Dont worry about them until your draft is finished. It will enable the student to identify potential runons and fragments as well as determine the appropriate way to fix them fragments are sentences that are incomplete. If the group of words is a complete sentence, write s. Examplesthe independent clause is underlined i go to the store.
Correcting fragments fragments confuse readers by leaving out essential information. Pages 12 include practice activities and an answer key. These task cards are perfect for test prep and will work well at literacy centers, stations, for partner work, or with the whole class using a game like scoot. Worst of all, they may lead a reader to question the quality of your ideas. Impress upon students that in formal, academic writing, sentence fragments should not occur. Fragments and runons this module will cover run on sentences, comma splices and fragments. Inserting a coordinating conjunction for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so plus a comma correctly links these independent clauses. A sentence is a group of words that names something and makes a statement about what is named. Fragments and runon sentences the university of texas at dallas. Remember, a word group is a fragment because it is missing one or more of the essential parts of a sentence. Fragment the soviet mig appeared suddenly, circled twice, and set down. A sentence fragment is a group of words that is punctuated as a sentence but that cannot stand alone as a sentence.
The fragments that most students have trouble with, however, are dependent clausesthey have a subject and a verb, so they look like. Notice that the fragment is frequently a dependent clause or long phrase that follows the main. Exercise 2 correcting sentence fragments rewrite each sentence fragment below as a complete sentence. To correct it, add a subject to the fragment to make it a sentence. Rewrite each fragment to make it a complete sentence. Exercise 1 practice a, worksheet 1 identifying sentence fragments.
If you notice that your teachers are constantly marking fragments in your compositions, you should try this effective proofreading trick to get the problem. They can cause you to receive a lower grade on your papers. Use these 32 multiple choice task cards to help students identify complete sentences, sentence fragments and runon sentences. Although common in popular speech, in writing sentence fragments can confuse your reader and make your meaning unclear.
Wcu writing and learning commons editing to eliminate fragments, runons, and comma splices fragments, runons, and comma splices should be edited from your paper once you have a complete draft. Identifying and correcting fragments the writing centre department of english 1 a sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Hurriedly and ineffectively tried to smother the small fire. An appositive fragment will begin with a noun and usually include one or more clarifying phrases or subordinate clauses after it. Participial phrase corrected the soviet mig appeared suddenly, circled twice, and set down, braking with parachutes. The one important difference is that a fragment does not contain a main. Fragments can confuse your readers and make your writing choppy and difficult to read. Directions determine which of the following word groups are sentence fragments and which are complete sentences. Fragments in the spaces provided, write c if the sentence is correct or frag if the group of words is a fragment. Comma splices, runons, and fragments welcome to uvu.
Sentence fragments unintentional sentence fragments are among the most serious grammatical errors a writer can make. A sentence, in order to be complete, must contain at least one independent clause. By itself, however, an appositive is not a sentence. Phrases that begin with words like even though, unless, if, after, although, while, before, after, during, until, and when are always dependent clauses and must be attached to an independent clause to form a complete sentence. To be sure, professional writers, especially those engaged in creative writing. This exercise will give you practice in identifying and correcting sentence fragments. Avoiding sentence fragments long beach city college. Sentence fragments a sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. For not correcting the sentence fragments in my paper.
In general, sentence fragments can be corrected by rewriting the fragment as a complete sentence or connecting the fragment to an independent clause. Sentence fragments university of north carolina at charlotte. Sentence fragments a sentence fragment is a piece of information that is punctuated as a sentence but that lacks some of the characteristics of a complete sentence. Three ways to correct sentence fragments once you have identified a sentence fragment, there are three basic ways correct it and turn it into a complete sentence. Often, a fragment is either missing a subject or a verb, or it consists of a dependent clause punctuated as a complete sentence. An independent clause is a complete sentence and can stand on its own.
So, by adding a verb, we can make it a complete and correct sentence. If you are in the lab, please see an assistant for a quiz to test your knowledge of fragments. When sentences begin with subordinate conjunctions or relative pronouns, they must be joined to a main clause. Utah valley university uvu does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation. Facts about fragments definition a fragment sentence is not a true sentence at all. A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence because it lacks a subject, lacks a verb, or is a dependent clause. The first step in correcting fragments is to recognize them. The second sentence in this example is not really a sentence at all because it is missing a subject. Sentence fragments there are several types of fragments. Spotting and correcting sentence fragments a sentence fragment is a group of words masquerading as a complete sentence. Punctuation andor words added to make corrections appear in bold. Except for a command with an implied or understood subject, a word group punctuated as a. Most fragments are missing the subject, the verb, or both. The fragment may even contain a subject and a verb, but it does.
