Sentence Fragments

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Sentence Fragments.
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Definition

A SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot
stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent
clause. There are several reasons why a group of words may seem to act like
a sentence but not have the wherewithal to make it as a complete thought.

It may locate something in time and place with a
prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases, but it's still lacking a
proper subject-verb relationship within an independent clause:

In Japan, during the last war and just before the
armistice.
This sentence accomplishes a great deal in terms of
placing the reader in time and place, but there is no subject, no verb.

It describes something, but there is no subject-verb
relationship:

Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little
boat.
This is a verbal
phrase that wants to modify something, the real subject of the sentence
(about to come up), probably the she who was working so hard.

It may have most of the makings of a sentence but still
be missing an important part of a verb string:

Some of the students working in Professor Espinoza's
laboratory last semester.
Remember that an -ing verb
form without an auxiliary form to accompany it can never be a verb.

It may even have a subject-verb relationship, but it has
been subordinated to another idea by a dependent word and so cannot stand by
itself:

Even though he had the better arguments and was by far the
more powerful speaker.
This sentence fragment has a subject,
he, and two verbs, had and was, but it cannot stand by
itself because of the dependent word (subordinating conjunction) even
though. We need an independent clause to follow up this dependent
clause: . . . the more powerful speaker, he lost the case because he
didn't understand the jury.

Stylistic Fragments

There are occasions when a sentence fragment can be stylistically effective,
exactly what you want and no more.

Harrison Ford has said he would be more than willing to take on
another Indiana Jones project. In a New York minute.

As long as you are clearly in control of the situation, this
is permissible, but the freedom to exercise this stylistic license depends on
the circumstances. Perhaps your final research paper in English Composition is
not the place to experiment -- or, then again, maybe it is. Ask your
instructor.

For additional
help with sentence fragments, see Chapter
8 of Sentence Sense: A Writer's
Guide.

Repairing Sentence Fragments

Fragments and Run-on Sentences