Description:
Sentence Fragments are incomplete sentences. Sentence fragments will
usually lack a main verb.
Approach:
Ask yourself if the sentence contains a complete thought. Or, does the
sentence sound incomplete or leave you wondering what happens next?
If so, it is probably not a sentence, but a sentence fragment.
1) Some fragments lack a main verb
Incorrect:
The man on the rooftop.
Fix this fragment by adding a main verb.
Correct:
The man walked on the rooftop.
2) Fragments containing "who," "which," or "that"
Many fragments begin an appositive (description) with the words
"who," "that," or "which" and never finish the main thought.
We can fix these types of fragments in one of two ways:
1. Fix these sentences by removing the
"who," "that," or "which."
Incorrect:
"The members of the town council, who believe that
taxes should not be raised."
To transform this fragment into a sentence, we can remove the
comma and the word "who."
Correct:
"The members of town council believe that taxes
should not be raised."
2. Or, we can add another idea after the appositive to
complete the sentence.
Incorrect:
"Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which was
very controversial when it was debuted."
To transform this fragment into a sentence, we will add another
idea to the end.
Correct:
"Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which was very
controversial when it was debuted, eventually became accepted
as a masterpiece of 20th century music."
3) Practice: What is the best way to rewrite the following sentence?
The book Jesse just finished
reading, which describes the lives of the Ohlone Indians
and relates the history of ancient California.
-
reading, which describes the lives of the Ohlone Indians
-
reading, which through describing the lives of the Ohlone Indians
-
reading, that described the lives of the Ohlone Indians
-
reading describes the lives of the the Ohlone Indians
-
reading, describes the lives of the Ohlone Indians
