IDENTIFYING AND CORRECTING SENTENCE FRAGMENTS COMPLETE SENTENCES ARE

IDENTIFYING AND CORRECTING SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

COMPLETE SENTENCES ARE COMPLETE THOUGHTS Marco attended a party at a Las Vegas club. § A sentence fragment is a error. It’s only a piece of a sentence. § It does not express a complete thought: When Marco attended a party at a Las Vegas club.

FRAGMENTS ARE MISSING SOMETHING Dancers on the stage. What’s missing? Swung on a trapeze. What’s missing? From the top of a tower. What’s missing?

SEEMS EASY, BUT FRAGMENTS ARE HARD TO SPOT IN A PARAGRAPH

FIND THE FRAGMENTS After dinner, it was time to see some entertainment. At the Circ du Soiel show. We had great seats near the front of the stage. Where the lights were bright and exciting. The performers at the back of theatre suddenly swished onto stage. As the lights flashed. Loud music shook the room, but it made the performance even more intense. Even though my mother has a slight hearing problem. I could tell that she enjoyed herself that evening.

CORRECTING FRAGMENTS Delete any dependent words (although, while, as, unless, because etc. ). These are called dependent word fragments. Some handbooks call them subordinating words. Our book calls them… “fragment warning words” When Marco attended a crazy party at a Las Vegas club. Or, attach the dependent clause to a complete sentence : When Marco attended a crazy party at a Las Vegas club, he lost his wallet.

CORRECTING FRAGMENTS Double-check any sentences that begin with or contain an –ing word: Panicking about the loss of his wallet. Marco ran to his hotel room and wept. In this case, you probably just need to use a comma to attach the first clause to whatever clause follows.

REMINDERS You’ll sometimes see “stylistic fragments”… She left the house with one shoe and didn’t notice all day. So silly. Also, fragments can be long… After grocery shopping then getting stuck in traffic when the storm hit with heavy winds, thunder, lightning and rain that swept across the roads.

Tips Isolate sentences that start with an –ing word. Check for fragment warning words: After, Although, As, Whenever, Where, While, If, That, though, Especially, Even, Since, So that, Such as, Unless, Until, Because, Before A WHITE SUB Correct any fragments by connecting them to something else or adding a missing word.

Directions: Read each group of words below. Identify the items as either a sentence (S) or a sentence fragment (F). You just have to write S or F, not the whole sentence. ___Climbing on the monkey bars in the park. ___When the ketchup. ___Plays trombone in the school band. ___The President made a speech on national television. ___Jessica earned an “A” on her science project. ___Ran to first base when he hit the ball. ___He missed. ___The ski boat capsized in the water. ___After everyone had left the party. ___The girls in the back. Now go back and revise the sentences that are fragments. Make them into complete thoughts however you want. Just revise the fragments.

Each sentence begins with a number. Writer the numbers that begin fragments. 1 Although women's college basketball in Connecticut is a marvelously entertaining and popular sport. 2 It is not hard to remember. 3 When it was not so popular. 4 Only a few years ago, my friends and I decided to go to a women's basketball game. 5 We could get seats for free near center court. 6 Especially on Sunday afternoons. 7 Of course, that was before names such as Rebeccca Lobo, Jenn Rizzotti, and Kara Wolters became household words. 8 If more than a couple of hundred fans showed up for a game. 9 It was considered a big turnout. 10 Games were played in practically silent gyms. 11 Because the fans didn't care who won. 12 However, these days tickets to a women's game disappear within hours, and you can't get seats. 13 Unless you know someone.