27

Sentence Fragments

If you’re a student handing in a paper, sentence fragments can be a good way to lower your grade. That’s because a lot of teachers consider sentence fragments a major no-no.

That’s not exactly right. Fragments aren’t necessarily an error. But there’s some wisdom behind those teachers’ thinking.

First, a definition: A sentence fragment is any group of words punctuated as a sentence that doesn’t meet the basic criteria of a sentence. To meet that criteria, you need both a subject and a conjugated verb, and if the verb requires some kind of complement, you need that, too. In other words, you need at least one independent clause.

Chris slept.

(Complete sentence because it has a subject and a verb.)

Mia wants.

(Incomplete sentence, or fragment, because the transitive verb wants requires an object.)

Mia wants the job.

(Complete sentence because there’s a subject, a verb, and an object.)

The dogs became.

(Incomplete sentence, or fragment, because the copular verb became requires a complement.)

The dogs became guide dogs.

(Complete sentence because the verb has its required complement.)

Note that subordinating conjunctions render an otherwise independent clause into a dependent one that cannot stand alone as a sentence.

Zander threw the ball.

(Complete sentence.)

Although Zander threw the ball.

(Incomplete sentence because the subordinating conjunction although renders the clause subordinate, or dependent.)

If Zander threw the ball.

(Incomplete sentence because the subordinating conjunction if renders the clause subordinate, or dependent.)

When Zander threw the ball.

(Incomplete sentence because the subordinating conjunction when renders the clause subordinate, or dependent.)

One-word commands, on the other hand, often are complete sentences because the subject, you, is implied. So commands are the only types of sentences that can qualify as complete sentences even when they contain just one word.

Eat!

(Complete sentence because the imperative verb eat implies the subject you.)

Stop!

(Complete sentence because the imperative verb stop implies the subject you.)

Wait!

(Complete sentence because the imperative verb wait implies the subject you.)

Sentence fragments, on the other hand, can be serious writing errors—or they can be legitimate and effective writing devices. The biggest difference is usually whether the writer intended to write a fragment or not.

Ben: Did Jack ace the test?

Amy: Totally.

A freestanding adverb like totally is acceptable not only in dialogue, where it’s an accurate reflection of how many people speak. It can also be an acceptable writing device, even when it’s not dialogue.

Did the legislature fail to meet its obligation to the voters? Totally.

Usually, this is done for effect, either to create a breezy tone or to create emphasis. And in these cases, incomplete sentences punctuated as complete sentences are fine. Here are a few more examples.

The grocery store was out of milk. Milk.

We saw her in the 1984 Olympics. An incredible athlete.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. So true.

The reason sentence fragments get such a bad rap is that when they’re inadvertent, they can be awful.

Upon hearing the explosion, knowing full well her house was no longer standing.

Most of the time when people write sentence fragments in error, it’s because they had set out to write a complex sentence and forgot halfway through that they hadn’t yet included a main clause.

You know that I’ll follow through with you, I always do. When I’m ready.

Other times, it seems that bad fragments happen because the writer accidentally punctuated a single sentence as two. In the prior example, when I’m ready would work fine as a subordinate clause to the main clause preceding it. But because it’s punctuated like a complete sentence, it’s a fragment.

Anyone can make this kind of slip-up, especially while composing a longer sentence. The only way to avoid bad fragments is to proceed with caution and to keep an eye out for them when proofreading.