Even still, if it doesn’t express a complete thought, it’s a fragment (the fragment “ By the door?” versus the complete sentence “ Should I leave these by the door?“). A fragment might look like a sentence because it contains punctuation like a question mark (?) or exclamation point (!). Often, this is because the phrase doesn’t contain a subject or verb. A sentence fragment is a group of words that fails to express a complete thought. Is a Question a Fragment?Ī question can be a fragment, but this isn’t always the case.

Then, you turn around and say, “Please stop.” It’s understood that you’re referring to the boy (subject) and requesting that he cease kicking (complete thought). The child keeps kicking your chair and disturbing you. Therefore, “stop” is not a fragment because it expresses a complete thought and an implied subject as well as contains a verb.įor example, imagine you are sitting on a train and there is a small boy in the seat behind you. However, the subject is actually implied or understood, meaning it’s contained in the way we form the verb. This might be confusing since sentence fragments are usually incomplete thoughts that are missing a subject or a verb the command “stop” might seem like a verb without a subject. Consider the sample clauses and sentences below: A sentence fragment may be punctuated to look like a complete sentence, but it doesn’t express a complete thought and can’t stand on its own. It is missing an element like a subject or a verb, making it incomplete. What is a Sentence Fragment?Ī sentence fragment is a group of words that look like a sentence but is not. A sentence fragment occurs when your sentence lacks a subject, verb, or complete thought. Then, we’ll show you how to spot them with sentence fragment examples as well as the easiest ways to fix fragments fast. First, we’ll look at the sentence fragment definition and the types of fragments. In the same way, nor can you write half a sentence. You can’t tell half a story without annoying someone. Or, you can attach the fragment to an existing complete sentence.

Easily fix a fragment by revising your words to include a missing subject or verb.Watch out for participle phrases and appositives when you create sentences.Since independent clauses are complete sentences, they are not fragments.Since dependent clauses can’t stand on their own, they are a type of sentence fragment.Even though some fragments have punctuation, they are still incomplete sentences.Fragments are often missing a subject or verb.When a group of words doesn’t form a complete thought, that’s a sentence fragment.

Fragment definition example