How to Change a Sentence Fragment Into a Complete Sentence

Knowing how to fix sentence fragments can help you write better essays.

Students often find sentence structure confusing. Teachers return their essays covered with red marks saying things like "awkward," "be more specific" or "run-on sentence" -- and students feel unsure how to fix the errors or even how to recognize when the errors appear in their essays. One sentence construction problem that can prove particularly challenging for students is incomplete sentences, also known as sentence fragments. By improving your understanding of what makes a sentence complete, you can more effectively find and correct sentence fragments that appear in your writing.

Instructions

1. Understand the definition of a complete sentence. Complete sentences must include a subject, the noun or pronoun the sentence is about; a verb, which expresses action ("jumps" or "sings") or links ideas ("is" or "was"); and a complete thought. The sentence "I like writing essays" is a complete sentence because it includes a subject ("I") a verb ("like") and it expresses a complete thought.

2. Connect the sentence fragment to the sentence before or after it. Often a sentence fragment results from a punctuation error. For example, the first of the following two sentences is a fragment: "Because he forgot to set his alarm. Jeremy slept through his math final." To fix the fragment, combine the two sentences by replacing the period with a comma: "Because he forgot to set his alarm, Jeremy slept through his math final."

3. Add the missing subject. Fix the fragment "Chased a mouse" by indicating who does the action: "My cat chased a mouse."

4. Include the missing verb. Correct the fragment "The brown-eyed, curly-haired toddler" by specifying what the subject does: "The brown-eyed, curly-haired toddler smiled."

5. Make the sentence a complete thought. Repair the fragment "I kicked" by providing a direct object for the action: "I kicked the football." Fix the fragment "I was" by providing more information about the subject: "I was asleep."

6. Correct fragments that begin with a word or phrase that makes the sentence dependent on another part to complete the thought. Phrases beginning with a subordinate conjunction (such as "after" or "because"), a participle (usually an "ing" or "ed" verb) or an infinitive ("to" followed by a verb) cannot stand on their own. For example, the clause "After Amy finished writing her essay" requires more information to complete the thought. Fix the fragment either by adding the missing information, "After Amy finished writing her essay, she left the library," or by removing the word that makes the clause dependent, "Amy finished writing her essay."

References

• Grammar Bytes; The Sentence Fragment; Robin L. Simmons
• GrammarBook.com; Finding Subjects and Verbs; Jane Straus; 2010
• MyEnglishTeacher.net: Lesson Topic -- Sentence Fragments