Which part of the following example is the fragment. It may express a complete thought, but it cannot stand alone. For example, the following phrase is a sentence fragment that doesnt have a verb. To correct it, add a subject to the fragment to make it a sentence. A word group that lacks a subject or a verb or does not express a complete thought. Committing your ideas to paper is the first priority. A sentence fragment is a word group that is incorrectly punctuated as if it were a complete sentence, beginning with an initial capital letter and ending with a period or other end punctuation.
The front page tells the student what a comma splice is and how to correct it. Hurriedly and ineffectively tried to smother the small fire. Identifying and correcting fragments the writing centre department of english 1 a sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Fragments usually begin with a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun. Examplesthe independent clause is underlined i go to the store.
Nov 17, 2017 correcting sentence fragments, see page 434. Fragments and runon sentences the university of texas at dallas. Most fragments are missing the subject, the verb, or both. Although common in popular speech, in writing sentence fragments can confuse your reader and make your meaning unclear. In contrast, the approach outlined in this paper demonstrates that there is a systematic way to conceptualize sentence boundaries, one that fully integrates fragments and runons marshall, 1982. Comma splices, runons, and fragments welcome to uvu. The glue system through the years of working with nonnative speakers, such as those char. Sentence fragments an incomplete sentence is called a sentence fragment. A sentence must contain at least one independent clause. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The fragments that most students have trouble with, however, are dependent clausesthey have a subject and a verb, so they look like. Utah valley university uvu does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation.
S revising sentence fragments each ofthe following word groups is a sentence fragment. It will enable the student to identify potential runons and fragments as well as determine the appropriate way to fix them fragments are sentences that are incomplete. For not correcting the sentence fragments in my paper. An appositive fragment will begin with a noun and usually include one or more clarifying phrases or subordinate clauses after it. This exercise offers practice in identifying and correcting needless sentence fragments during the editing stage of the writing process. Welcome is a tool designed to find spelling, as well as basic grammar and stylistic mistakes, in english texts. If you experience any problems or discover any inaccuracies, please let us know by filling in the form on the contact page.
To be complete, a sentence must contain, a predicate or a subjectcomplete verb, and function as n independent clausea. A sentence is a group of words that names something and makes a statement about what is named. A sentence, in order to be complete, must contain at least one independent clause. Richard nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and english at georgia southern university and the author of several universitylevel grammar and composition textbooks. Sentence fragments unintentional sentence fragments are among the most serious grammatical errors a writer can make. Impress upon students that in formal, academic writing, sentence fragments should not occur. Correcting sentence fragments once you have identified a sentence fragment, you can correct it by adding what is missing. When school is over for the day, the students go home. Fragments can confuse your readers and make your writing choppy and difficult to read. A sentence may have both a subject and a verb, but will still be a fragment if it. Correcting fragments fragments confuse readers by leaving out essential information. Three ways to correct sentence fragments once you have identified a sentence fragment, there are three basic ways correct it and turn it into a complete sentence. A sentence that does not have both a subject and a verb is a fragment. By itself, however, an appositive is not a sentence.
Correcting a sentence fragment with a missing subject. The unprepared student who was always begging for an extra pencil and a couple sheets of blank paper. Punctuation andor words added to make corrections appear in bold. If the group of words is a complete sentence, write s. Worst of all, they may lead a reader to question the quality of your ideas. Using your fragments to create complex sentences will improve the readability of your writing. Correcting sentence fragments add words to each sentence fragment to form the kind of sentence indicated in parentheses.
Instructions for each item below, write correct if the word group in italics is a complete sentence. Except for a command with an implied or understood subject, a word group punctuated as a. The second sentence in this example is not really a sentence at all because it is missing a subject. Phrases that begin with words like even though, unless, if, after, although, while, before, after, during, until, and when are always dependent clauses and must be attached to an independent clause to form a complete sentence. Wcu writing and learning commons editing to eliminate fragments, runons, and comma splices fragments, runons, and comma splices should be edited from your paper once you have a complete draft. Rewrite each fragment to make it a complete sentence. Correcting sentence fragments sentence fragment errors can be corrected in the following ways. Both groups of words begin with a capital letter and conclude with an end markusually a period. See pages 911 for detailed explanations and techniques for correcting fragments.
It is a group of words that might look like a sentence at first, but it is not really. Pages 12 include practice activities and an answer key. It is important that you can recognize fragments in your writing and correct them as you edit your papers. These task cards are perfect for test prep and will work well at literacy centers, stations, for partner work, or with the whole class using a game like scoot.
