Fragments
A fragment is an incomplete sentence. It is missing one or more of the following parts:
- a subject
- a verb
- a coherent thought
Example #1
HOT GRAMMAR TIP
If after writing a sentence, you have to ask yourself, "What about…?" (e.g., when I was driving and saw a bird in the storm?), then you probably have a fragment.
Yesterday, while I was driving to work and saw a bird in the middle of the road out in the storm.
Grammatical Error: This sentence fragment does not contain an independent clause because of the word "while." Therefore, it does not contain a complete thought even though there is a subject and a verb.
Reasoning: This sentence fragment does not tell you what happened when you saw a bird sitting in the middle of the road out in the storm.
Example #1 (corrected)
Yesterday, while I was driving to work and saw a bird sitting in the middle of the road out in the storm, I thought it must have wandered away from its nest.
Example #2
When I went to the movies last week and I ran into a friend.
Grammatical Error: This sentence fragment does not contain an independent clause because of the word "when." Therefore, it does not contain a complete thought even though there is a subject and a verb.
Reasoning: This sentence fragment does not tell you what happened when you went to the movies last week and ran into a friend.
Example 2 (corrected)
When I ran into a friend at the movies last week, I suggested we sit together.