about baseball, for instance, I think it would stand very well as a complete sentence. Or how about this for a scenerio: "Spying two girls approaching, John quickly packed snow into hard round snowballs. The girls chattered obliviously. John threw hard." Fragment...?

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