Often, a dependent clause fragment can simply be tacked on to a nearby sentence: The fragment might also have been fixed by simply removing the subordinating conjunction: To complete the sentence, we changed the period to a comma and added an independent clause. Revision: After my wife got promoted, I quit my job. ( After is the subordinating conjunction) The following fragment contains a subject and a verb, but the attached subordinating conjunction creates a dependent clause, which means it can’t stand on its own:įragment: After my wife got promoted. Fragments with Subordinating Conjunctions To fix the fragment, we added the subject Antonio and the verb bowls. Revision: Antonio bowls every weekday and sometimes on weekends. (Here, the entire gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence) Missing a Subject and a Verbįragment: Almost every weekday and sometimes on weekends Just sitting there doing nothing is bad for your health. In that case, we need to add only a verb to fix the fragment: It’s possible the writer wanted the fragment to function not as a participial phrase, but as a gerund phrase. Here, we connected the fragment to the preceding sentence with a comma because the fragment was meant to function as a participial phrase-It was meant to add more detail to the subject, Carl. Revision (b): Carl was frozen on the sofa, zombie-like, just sitting there doing nothing.
Knowing the context can help us better solve the problem.Ĭontext in which the fragment occurred: Carl was frozen on the sofa, zombie-like. Note: Sitting in the example above might actually be intended to function as a participle, rather than as part of a present progressive verb construction. Here, we’ve added the subject Carl and the auxiliary verb was to make a complete sentence. Revision (a): Carl was sitting there doing nothing. This fragment is missing both a subject and a verb. To fix the fragment, we added the subject Rudy to make a complete sentence. Possible revision: Rudy was sleeping all day. In this revision, we’ve added the verb cried to complete the sentence. Possible revision: The gray clouds cried a sorrowful rain. Examples of Sentence Fragments Missing a Verb The best choice for revision depends on the context and the writer’s intention. There are two ways to fix a fragment: you can turn it into a sentence or attach it to a nearby sentence. A sentence fragment might also be a stand-alone dependent clause.
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence-that is, it doesn’t express a complete thought-because it is missing a subject, a verb, or both.
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