Sentence Fra g men ts Terry C Norris

Sentence Fra g men ts Terry C. Norris Fall 2016

Definitions • Sentence – A group of words that contains o a subject o a verb o a complete idea • Fragment – A piece of something, not the whole thing. – A group of words that is missing any of the elements that constitute a sentence, but is punctuated the way a sentence is punctuated.

Sentence Elements • Subject – A noun, pronoun, or gerund that indicates who or what is involved in the action of the sentence. o The cow jumped over the moon. • Verb – The focus of the sentence—what is happening or the condition of the subject. o The cow jumped over the moon. (action) o That ice cream cone is large. (condition) • Complete idea – The connection between the subject and verb. o After he left the party, they went shopping.

Kinds of Fragments • Missing subject (verb phrase) – Likes eating ice cream for breakfast. o Who does? • Missing verb (noun phrase) – He being late for work. o Participles (_ing) are not verbs unless they have a helping verb. • Missing complete idea (phrase or dependent clause) – Because they enjoyed fishing. o What happened because they enjoyed fishing?

Correcting Sentence Fragments • Supply what is missing – Missing subject o She likes eating ice cream for breakfast. – Missing verb o He was late for work. – Missing complete idea o Because they enjoyed fishing, they went to the lake every Saturday. • Remove what causes the fragment – Because they enjoyed fishing. o They enjoyed fishing.

Reasons for Sentence Fragments 1. Ignorance of sentence elements. a. Subject, verb, complete idea. b. All three must be there in order to have a sentence. c. One must know where one sentence ends and another begins in order to write complete, clear sentences. 2. Ignorance of clauses a. Independent (complete = sentence) He likes chocolate ice cream. b. Dependent (incomplete = fragment) While he waited in line. c. Some people put a period at the end of an idea without thinking whether or not the sentence is finished.

Reasons for Sentence Fragments 3. Ignorance of sentence punctuation. a. Sentences end with a period (. ), but it has to come at the end of the sentence (complete idea). While he waited in line, it started to rain. It started to rain while he waited in line. Not While he waited in line. It started to rain. Or It started to rain. While he waited in line. b. A comma goes after the dependent clause, and the period goes at the end of the sentence.

Reasons for Sentence Fragments 4. Writing too fast. a. When students write fast, they often don’t pay attention to sentence skills issues (spelling, punctuation, word choice, phrasing, etc. ). b. So, slow down and write carefully. 5. Not taking time to revise and proofread. a. The essay is not finished until it is reviewed one last time to be sure that everything is in the right place, doing the right job, and that sentences are correct and clear. b. Give yourself enough time to revise and edit before the deadline. If you have questions about any aspect of the essay, consult a tutor.

Practice

Identify the following word groups as a sentence (S), or fragment (F). Identify the kind of fragment. Make the fragments into sentences. 1. While trying to sound aristocratic. ___F__ 2. Most temptations should be resisted. ___S__ 3. Dieted for a month with no visible results. ___F__ 4. The bright green plant with the red flowers on the patio. ___F__ 5. Because desperation overcame prudence. ___F__ 6. The youth tried unsuccessfully to save the cat. ___S__ 7. He submitting his resignation at the same time. ___F__ 8. Quickly and angrily threw the ball at his enemy’s head. ___F__ 9. While the flu is not cured by antibiotics. ___F__ 10. Colds being viral infections. ___F__

Discussion