sentence fragments, parts of sentences, incomplete sentences,incomplete ideas in writing, and sentences that are too short --Today's Free English Lesson on MyEnglishTeacher.net

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Lesson Topic: Sentence Fragments

Since he came to New York.

Because my dog loves it.

Unless you see me.

Is there anything wrong with these sentences? All of these sentences end too quickly. After reading these sentences, the reader asks questions because he/she needs more information.

Sentence Fragment	The Reader Asks...
Since he came to New York.	Since he came, what (has he been doing)?
Because my dog loves it.	Because the dog loves it, (so what)?
Unless you see me.	Unless you see me, what (will happen)?

These sentences have incomplete ideas and end too quickly. They are called sentence fragments. Take a look at the following sentences:

I slept.

Jim flew the plane.

He cried.

Are these sentence fragments? The answer is no. Now, you may want to ask, “These last three sentences are shorter than the first three. Why aren’t the last three sentence fragments?” That’s a great question. We’re glad you asked. Let’s explain.

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A sentence fragment has nothing to do with size or amount of words. Therefore, a very short sentence with a complete idea is NOT a sentence fragment. A sentence fragment is a sentence that is incomplete. It is incomplete because it is either a phrase or a dependent clause.

However, we do not want to get too complicated here. Therefore, let's us define what a sentence is. A sentence consists of 3 components:

1	subject	the person, place, or thing performing or doing the action
2	verb	the action
3	complete idea	the reader isn't left waiting for another word

Take a look at this sentence:

I hit the ball.

Subject=I

Verb=hit

Is it a complete idea? Yes.

Therefore, this is a good sentence.

The ball is a direct object. Not all sentences require a direct object. For example

Birds fly.

Subject=birds

Verb=fly

Is it a complete idea? Yes.

There is no direct object here; however, it is still a complete idea and a good sentence.

Here's another example.

I take.

Subject=I

Verb=take

Is it a complete idea? No.

This sentence requires a direct object. This sentence is called a sentence fragment. It is actually the verb which determines whether the sentence requires a direct object or not. If the sentence requires a direct object, it is called a transitive verb. If the verb does not need a direct object, it is called an intransitive verb. If you are unsure about some verbs, use a dictionary. Dictionaries often denote transitive and intransitive verbs with the initials t.v. and i.v., respectively.

So, what's a sentence fragment? A sentence fragment is a sentence that lacks a subject or lacks a verb or is not a complete idea (one reason could be because it does not have a direct object if the verb needs one).

Here's one more example.

Murray takes the train to school Mom rides the bus.

Subject=Murray AND Mom

Verb=takes AND rides

Is it a complete idea? It is TWO complete ideas. Therefore, this is a run-on sentence. For more information on run-on sentences, please see our lesson on this subject by clicking here.

One more way to find a sentence fragment

Sometimes the sentence has a subject, verb, and direct object, but it is still a sentence fragment. How? If a sentence contains one of any of the words on the following 2 blackboards, the sentence requires a second part to finish the idea. Therefore, if you use any of the words on these lists, you MUST add another part.

Blackboard #1
after	even if	once	whenever
although	even though	only if	whereas
as	every time	since	whether or not
as if	if	the first time	whichever
as soon as	in case	though	whoever
because	in the event that	unless	while
before	just in case	until
by the time	now that	when

If you use any of the following prepositions, which are usually used to create prepositional phrases, you MUST add another part, or you will probably write a sentence fragment.

Blackboard #2 Prepositions
about	beneath	in	till
above	beside	into	to
across	besides	like	toward
after	between	near	under
against	beyond	of	underneath
along	by	off	until
among	despite	on	up
around	down	out	upon
at	during	over	with
before	except	since	within
behind	for	through	without
below	from	throughout

For example

Look at the following sentence:

Because you wanted it.

Since you bought the radio.

Do these two sentences have subjects, verbs, and direct objects (if needed)? YES. Are they sentence fragments? YES. Why? They both contain words from the two blackboards. They need second parts:

I gave you the ice cream because you wanted it.

