Which of the following is a fragment sentence

Sentence Fragments

A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing either its subject or its main verb.

Table of Contents Show

Sentence Fragments
Rule to Remember
Correcting the Problem
Phrase fragments
Subordinate clause fragments
Rule to Remember
Welcome to the Purdue OWL
What is a fragment sentence example?
Which of the following is a type of fragment sentence?
What are 4 types of fragments?
How do you find a sentence fragment?

Some sentence fragments occur as the result of simple typographical errors or omission of words. They can often be avoided with careful proofreading.

Incorrect:

Went to the store yesterday.

Incorrect:

After the classes, the library. My life nowadays.

The first sentence above does not have a subject, and the second one does not have a main verb.

Rule to Remember

A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing either its subject or its main verb.

Correcting the Problem

There are many ways to correct the sentences above. In the first sentence, introduce the subject and in the second add the main verb.

Correct:

I went to the store yesterday.

Correct:

After the classes, I am going to the library. This happens to be my life nowadays.

Aside from typographical errors, the two most common causes of fragments are the misuse of subordinators and the misuse of prepositions. In order to understand how these errors occur, it is first necessary to define clauses in English.

In English, a clause is defined as a unit that contains both a verb and its subject. As the following examples illustrate, a sentence may consist of a single clause or may contain multiple clauses:

One clause:

I hate listening to political pundits.

Two clauses:

Students dislike Mr. Jones because his classes can be tough.

Two clauses:

I am upset that it is snowing in the middle of April.

Three clauses:

Since you drew the short straw, you must walk to the gas station while we stay here.

The easiest way to count the number of clauses in a sentence is to count the number of verbs, then find their corresponding subjects.

Phrase fragments

Incorrect:

Since I was done with the exam, I put my pen and paper down. Waiting for the teacher to start collecting papers.

Unattached phrases must be made part of a complete sentence. We can join them either using a comma or a conjunction.

Correct:

Since I was done with the exam, I put my pen and paper down, waiting for the teacher to start collecting papers.

Correct:

I was done with the exam; I put my pen and paper down and was waiting for the teacher to start collecting papers.

Subordinate clause fragments

Incorrect:

Students dislike Mr. Jones. Because his classes can be tough.

Incorrect:

Since you drew the short straw. You must walk to the gas station while we stay here.

This type of sentence fragment occurs because the subordinate clause is separated from the main clause and cannot stand on its own. Two clauses can be combined using a subordinating conjunction or an adverb to show the dependence of one clause on the other.

Rule to Remember

Correct sentence fragments by joining two fragmented parts with either a conjunction or an adverb.

Correct:

Students dislike Mr. Jones because his classes can be tough.

Correct:

Since you drew the short straw, you must walk to the gas station while we stay here.

A correct clause has to express a complete thought.

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Summary:

This handout provides an overview and examples of sentence fragments.

Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause. One of the easiest ways to correct them is to remove the period between the fragment and the main clause. Other kinds of punctuation may be needed for the newly combined sentence.

Below are some examples with the fragments shown in red. Punctuation and/or words added to make corrections are highlighted in blue. Notice that the fragment is frequently a dependent clause or long phrase that follows the main clause.

Fragment: Purdue offers many majors in engineering. Such as electrical, chemical, and industrial engineering.
Possible Revision: Purdue offers many majors in engineering, such as electrical, chemical, and industrial engineering.
Fragment: Coach Dietz exemplified this behavior by walking off the field in the middle of a game. Leaving her team at a time when we needed her.
Possible Revision: Coach Dietz exemplified this behavior by walking off the field in the middle of a game, leaving her team at a time when we needed her.
Fragment: I need to find a new roommate. Because the one I have now isn't working out too well.
Possible Revision: I need to find a new roommate because the one I have now isn't working out too well.
Fragment: The current city policy on housing is incomplete as it stands. Which is why we believe the proposed amendments should be passed.
Possible Revision: Because the current city policy on housing is incomplete as it stands, we believe the proposed amendments should be passed.

You may have noticed that newspaper and magazine journalists often use a dependent clause as a separate sentence when it follows clearly from the preceding main clause, as in the last example above. This is a conventional journalistic practice, often used for emphasis. For academic writing and other more formal writing situations, however, you should avoid such journalistic fragment sentences.

Some fragments are not clearly pieces of sentences that have been left unattached to the main clause; they are written as main clauses but lack a subject or main verb.

No main verb

Fragment: A story with deep thoughts and emotions.
Possible Revisions:
- Direct object: She told a story with deep thoughts and emotions.
- Appositive: Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," a story with deep thoughts and emotions, has impressed critics for decades.
Fragment: Toys of all kinds thrown everywhere.
Possible Revisions:
- Complete verb: Toys of all kinds were thrown everywhere.
- Direct object: They found toys of all kinds thrown everywhere.
Fragment: A record of accomplishment beginning when you were first hired.
Possible Revisions:
- Direct object: I've noticed a record of accomplishment beginning when you were first hired
- Main verb: A record of accomplishment began when you were first hired.

No Subject

Fragment: With the ultimate effect of all advertising is to sell the product.
Possible Revisions:
- Remove preposition: The ultimate effect of all advertising is to sell the product.
Fragment: By paying too much attention to polls can make a political leader unwilling to propose innovative policies.
Possible Revisions:
- Remove preposition: Paying too much attention to polls can make a political leader unwilling to propose innovative policies.
Fragment: For doing freelance work for a competitor got Phil fired.
Possible Revisions:
- Remove preposition: Doing freelance work for a competitor got Phil fired.
- Rearrange: Phil got fired for doing freelance work for a competitor.

These last three examples of fragments with no subjects are also known as mixed constructions, that is, sentences constructed out of mixed parts. They start one way (often with a long prepositional phrase) but end with a regular predicate. Usually the object of the preposition (often a gerund, as in the last two examples) is intended as the subject of the sentence, so removing the preposition at the beginning is usually the easiest way to edit such errors.

What is a fragment sentence example?

Here is a glaring example of a sentence fragment: Because of the rain. On its own, because of the rain doesn't form a complete thought. It leaves us wondering what happened because of the rain.