Committing your ideas to paper is the first priority. Fragments a fragment is an incomplete sentence because it does not include an independent clause. Identifying and correcting fragments and runons on the line after each word group below, write cs, f, or ro to identify the word group as a complete sentence, a fragment, or a runon sentence. See pages 911 for detailed explanations and techniques for correcting fragments. The subject identifies who or what is performing an action and the verb identifies the action being performed. In contrast, the approach outlined in this paper demonstrates that there is a systematic way to conceptualize sentence boundaries, one that fully integrates fragments and runons marshall, 1982. Sentence fragments give students problems because 1 they see fragments in advertisements and published writings, 2 the fragments make sense. Prepare them to get excited about learning as they move to harder topics. Sentence fragments occur when the writer does not observe conventional boundaries between sentences. Using your fragments to create complex sentences will improve the readability of your writing. It is important that you can recognize fragments in your writing and correct them as you edit your papers. Wcu writing and learning commons editing to eliminate. A sentence that does not have both a subject and a verb is a fragment.
Identifying and correcting sentence fragments often a sentence fragment is a dependent clause. Attach the fragment to the sentence in front of itif the two parts make sense together. Complete sentences a sentence must contain both a subject and a verb. The one that you will use depends on what is missing in the fragment and what sentences come before and after the fragment. Correcting sentence fragments sentence fragment errors can be corrected in the following ways. A word group that lacks a subject or a verb or does not express a complete thought.
Test your students knowledge of ela with turtle diary s change fragments into complete sentence part 2 quiz. Before you include an intentional fragment in a piece of writing, you should ask your teachers if they will mind. They should see the clothes people wore in the middle ages. It is a group of words that might look like a sentence at first, but it is not really. Then rewrite each fragment or runon as one or more correct sentences. This exercise offers practice in identifying and correcting needless sentence fragments during the editing stage of the writing process. If you experience any problems or discover any inaccuracies, please let us know by filling in the form on the contact page. A fragment lacks either a subject, a predicate, or does not communicate a complete thought.
For example, the following passage contains two sentence fragments. By writing an unintentional fragment, an individual shows he or she is unable to recognize what a sentence is. Hurriedly and ineffectively tried to smother the small. Correcting a sentence fragment with a missing subject. An incomplete construction that tries to stand alone is a sentence fragment. Fragments usually begin with a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun. A sentence fragment is a word group that is incorrectly punctuated as if it were a complete sentence, beginning with an initial capital letter and ending with a period or other end punctuation. A sentence fragment lacks one or more of these elements. The unprepared student who was always begging for an extra pencil and a couple sheets of blank paper. Understanding sentence structure helps in identifying and correcting runon sentences and sentence fragments. For example, the following phrase is a sentence fragment that doesnt have a verb. It may express a complete thought, but it cannot stand alone.
A sentence must contain at least one independent clause. Both groups of words begin with a capital letter and conclude with an end markusually a period. You may add a missing subject or predicate or attach the fragment to a complete sentence. The front page tells the student what a comma splice is and how to correct it. The glue system through the years of working with nonnative speakers, such as those char. This document should only be used as a reference and should not replace assignment guidelines. Identifying fragments a fragment is simply a clause or a phrase that is not a complete sentence. An independent clause is a complete sentence and can. We can guess from context who the sentence is about the pitcher, but the fact is that the sentence in question never actually tells us.
Examples the independent clause is underlined i go to the store. We might say that it is pretending to be a sentence, but it is not. Some fragments are incomplete because they lack either a subject or a verb, or both. Which part of the following example is the fragment. Sentence fragments an incomplete sentence is called a sentence fragment. Richard nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and english at georgia southern university and the author of several universitylevel grammar and composition textbooks. Instructions for each item below, write correct if the word group in italics is a complete sentence. Change fragments into complete sentence part 2 quiz turtle. This sentence structure is called a compound sentence. S revising sentence fragments each ofthe following word groups is a sentence fragment. Welcome is a tool designed to find spelling, as well as basic grammar and stylistic mistakes, in english texts. Add whatever words are necessary to make the meaning ofthe sentence complete.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Correcting sentence fragments add words to each sentence fragment to form the kind of sentence indicated in parentheses. Nov 17, 2017 correcting sentence fragments, see page 434. A sentence may have both a subject and a verb, but will still be a fragment if it. When school is over for the day, the students go home. The questions on these assessments will test what you know about sentences, sentence fragments, and correcting fragments. Correcting sentence fragments once you have identified a sentence fragment, you can correct it by adding what is missing. To be complete, a sentence must contain, a predicate or a subjectcomplete verb, and function as n independent clausea.
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