Identifying and Correcting Fragments
A fragment occurs when a sentence lacks a subject and/or a verb, or when a subordinate clause is not connected to a complete sentence. Fragments are usually said to be expressing incomplete thought because they are not complete sentences.
Here are a few examples:
Ran to the car. (This is a fragment that is lacking a subject.)
The woman at the bus stop. (This is a fragment that is lacking a main verb.)
Behaving badly. (This is a fragment that is lacking a subject or a main verb.)
When one of the car's tires went flat. (This is a subordinate clause.)
Correcting Fragments
Created when phrases and subordinate clauses are punctuated as if they were complete sentences, fragments can be corrected by adding the information that is missing. To rectify fragments, add a subject to the sentence that is missing a subject, add a verb to the sentence that is missing a verb, and connect a subordinate clause to a main clause to create a complete sentence. The following examples are the previous fragments corrected to read as complete sentences:
Incorrect: Ran to the car.
Correct: She ran to the car.
Incorrect: The woman at the bus stop.
Correct: The woman stood at the bus stop.
Incorrect: Behaving badly.
Correct: The students were behaving badly.
Incorrect: When one of the car's tires went flat.
Correct: When one of the car's tires went flat, Harold drove onto the highway's shoulder to change the tire.
Although fragments are sometimes used to heighten the drama and quicken the pace in fiction writing, it still might be a good idea to avoid overusing the technique. Too many fragments might cause the opposite effect, and possibly result in readers losing interest. Always be sure to edit your short story, essay, novel, or whatever piece of writing you are preparing to present in its best light because editing allows you to find fragments and other errors that might occur in your writing.
Related Tags: writing, tips, advice, grammar, editing, sentence, fragments
C. M. Clifton is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Creative Writing.
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