Chapter 20 Repair sentence fragments.

A sentence fragment is a word group that pretends to be a sentence. Sentence fragments are easy to recognize when they appear out of context, like these:

When the cat leaped onto the table.

Running for the bus.

When fragments appear next to related sentences, however, they are harder to spot.

We had just sat down to dinner. When the cat leaped onto the table.

I tripped and twisted my ankle. Running for the bus.

To be a sentence, a word group must consist of at least one full independent clause. An independent clause includes a subject and a verb, and it either stands alone or could stand alone.

For Multilingual Writers

Unlike some other languages, English requires a subject and a verb in every sentence (except in commands, where the subject you is understood but not present: Sit down).

You can repair most fragments in one of two ways:

• Pull the fragment into a nearby sentence.
• Rewrite the fragment as a complete sentence.

The examples read,

We had just sat down to dinner (strikethrough) period When (end strikethrough) (insert) when (end insert) the cat leaped onto the table.

(insert) Running for the bus, (end insert) I tripped and sprained my ankle. (strikethrough) Running for the bus.(end strikethrough)