Mrs. Boucher - Grade 4
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Complete Sentences / Fragments
Fragments
Fragments, or incomplete sentences, occur quite frequently when we speak, so it's no wonder sentence fragments are often found in formal writing. Consider this example:
"Hey, Sam, do you want to get some lunch?"
"I can't. Too much homework to finish before class."
Sam's response demonstrates the way we use fragmentation in speech.
Though the remark includes the verb "finish" and several nouns, the sentence is a fragment. It lacks a subject
and
verb to define the sentence. A corrected response would include a subject and verb:
"I can't. I have too much homework to finish before class."
How do we spot a sentence fragment?
Put each phrase through a simple test:
Does it have a verb?
Does it have a subject?
Can the phrase make sense standing alone
Any phrase that answers "yes" to all three questions is a sentence. If any of the answers are "no," then it is a fragment.