Language Center Program, Writing Tips
Volunteer State Community College | Division of Humanities
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Remember, a sentence must contain a subject, a verb, and a complete idea; it must answer the question "Who (or what) does what?" Whenever one or more of these requirements is missing, you have created a sentence fragment.
To locate sentence fragments, find the subject (the "who"), the verb (the "does"), and the complete idea (the "what") in every word group punctuated as a sentence. To correct a fragment, supply the missing part.
FYI: This process can also be used to identify run-ons. (How to identify run-ons.)
