A Military Writer's Handbook
Common Errors

Sentence Fragments

When a group of words followed by a period cannot stand alone as a complete sentence it is called a sentence fragment. In the shorthand of someone marking your assignment, this may be noted in the margin as "frag." Sentence fragments are one of the most common errors writers make. Perhaps some of the blame can be attributed to the influence of advertising copy, which glorifies the sentence fragment.

A sentence fragment can confuse the reader. It is not only a grammar error but an idea that comes to a dead end, an incomplete thought. Sometimes a sentence fragment is simply a phrase that has been separated from the main part of a sentence. It can be identified as a fragment because it lacks a subject and/or a verb, the two essential components of an English sentence. Or a fragment may be a clause beginning with a subordinating word or phrase such as Because, Although, or In spite of. Fragments result when part of a full sentence is missing.

Help!
Testing for Sentence Fragments

One easy check to discover a sentence fragment is to try turning what you have written into a question that can be answered Yes or No. Short complete sentences can be made into yes-no questions; sentence fragments cannot.

Example: Major Guzzle downed a pint of beer in one gulp. Without spilling a drop.

Did Major Guzzle down a pint of beer in one gulp? Did without spilling a drop?

Major Guzzle's questionable feat can be made into a question. The added detail "Without spilling a drop" does not form a logical question. It is a modifying phrase that belongs to the previous sentence.

Major Guzzle downed a pint of beer in one gulp, without spilling a drop.

Most sentence fragments, like the one above, result from modifying clauses that have become separated from the main sentence. Repair this error simply by joining the fragment to the sentence to which it belongs.

Fixing Fragments