Then, if there is a verb and no opens in a new windowsubject, ask yourself if the sentence is a command.

If there’s no verb, then it’s a fragment. The easiest test is to ask yourself if there is a verb. To sum up, there are some easy tests to see if you have a fragment. “Aardvark was relieved that Squiggly hurried. Yeah, um, that doesn’t make any sense, because it’s a fragment but you can tack it onto the same main clause we used before, turning it into the dependent clause it was meant to be, and it makes sense again. The word “that” can be a subordinating conjunction, so in some cases, if you put it at the beginning of a sentence, it can turn the sentence into a fragment. (Well, it can exist, but it’s a fragment and that’s bad.) The dependent clause now only makes sense if it has a main clause for example, “Aardvark was relieved because Squiggly hurried.” Let’s go back to our simple sentence: “Squiggly hurried.” I’m sure you all get that this is a complete sentence because it has a subject and a verb, but look at what happens if you put a subordinating conjunction in front of it: “Because Squiggly hurried.” By adding that “because,” I’ve completely messed up the sentence now I need the part that explains the “because.” The “because” makes the whole thing a dependent clause that can’t exist on its own. It makes a lot more sense when you hear examples. I’m going to need more examples to explain this one. It’s the same with dependent clauses they need their main clauses.ĭependent clause fragments usually start with a subordinating conjunction such as opens in a new window because, opens in a new window although, or opens in a new window if. If you’re dependent on your parents, then you need them. Ack! This happens when your fragment is a opens in a new windowdependent clause, meaning that it depends on the other part of the sentence: the main clause. So you can make imperative sentences such as “Run! “ with one verb, and you can make simple complete sentences such as “Squiggly hurried, “ with a subject and a verb, but there is also a case where you have a subject and a verb, but you still don’t have a complete sentence. It’s such a strong command that he knows it is imperative for him to run. If Squiggly looks at the aardvark and says, “Run!,” Aardvark knows that he’s the one who should be running. There’s even a sentence form called the imperative that lets you make one-word sentences such as “Run!” Imperative sentences are commands, and the subject is always assumed to be the person you are talking to. No, Sir Fragalot, it would be “Squiggly hurried onward.” “Squiggly” is the subject he’s the one hurrying.

You can make a complete sentence with just two words: “Squiggly hurried.” “Squiggly,” our beloved snail, is the subject, and “hurried” is the verb. It would be “I am leaving town” or “ opens in a new windowHe is leaving town.”Ī verb is an action word that tells the reader what’s happening, and a subject does the action of the verb. No, Sir Fragalot, you don’t have a subject or a verb. In the most basic form, a complete sentence must have a opens in a new windowsubject and a verb. Oh dear! Poor Sir Fragalot doesn’t know that you can’t magically make any set of words a sentence by starting with a opens in a new windowcapital letter and ending with a period (or an exclamation point). Over the next hill! A tree with wings! On DVD December 19! Welcome, Sir Fragalot! Sir Fragalot flounces around the countryside shouting sentence fragments at unsuspecting strangers. Entering stage left, we have a new podcast character. Unfortunately, when writers focus too much on brevity, sometimes they leave out important words and produce fragments instead of sentences.

A fragment sentence