The Complete
Sentence
Avoiding Sentence Fragments
What are Fragments?
• Pieces
• Shards
• Incomplete
• Not Whole
You complete
me.
How do we talk?
• Most people talk in sentence fragments
• Ex: “Hungry?”
“Yeah”
“Got class?”
“No. Going home”
“In a hurry?”
“Yeah.”
Tone and Gestures
• Though we understand what the two
people are talking about, many words
are left out.
• To HEAR words is very different than
READING words—tone and gestures
are left out.
• Sometimes we accept
fragments that are • Something slithered
placed for emphasis in over the rocks. A
in fiction. soggy, slimy body
glistening in the
moonlight.
• It stopped, turning its
head this way, that
way.
Listening.
Listening to the
silence.
Listening and waiting.
Subject+Verb=Sentence
• A complete sentence has a SUBJECT and a
VERB.
• The SUBJECT is what the sentence is about,
and the VERB tells what the subject does or
is.
• SUBJECT VERB
• Fire burns.
• Whales swim.
• Dogs are amazing creatures!
What’s the SUBJECT?
• The subject is always a noun or
pronoun.
• A noun is a person, place or thing,
while a pronoun is a word that takes
the place of a noun.
• NOUN PRONOUN
• Homer He
• Marge She
Independent and Dependent
Clauses
• A clause is a word group
• An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE is another
name for a complete sentence. It’s
independent!
• A DEPENDENT CLAUSE is a fragment!
• It lacks a subject or a verb or both.
• EX: On the wooden chair.
• EX: Until I saw my goat.
• EX: Your lack of self-control.
Fixing Dependent Clauses
• Pairing a dependent clause next to an
independent clause makes a complete
sentence.
• EX: Although I love pizza. (dep.)
• EX: I hate mushrooms. (indep.)
• FINAL EX: Although
I love pizza, I hate
mushrooms.
Independent Clause
Dependent
Clause
The Subordinator Although
I’ll be back.
• SUBORDINATORS
are words that
change
Independent
clauses into
DEPENDENT
CLAUSES.
• These words
Subordinator 2:
create sentence Dependent day
fragments.
SUBORDINATORS!
• Words of time relationship: as, after, as long
as, before, till, until, when, whenever, while.
• Words of logical relationship: although, as if,
as though, because, even though, except
that, if, in order that, since, so that, though,
unless, why, whether.
• Sentences beginning with these words do
not make sense and tell us to expect more.
All Fragments
• Come inside. After you walk the dog.
• Although he was hired. His resume was
terrible.
• I’ve missed you. Since you’ve been
gone.
BEWARE THE VERBAL.
• The “ing” form of
a verb is called a
verbal!
• Verbals need a
helper-verb to be
considered a
complete verb.
Otherwise, the
sentence is a
fragment.
Verbal Kint
VERBAL CONT.
• Please consider….
• Ex #1 The cat running.
• This is a sentence fragment.
• Ex #2 The cat running after the mouse.
• This is STILL a sentence fragment—it is
ALL subject with no proper verb!
• Ex #3
• The cat running after the mouse,
( All subject)
knocked over a lamp.
(verb)
• Ex #4 The cat (subject)
was running after the mouse.
(helper verb + verbal)
Fake Verbs:
Clauses and Phrases
Phrase and Clauses
• Many types of clauses and phrases
exist.
• A complete sentence that includes a
clause or phrase, must contain a
complete verb outside of the clause or
phrase.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
• An Adjective Clause is a fragment that
modifies a noun. It describes,
identifies, or gives further information
about a noun.
• An adjective clause uses PRONOUNS
to connect THE DEPENDENT CLAUSE
to the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE.
WHO, WHOM, WHICH, THAT, and
WHOSE
• Adjective clause pronouns are WHO,
WHOM, WHICH, THAT, and WHOSE.
• A complete sentence that contains an
adjective clause must have a VERB
outside of the clause!
Who. Whom.
FOR EXAMPLE
• The wire that was on the ground.
(noun) (adjective clause)
• Fragment fixed:
• The wire that was on the ground is live.
(noun) (adjective clause) (verb)
WHO, THAT, WHICH
• Fragment:
• The man who was walking down the street.
(noun) (adjective clause)
• Fragment Fixed:
• The man who was walking down the street was
old.
• (noun) (adjective clause) (verb)
Prepositional phrases.
• A preposition is a word that usually
indicates the temporal, spatial or
logical relationship of its object to the
rest of the sentence.
• Just like adjective clauses,
prepositional phrases must have a
VERB outside of the phrase to make a
complete sentence.
Prepositions: they’re
everywhere!
• about, above, across, after, against,
along, among, around, at, before,
behind, below, beneath, beside,
between, beyond, but, by, despite,
down, during, except, for, from, in,
inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto,
out, outside, over, past, since, through,
throughout, till, to, toward, under,
underneath, until, up, upon, with,
within, and without.