Since you bought the plane tickets, I will pay for the hotel room.

Now, these are good sentences.

How do you fix it?

We suggest 3 ways to fix sentence fragments:

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Method #1

Attach the sentence fragment to another sentence. That other sentence could be before or after the sentence fragment.

Sentence Fragment	Fixed and Now a Complete Sentence
After seeing the doctor.	I felt much better after seeing the doctor. -or- After seeing the doctor, I felt much better.

Method #2

Add a subject, verb, or both to make the sentence complete.

Sentence Fragment	Fixed and Now a Complete Sentence
Under the bed.	I found my socks under the bed.

Method #3

Take away the word or phrase that makes it a sentence fragment.

Sentence Fragment	Fixed and Now a Complete Sentence
While Fred was in Paris.	Fred was in Paris.

NOTE: If you use method #3, make sure the meaning does not change. The words and phrases listed above usually add important information to the sentence. Therefore, if you take them out, the meaning may change. Be careful!

Quiz

Directions: The following paragraph contains five sentence fragments. Find the sentence fragments and correct them using one of the above two methods.

My Wonderful Discovery

After I had gotten up. I ate my breakfast. While I was eating breakfast. I heard a squeaking sound at my door. It was a little puppy that was crying. I wept. It was really cute. That I picked it up and took it inside in order to give the puppy a big bowl of warm milk and a soft blanket. I took the day off so that I could take him to the veterinarian. The vet told me he was fine. Because I had given him what he needed: milk and a warm blanket. He still needed a home. I asked all my friends to take him. They wanted the little guy. However, they couldn't keep pets in their apartments. By the time we got home. Now, he is my pet and friend.

s.f.= sentence fragment	My Wonderful Discovery After I had gotten up. I ate my breakfast. While I was eating breakfast. I heard a squeaking sound at my door. It was a little puppy that was crying. I wept. It was really cute. That I picked it up and took it inside in order to give the puppy a big bowl of warm milk and a soft blanket. I took the day off so that I could take him to the veterinarian. The vet told me he was fine. Because I had given him what he needed: milk and a warm blanket. He still needed a home. I asked all my friends to take him. They wanted the little guy. However, they couldn't keep pets in their apartments. By the time we got home. Now, he is my pet and friend.	1. The first s.f. is the first sentence. It has the word "after," which is on blackboard #2. This sentence needs another part to complete the idea. 3. "That I picked it up..." is the third s.f. because of the word "that." This sentence is very long, but it is an incomplete idea.
2. The third sentence is our second s.f. It has the word "while," which is from blackboard #2.
"I wept" is a very short sentence, but it is NOT a sentence fragment.

4. "Because I had given him..." is the fourth s.f. The word "because" makes this sentence a dependent clause.		5. "By the time we got home..." is our fifth s.f. "By the time" is from blackboard #1.

The corrected version is. . .

My Wonderful Discovery

After I had gotten up, I ate my breakfast. While I was eating breakfast, I heard a squeaking sound at my door. It was a little puppy that was crying. I wept. It was really cute. I picked it up and took it inside in order to give the puppy a big bowl of warm milk and a soft blanket. I took the day off so that I could take him to the veterinarian. The vet told me he was fine because I had given him what he needed: milk and a warm blanket. He still needed a home. I asked all my friends to take him. They wanted the little guy. However, they couldn't keep pets in their apartments. By the time we got home, I had realized that I should keep him. Now, he is my pet and friend.

Rules to Remember!

1

Sentence fragments can make your writing very confusing. Avoid sentence fragments in professional writing, formal writing, essays, business letters, and compositions.

2

Sentence fragments are written and acceptable in the following types of writing:

poetry
quotes and quoted speech (click here to see more about this subject).
plays

Sentence fragments are acceptable in these situations because the author wants to capture what was actually said or felt.

3

See our lesson run-on sentences to better understand this topic.

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