ERROR 1: SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
Definition
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. It is a group of words that is punctuated like a sentence — beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period, question mark, or exclamation point — but that is missing one or more essential components. Every complete sentence must have a subject (who or what the sentence is about), a predicate (a verb phrase that says something about the subject), and a complete thought that can stand alone. Fragments are missing at least one of these three things.
Fragments often occur when writers separate a phrase or subordinate clause from the main sentence it belongs to. This is especially common after words like ‘because,’ ‘although,’ ‘when,’ ‘which,’ ‘that,’ ‘since,’ ‘if,’ and ‘after.’ Writers sometimes also accidentally omit the subject or main verb.
Fragments are perfectly acceptable in spoken conversation and in some creative or stylistic writing, but in formal academic and professional writing, they are considered errors that undermine clarity and credibility.
Rules
RULE: Every sentence must contain a subject and a main verb.
RULE: A clause beginning with a subordinating conjunction (because, although, when, since, if, unless, after, before, while, until) cannot stand alone as a sentence. It must be attached to an independent clause.
RULE: A phrase — whether a participial phrase, infinitive phrase, prepositional phrase, or noun phrase — cannot stand alone as a sentence.
RULE: A relative clause beginning with ‘who,’ ‘which,’ or ‘that’ must be attached to a main clause.
Examples
Each pair below shows the fragment (✗) and the corrected sentence (✓).
✗ Because she studied every night for two weeks.
✓ Because she studied every night for two weeks, she passed the exam.
✗ Running through the park in the early morning fog.
✓ He was running through the park in the early morning fog.
✗ A tall woman in a red coat who was standing near the door.
✓ A tall woman in a red coat was standing near the door.
✗ Although the weather was terrible and the roads were icy.
✓ Although the weather was terrible and the roads were icy, the game was not canceled.
✗ For example, the high cost of housing in urban areas.
✓ For example, the high cost of housing in urban areas makes homeownership difficult for young people.
✗ Which caused a great deal of confusion among the students.
✓ The professor changed the assignment deadline, which caused a great deal of confusion among the students.
✗ After finishing her homework and eating dinner.
✓ After finishing her homework and eating dinner, she called her mother.
✗ To improve public health outcomes across the nation.
✓ The government launched a new program to improve public health outcomes across the nation.
✗ Such as walking, swimming, and cycling on weekends.
✓ She enjoyed many low-impact exercises, such as walking, swimming, and cycling on weekends.
✗ The main reason being that he had never received proper training.
✓ He struggled with the task, the main reason being that he had never received proper training.
Extended Dialogue
The following dialogue takes place between a student, Marco, and his writing tutor. Marco’s essay contains several sentence fragments. His errors appear in italics with annotations.
Tutor: Marco, I’ve read through your draft. Your ideas are strong, but I noticed some sentence-level problems. Can I show you?
Marco: Of course. What did I do wrong?
Tutor: Look at this first sentence in your second paragraph: ‘Because technology has changed how we communicate.’ What’s missing?
Marco: Hmm. It feels complete to me.
[Note: This is a subordinate clause, not a sentence. It begins with ‘because’ and tells us why something is true, but it never says what the result is.]
Tutor: It starts with ‘because,’ which means it’s a dependent clause. It needs to be connected to a main clause. Try: ‘Because technology has changed how we communicate, relationships have become more complex.’
Marco: Oh, I see. But what about this one: ‘Which made the whole argument stronger.’ I thought ‘which’ could start a sentence.
[Note: ‘Which made the whole argument stronger’ is a relative clause. It modifies something but never states what it is modifying as a standalone statement.]
Tutor: Not in formal writing. That clause refers back to something you said before. Connect it: ‘He provided three pieces of evidence, which made the whole argument stronger.’
Marco: Got it. What about the paragraph on climate change? I wrote: ‘For example, the rising sea levels and increasing temperatures worldwide.’ That’s a complete thought, right?
[Note: No — this is a noun phrase with no verb. It names things but does not say anything about them.]
Tutor: That’s a noun phrase, not a sentence. It has no verb. You need to say something about those rising sea levels and temperatures. For example: ‘For example, rising sea levels and increasing temperatures worldwide are already displacing millions of people.’
Marco: I keep separating phrases from my main sentences. Why do I do that?
Tutor: It’s very common. When you write quickly, you sometimes end a sentence before you’ve finished your thought. The fix is to slow down and ask: ‘Does this group of words have a subject AND a verb AND a complete thought?’
Marco: Like a checklist?
Tutor: Exactly. Every sentence: subject — check. Main verb — check. Complete thought — check. If any is missing, it’s a fragment.
Marco: What about this one at the end: ‘To provide better opportunities for the next generation.’ I think that’s a complete sentence.
[Note: This is an infinitive phrase. It has no subject and no finite verb.]
Tutor: That’s an infinitive phrase. Again, no subject. The corrected version would be something like: ‘The government must invest in education to provide better opportunities for the next generation.’ The infinitive phrase becomes the purpose of the action.
Marco: So I basically have to make sure I always say WHO does WHAT.
Tutor: That’s the perfect way to think about it. Subject does something. Every time.
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