A sentence fragment is an incomplete clause that has been separated from the main clause or the rest of the sentence. To avoid them, it’s important to pay attention to basic aspects like grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and so on.
Characteristics of Sentence Fragments
A hanging phrase or an abandoned clause—anything that is missing the key aspects that make a complete sentence—can be considered a sentence fragment. Sentence fragments can be missing:
- The main verb
- The subject
- Prepositions, conjunctions, nouns, adjectives, and/or other parts of speech
- Sentence connectors that help smooth sentence transitions
- A complete thought or idea
Types of Sentence Fragments
There are different types of sentence fragments:
1. Relative Clause Fragments
Clauses that contain a subject and a verb and begin with relative pronouns are called relative clauses. Such clauses can be incomplete despite the presence of the subject and the verb, in which case they are considered fragments.
Examples of subordinate clause fragments:
- My cat is friendly. Which is the best thing about my cat. (Fragment)
- My cat is friendly, which is the best thing about him. (Complete sentence)
- My mentor provided some important inputs. That helped me a lot. (Fragment)
- My mentor provided some important inputs that helped me a lot. (Complete sentence)
2. Subordinate Clause Fragments
Also known as dependent clauses, subordinate clauses, which contain or begin with subordinating conjunctions, are incomplete clauses that can’t stand alone as a complete sentence.
Examples of subordinate clause fragments:
- I decided not to go out. Because it was snowing heavily. (Fragment)
- I decided not to go out because it was snowing heavily. (Complete sentence)
- Do come to the party. If possible. (Fragment)
- Do come to the party if possible. (Complete sentence)
3. Coordinating Conjunction Fragments
Like subordinate clause fragments, coordinating conjunction fragments contain or begin with coordinating conjunctions. This type of sentence fragment, like other sentence fragments, can be incomplete despite containing a subject and a verb.
Examples of coordinating conjunction fragments:
- The dog was aggressive. So I had to keep the dog locked. (Fragment)
- The dog was aggressive, so I had to keep it locked. (Complete sentence)
- The pizza looked unappealing. But it tasted great. (Fragment)
- The pizza looked unappealing, but it tasted great. (Complete sentence)
4. Prepositional Phrase Fragments
Sentence fragments that happen to be a prepositional phrase, or fragments that begin with or contain a preposition, are called prepositional phrase fragments. Like other sentence fragments, prepositional phrase fragments may or may not contain a subject and a verb.
Examples of prepositional phrase fragments:
- The plane flew. Between two clouds. (Fragment)
- The plane flew between two clouds. (Complete sentence)
- The dog slept. Under the bridge. (Fragment)
- The dog slept under the bridge. (Complete sentence)
5. Infinitive Fragments
When “to” precedes a simple verb form, then it is known as an infinitive. A sentence fragment that contains an infinitive is thus known as an infinitive fragment.
Examples of infinitive fragments:
- We are off to the forest. To look for a rare species of snake. (Fragment)
- We are off to the forest to look for a rare species of snake. (Complete sentence)
- Jake dropped out of college last year. To pursue a career in acting. (Fragment)
- Jake dropped out of college last year to pursue a career in acting. (Complete sentence)
6. Appositive Phrase Fragments
An appositive phrase describes the noun (mostly the subject) or provides additional information about the main noun in a sentence. When an appositive phrase is incomplete, then it is called an appositive phrase fragment.
Examples of appositive phrase fragments:
- Carol is a wonderful person. My brother’s girlfriend. (Fragment)
- Carol, my brother’s girlfriend, is a wonderful person. (Complete sentence)
- Evangeline is my aunt. The art teacher at my school. (Fragment)
- Evangeline, the art teacher at my school, is my aunt. (Complete sentence)
Fixing Sentence Fragments
Here are some ways to fix sentence fragments:
- Check and ensure a sentence has a subject and a verb.
- Add proper punctuation wherever necessary.
- Provide context by adding additional information to complete the sentence.
It’s best to avoid sentence fragments, especially in the case of formal writing. If there are fragments present in a piece of writing, then sentences should be rewritten or revised to eliminate the fragments.