Identifying fragments a fragment is simply a clause or a phrase that is not a complete sentence. We can guess from context who the sentence is about the pitcher, but the fact is that the sentence in question never actually tells us. A sentence fragment lacks one or more of these elements. This document should only be used as a reference and should not replace assignment guidelines. The one important difference is that a fragment does not contain a main. Complete sentences a sentence must contain both a subject and a verb.
An incomplete construction that tries to stand alone is a sentence fragment. Sentence fragments occur when the writer does not observe conventional boundaries between sentences. An independent clause is a complete sentence and can. Exercise 2 correcting sentence fragments rewrite each sentence fragment below as a complete sentence.
The first step in correcting fragments is to recognize them. Sentence fragments there are several types of fragments. Change fragments into complete sentence part 2 quiz turtle. The questions on these assessments will test what you know about sentences, sentence fragments, and correcting fragments. Dont worry about them until your draft is finished. Test your students knowledge of ela with turtle diary s change fragments into complete sentence part 2 quiz. Attach the fragment to the sentence in front of itif the two parts make sense together. Before you include an intentional fragment in a piece of writing, you should ask your teachers if they will mind. Some fragments are incomplete because they lack either a subject or a verb, or both. The one that you will use depends on what is missing in the fragment and what sentences come before and after the fragment. Fragments and runons this module will cover run on sentences, comma splices and fragments.
This sentence structure is called a compound sentence. Sentence fragments university of north carolina at charlotte. Spotting and correcting sentence fragments a sentence fragment is a group of words masquerading as a complete sentence. They should see the clothes people wore in the middle ages. A fragment lacks either a subject, a predicate, or does not communicate a complete thought.
Add whatever words are necessary to make the meaning ofthe sentence complete. Fragments a fragment is an incomplete sentence because it does not include an independent clause. In general, sentence fragments can be corrected by rewriting the fragment as a complete sentence or connecting the fragment to an independent clause. You may add a missing subject or predicate or attach the fragment to a complete sentence. Prepare them to get excited about learning as they move to harder topics. Identifying and correcting sentence fragments often a sentence fragment is a dependent clause. This exercise will give you practice in identifying and correcting sentence fragments. If you are in the lab, please see an assistant for a quiz to test your knowledge of fragments. Understanding sentence structure helps in identifying and correcting runon sentences and sentence fragments. To be sure, professional writers, especially those engaged in creative writing. Then rewrite each fragment or runon as one or more correct sentences. Wcu writing and learning commons editing to eliminate.
Use these 32 multiple choice task cards to help students identify complete sentences, sentence fragments and runon sentences. By writing an unintentional fragment, an individual shows he or she is unable to recognize what a sentence is. Remember, a word group is a fragment because it is missing one or more of the essential parts of a sentence. Identifying and correcting fragments and runons on the line after each word group below, write cs, f, or ro to identify the word group as a complete sentence, a fragment, or a runon sentence. Sentence fragments a sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. So, by adding a verb, we can make it a complete and correct sentence. An independent clause is a complete sentence and can stand on its own. Sentence fragments give students problems because 1 they see fragments in advertisements and published writings, 2 the fragments make sense. A sentence fragment is a group of words that is punctuated as a sentence but that cannot stand alone as a sentence. For example, the following passage contains two sentence fragments. Often, a fragment is either missing a subject or a verb, or it consists of a dependent clause punctuated as a complete sentence.
If you notice that your teachers are constantly marking fragments in your compositions, you should try this effective proofreading trick to get the problem. The subject identifies who or what is performing an action and the verb identifies the action being performed. Fragment the soviet mig appeared suddenly, circled twice, and set down. Hurriedly and ineffectively tried to smother the small. Fragments in the spaces provided, write c if the sentence is correct or frag if the group of words is a fragment. The fragment may even contain a subject and a verb, but it does. A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence because it lacks a subject, lacks a verb, or is a dependent clause. We might say that it is pretending to be a sentence, but it is not.
Notice that the fragment is frequently a dependent clause or long phrase that follows the main. Facts about fragments definition a fragment sentence is not a true sentence at all. Sentence fragments a sentence fragment is a piece of information that is punctuated as a sentence but that lacks some of the characteristics of a complete sentence. Inserting a coordinating conjunction for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so plus a comma correctly links these independent clauses. Directions determine which of the following word groups are sentence fragments and which are complete sentences. Participial phrase corrected the soviet mig appeared suddenly, circled twice, and set down, braking with parachutes. Exercise 1 practice a, worksheet 1 identifying sentence fragments. Avoiding sentence fragments long beach city college. Examples the independent clause is underlined i go to the store. When sentences begin with subordinate conjunctions or relative pronouns, they must be joined to a main clause. They can cause you to receive a lower grade on your papers.