Sentence fragments: Overview

A sentence fragment is a word group that pretends to be a sentence. It is punctuated like a sentence and has some elements of a sentence, but it is not complete. In formal written English, an unintentional fragment is considered a major grammatical error.

To be complete, a sentence must have at least one independent clause.

Recognizing fragments

Sentence fragments are easy to recognize when they appear out of context, like these:

Incorrect example sentence: On the old wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother's kitchen.

Incorrect example sentence: And immediately popped their flares and life vests.

When fragments appear next to related sentences, they can be hard to spot.

Incorrect example sentence: On that morning I sat in my usual spot. On the old wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother's kitchen.

Incorrect example sentence: The pilots ejected from the burning plane, landing in the water not far from the ship. And immediately popped their flares and life vests.

Fixing fragments

You can repair most fragments in one of two ways:

  1. Pull the fragment into a nearby sentence.

    Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: On that morning I sat in my usual spot. On the old wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother's kitchen. Revised sentence: On that morning I sat in my usual spot, on the old wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother's kitchen.

  2. Turn the fragment into a sentence.

    Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: The pilots ejected from the burning plane, landing in the water not far from the ship. And immediately popped their flares and life vests. Revised sentence: The pilots ejected from the burning plane, landing in the water not far from the ship. They immediately popped their flares and life vests.

Test for fragments

ESL: Sentence fragments

Exercise: Sentence fragments 1

Exercise: Sentence fragments 2

Exercise: Sentence fragments 3

Exercise: Sentence fragments 4

Exercise: Sentence fragments 5

Related topics:

Subjects and linking verbs

Subject in every sentence

independent clause A word group containing a subject and a verb that can or does stand alone as a sentence.