Step 1 is, as always, to shout "Screw you Word! The committee considered her ideas for a new marketing strategy quite powerful; they were the best ideas that they had heard in years. To be sure, a sentence fragment can very occasionally supply an answer to a strategically placed rhetorical question: “What is the likely environmental consequence of more supply-side economic policy? However, when writing for the academic audience or writing a more formal piece, fragmentary sentences are not appropriate and should be corrected. Determine if the sentence has a main verb. Fragment: With the ultimate effect of all advertising is to sell the product. Identify the fragments in the sentences below and then click on the “Show Answers” button. The catalyst initiated a chain reaction between the two test compounds in an acidic solution. Eventually, she sent the evaluation to her supervisor with the strongest of recommendations. A sentence fragment is, therefore, any sentence that contains no verb or subject or cannot express a complete thought. As the word 'fragment' suggests, a sentence fragment is a 'part of' a sentence. Our software to identify sentence fragments, however, will always find what it has been programmed to find for you. Let’s look at a few examples of these: Even though all of the above have non-finite verbs, they’re phrases, not clauses. As you’re identifying fragments, keep in mind that command sentences are not fragments, despite not having a subject. Ivana appeared at the committee meeting last week and made a convincing presentation of her ideas about the new product. This usually will be an action verb, but it can also be forms of the verb "to be" such as am, was and were. Although it would have made little difference in a system based on proportional representation. Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images, Copyright 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Education, Explore state by state cost analysis of US colleges in an interactive article. This does not express a complete thought because it does not tell who went to the rally. The research team has completely reorganized the workload. Anything less makes a sentence a fragment. Sentence rephrase is when you restate what has already been said or written in your own unique words. Determine if the sentence has a subject. A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not comprise a complete sentence. Side Note: A simple way to remember coordinating conjunctions is to use the acronym FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). << Fragments are simply grammatically incomplete sentences—they are phrases and dependent clauses. The complete sentence should have a subject and predicate. Possible Revisions: Direct object: I've noticed a record of accomplishment beginning when you were first hired; Main verb: A record of accomplishment began when you were first hired. Non-finite verbs (gerunds, participles, and infinitives) can often trip people up as well. The end result is that the sentence may lack the verb. (Notice how the revision emphasizes the range of effects the sites have had, making the writer’s point more explicit. I had class early this morning; I woke up at noon. However, it would have made little difference in a system based on proportional representation. ), (In this case, placing the sentence fragment within the main clause prevents any confusion about whether the pronoun “ones” refers to the players or the agents. However, it would have made little difference in a system based on proportional representation. Such sentences must follow each other. Act as their editor, marking a C if the sentences in the group are all complete and an F if any of the sentences in the group is a fragment. Let’s look at effective ways to revise some of the examples cited above. This can only occur when the context explains the situation. In the simplest grammatical terms, a sentence fragment lacks a main—or independent—clause. Exercise : Sentence Fragments Exercise 1. You will need to look at these questions and answers and decide whether it is a complete sentence or a fragment that needs revision. 1. Revising Sentence Fragments. I woke up at noon. If the sentence does not express a complete thought then it is going to be a fragment. That looks like a complete sentence because it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, but it is not. If you start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, make sure that it is followed a complete clause, not just a phrase. There are two main types of fragments: The verb initiated doesn’t save this sentence from being a sentence fragment. So how can we tell the difference between a sentence and a sentence fragment? Pay attention to the principles used to create the revised sentence. > Revising > Sentence Fragments. Distinguishing Features People often will write in fragments in order to get the words out in a hurry or to make a point. Purdue Online Writing Lab; Sentence Fragments; April 2010.