Sentences and sentence fragments! Whether you’re a student, a professional, or someone looking to improve your English writing skills, understanding the difference between these two is crucial for clear and effective communication.
A sentence is the foundation of written and spoken language. It’s a group of words that contains a subject, a verb, and expresses a complete thought. On the other hand, a sentence fragment is an incomplete thought that often leaves the reader confused. It may lack a subject, a verb, or fail to convey a full idea.
In this lesson, we’ll break down what makes a sentence complete, provide examples of both sentences and fragments, and show you how to fix fragments to make them complete.
What is a sentence?
A sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. A thought is considered complete when it makes sense on its own.
Examples of Sentences:
✅ The sick man had forgotten to take his medicine.
(This sentence has a subject (the sick man), a verb (had forgotten), and expresses a complete thought.)
✅ What extraordinary strength this bodybuilder has!
(This is a complete sentence with a subject (this bodybuilder) and a verb (has).)
✅ Hurry!
(This is also a complete sentence. The subject (you) is understood.)
A sentence always begins with a capital letter and ends with a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamation point (!).
What Is a Sentence Fragment?
A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought. It may lack a subject, a verb, or both.
Examples of Sentence Fragments:
❌ Athletes representing the 30 schools.
(This is a fragment because it does not have a verb to complete the thought.)
✅ Corrected Sentence: Athletes representing the 30 schools competed at the Penn Relays.
❌ Practices every day for the competition.
(This is a fragment because it lacks a subject.)
✅ Corrected Sentence: The band practices every day for the competition.
Some sentence fragments may contain both a subject and a verb but still fail to express a complete thought.
❌ The jeep designed for rough conditions.
(This is a fragment because it does not complete the idea.)
✅ Corrected Sentence: The jeep has been designed for rough conditions.
Quiz: Sentence or Fragment?
The sentence must have a subject, and a verb, and express a complete thought. If any of these elements are missing, it’s a fragment
Questions
1. To have seen the bakery in its glory.
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
2. Come on!
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
3. To my surprise, I really enjoyed the ballet recital.
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
4. One of the few who made studying English easy.
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
5. Then I had thought it would be.
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
6. Although it had seemed unlikely, the fortune teller’s prediction came true.
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
7. Not one but two hungry kids wanted some of Pat’s ice cream.
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
8. Where did your family?
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
9. That’s a lot of money!
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
10. Showing his award and gloating.
👉 Sentence or Fragment?
Answers
- Sentence Fragment (SF)
- Sentence (S) – The subject (you) is understood.
- Sentence (S)
- Sentence Fragment (SF)
- Sentence Fragment (SF)
- Sentence (S)
- Sentence (S)
- Sentence Fragment (SF) – The thought is incomplete.
- Sentence (S)
- Sentence Fragment (SF)
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