Sentence fragments are dependent clauses that cannot exist on their own. A dependent clause either needs to be joined to an independent clause (just like a child must be connected to his or her parents, who are perfectly able to live on their own) or by becoming an independent clause (just as a child, once they are old enough, could become independent by moving out and getting a job.) Writing in complete sentences is one of the most important writing skills that students need to master. You can bet that there will be questions about sentence fragments on the SAT and other standardized tests.
Here’s an example of a sentence fragment:
Because you wore that hat.
Did you notice how the sentence is an incomplete thought? Because you wore that hat, what will happen? We don’t know.
Because you wore that hat I will take you to lunch.
Now we know what will happen: you look really terrific in that hat, so I’m going to treat you to lunch because of your gifted sense of fashion. We have joined the fragment to an independent clause; “I will take you to lunch” works fine as a sentence on its own.
Of course another option would be:
Your hair is a mess because you wore that hat.
Now the fragment follows the dependent clause. Another option is to get rid of “because” since that word is causing all of the trouble:
You wore that hat. Therefore, I will take you to lunch.
For more on fixing sentence fragments, check out How To Fix Sentence Fragments.
For more entertaining comics on common sentence problems, please check out Grammar Comics: Sentence Problems.
The author of this article is David Rickert, who has never used a sentence fragment in his life. When not creating comics out of thin air, David teaches high school English Language Arts in Columbus, Ohio. His witty and engaging cartoons turn abstract and complicated concepts into concrete and concise images to embed content into our long term memories. Let’s face it: he makes boring topics entertaining. Check out his Grammar Comics and more resources to bring life to your ELA instruction: Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics.