fragment mean fragment sentence definition

#Fragment mean fragment sentence definition full

Here’s what happens when you use a period instead of a colon: I went apple picking with my friends Jane and Sally.Removing the period fixes that! Here’s another: So, in this example, the period is not necessary-it breaks the sentence up into an independent clause and a fragment. “Later on tonight” is a fragment because it doesn’t have a subject or a predicate (it is not an independent clause). I think I will make a pie later on tonight.Here’s what happens when you misplace an extra period: In most situations, a misplaced period happens when a writer uses a period instead of another type of punctuation, like a comma or a colon. Sometimes that may be a few words-when that happens, the fragment is really just the result of a period in the wrong place. When words get cut off from a main clause by a period, they turn into a fragment. You now know that every sentence needs a main (independent) clause. But, by combining it with the independent clause, we fix the fragment.

#Fragment mean fragment sentence definition full

Complete!Īgain, the dependent clause doesn’t make sense: “while I was apple-picking” isn’t a full sentence.

While I was apple picking, I saw 3 different kinds of apples.

Complete!īy attaching the fragment to an independent clause, we now have a complete sentence! Let’s try another example:

I picked apples today when I was at the local orchard.

So, we need to piece it together with the independent clause: But, dependent clause “at the local orchard” doesn’t make any sense on its own-it’s just a fragment of a complete thought. Here, the independent clause is a full sentence. Let’s make that easier to understand with this example: So, without an independent clause (the main clause), a dependent clause is a fragment. They can’t be full sentences because they are “dependent” on independent clauses to make sense. Dependent Clausesīy themselves, dependent clauses are always sentence fragments because they don’t express complete thoughts on their own. But, the good thing is that they are easy to spot and easier to fix! a. So, any incomplete sentence is a fragment. The main ways that they happen are when we misplace punctuation in a way that cuts off a main clause, or when we try to use dependent clauses as full sentences. Sentence fragments are easily avoidable mistakes. Like chocolate, caramel, sour, and gummy.

Starbucks Coffee comes in three sizes.

Here are some common ways they tend to show up, with the fragments in purple:

Sentence fragments happen more often than you might think, especially for developing writers. Since every sentence needs a main clause, anything without one is a sentence fragment. Most of the time, a fragment is the result of a misplaced period that separates certain words or information from a sentence’s main clause. On its own, it’s an incomplete sentence, and so it’s sometimes called a fragment sentence. Likewise, a sentence fragment is a just a piece of a sentence that’s become detached or separated from the rest. As you probably know, a fragment is a small piece of something.