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About Writing: A Guide: Is Your Sentence a Fragment?

About Writing: A Guide
Is Your Sentence a Fragment?
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“Is Your Sentence a Fragment?” in “About Writing: A Guide”

Is Your Sentence a Fragment?

Is there a verb? If no, fragment alert! If yes, Is there a subject? If no, fragment alert! If yes, Does your word group begin with because or when (a subordinate clause)? If yes, fragment alert! If no, Congratulations! Your sentence is not a fragment.

Examples

No Verb: A movie with pointless twists. VS. The movie has pointless twists.

No subject: For not doing her own homework, Missy was expelled. VS.Missy was expelled for not doing her own homework.

Beginning with Subordinate Clause: Because the band didn’t know the street address, the party was impossible to find. VS. The band couldn’t find the party because no one knew the address.

Next chapter
Is Your Sentence a Run-On?
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College Writing: Guides, Handbooks, and Advice
Copyright © 2015 by Robin Jeffrey. About Writing: A Guide by Robin Jeffrey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
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