Sentence Fragments
November 27, 2025
Posted by STLCC in Tutoring Resources
Understanding and identifying sentence fragments
Fragments are one of the major sentence errors that most commonly crop up in student writing. Fragments do not express a complete idea, and so they can confuse or distract the reader.
To test for sentence completeness, ask these three questions:
- Is there a verb?
- Is there a subject?
- Does the group of words make a complete statement?
1. Fragment caused by a missing verb
A verb expresses action, existence, or occurrence. Each sentence must have a complete verb. The verb in one sentence cannot govern the next sentence.
A verb is not complete if:
a) it has an -ing ending without a helping verb.
FRAGMENT: Caylin studying geology and rock formations.
("Studying" does not act as a verb because it has no helper)
COMPLETE: Caylin is studying geology and rock formations.
(Adding the helping verb "is" creates a complete sentence.)
b) it is an infinitive ("to" + a verb: to study, to speak, to skate)
FRAGMENT: Jordan to speak at a UNICEF benefit.
COMPLETE: Jordan will speak at a UNICEF benefit.
2. Fragment caused by a missing subject
The subject is the noun or pronoun about which something is said. To find the subject, find the verb first, then ask who or what is doing the action.
The wedding party danced the Electric Slide.
(The wedding party is the subject.)
In a command sentence, the subject is implied as you:
Hurry up! (Who should hurry? You.)
Sometimes the subject is a word group:
Buying a new car costs a bundle.
You must include a subject in every sentence.
The skater glided across the ice. Did a full axel and ended with a triple jump.
(The second sentence is a fragment.)
Corrections:
The skater glided across the ice, did a full axel, and ended with a triple jump.
The skater glided across the ice. She did a full axel and ended with a triple jump.
3. Fragment caused by a dependent word
If a sentence begins with a dependent word, you have written a dependent clause, not a complete sentence.
COMPLETE: Jermaine likes St. Louis very much.
FRAGMENT: Because Jermaine likes St. Louis very much.
Ways to fix this:
The building which was badly damaged has been torn down.
The building was badly damaged.
The wreckers tore down the eyesore, the building which was badly damaged.
Common dependent words
| after | even if | only if | whenever |
| although | even though | provided | where |
| as | every time | since | wherever |
| as if | how | so that | whether or not |
| as long as | if | that | which |
| as soon as | in case | the first time | while |
| as though | in order that | though | who |
| because | in the event | unless | whom |
| before | now that | until | whose |
| by the time | once | when | why |
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