How to Identify a Sentence Fragment

What is a sentence fragment and how can you identify it? A sentence fragment is a group of words that is incomplete because it lacks either a subject or a main predicate. To identify a sentence fragment, look for phrases that do not express a complete thought on their own.

Identifying a Sentence Fragment

A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not form a complete sentence. It may be missing a subject, a verb, or both. Here are some common types of sentence fragments:

  1. Dependent clauses: These are groups of words that contain a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. For example, "After the rain," is a dependent clause that needs more information to form a complete thought.
  2. Phrases: Phrases such as prepositional phrases, participial phrases, and infinitive phrases do not contain a subject and a verb, so they cannot stand alone as sentences. For example, "On the table" is a phrase that lacks a subject and a verb.

When reading a passage, pay attention to each sentence to ensure that it expresses a complete thought. If a group of words does not make sense on its own or is missing a subject or a verb, it is likely a sentence fragment.

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