Sentence Fragments
A sentence fragment is a sentence that’s missing a subject, verb, or both. We might use sentence fragments when we speak or write informally, but in professional or academic writing sentences should always be complete.
Example: Excited for Saturday.
This is a sentence fragment because it’s missing a subject and a verb; it doesn’t tell us who is excited for Saturday. If you saw this in a text from a friend, you might assume they meant that they are excited for Saturday. However, we can make this a complete sentence by including a subject and a form of the verb to be.
Example: Rudra is excited for Saturday.
Now this sentence includes a subject, Rudra, and a verb, is, and so we know that it’s Rudra who is excited.
Sentence fragments are usually pieces of sentences that have been separated from the main clause. The main clause is a complete sentence that can stand on its own.
Example: I like dogs. Cats too.
The main clause, I like dogs, has a subject, I, and a verb, like. It is a complete sentence that can stand on its own. The sentence fragment, cats too, does not have a verb and the subject appears to be cats. We can guess from context that the fragment is intended to mean the subject from the main clause, I, also likes cats, but technically the subject I doesn’t appear in the sentence fragment. Additionally, we don’t know what action the actual subject of the fragment, cats, is performing because there is no verb.
One of the best ways to fix a sentence fragment like this is to remove the period and combine the main clause and the fragment. Sometimes you might also have to add other punctuation or words to the new sentence.
Example: I like dogs, and cats too.
Now this is a complete sentence that tells us the subject, I, performs the verb, to like, and tells us what they like: dogs and cats. You can create an even simpler sentence with these components by removing unnecessary words.
Example: I like dogs and cats.
This is still a complete sentence because it has a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought.
Practice:
I saw the group wave at me. I waved back. Happy to see them. I strolled over. One of them met me halfway. She smiled. Laughed at my silly hat too.
Answers:
Fixed sentence: The bakery sells lots of different food, including cakes, brownies, sandwiches, and more.
Fixed sentence: Carly ran faster, almost at the finish line.
Fixed sentence: He stopped and looked down at his watch.
*Note: All sentences are now complete, however you could further combine these sentences to improve their flow. If you combined them further, your answer might look like this: I saw the group wave at me and I waved back, happy to see them. I strolled over, and one of them met me halfway. She smiled and laughed at my silly hat.
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