31 Telling a Story: From Fragments to Sentences

What are sentence fragments?

A sentence fragment is a phrase that cannot stand on its own.

For example, the fragment lacks a key element, such as a subject, an appropriate verb, or any context that would “complete” the thought.

One type of sentence fragment begins with a word that signals belonging with—or depending upon—another phrase; these fragment types are subordinate or dependent clauses. Words that signal a dependent clause include:

• for, as, since, therefore, hence, consequently, though, due to, provided that, because, unless, once, while, when, whenever, where, wherever, before,  after
• that, which, who, whom, whichever, whoever, whomever, whose.

Got it? Here are a few examples of different types of sentence fragments:

• Six a.m.: the first day of class.
• My aunt saying, “No corran, don’t run.”
• Which makes these stories, rife as they are with darkness, violence, and suffering, both psychologically realistic and viscerally thrilling.
• That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect.

All of these examples come from published works in which the writer intended to compose a sentence fragment: Azar Nafisi’s memoir about teaching banned books in Iran, Gloria Anzaldúa’s essay about the lived history of borderlands in Texas, Judy Berman’s March 29, 2023, Time magazine essay about popular television shows that feature powerful women, and Audre Lorde’s 1977 essay about transforming silence into action. We’ll read the full passages later in this lesson, but first, let’s practice what we’ve learned so far.

Activity

Taken out of context, each of the examples is a sentence fragment. Can you explain what’s missing in each example? Does the phrase have a subject? Does it have a verb, or is the verb not in the right form for the intended meaning or in the expected format?

Feel free to review our resources about sentence fragments (see below). But also feel free to apply what you know about grammar, or how you can tell something may be missing or misapplied.

• Go through the list of examples and briefly explain what’s missing or misapplied and why these phrases are sentence fragments.
• Next, play with the phrases. Can you turn each of them into a complete sentence that has a clear subject and a verb?

Are fragments okay sometimes?

In everyday speech, in creative writing, and in informal communications, we use sentence fragments all the time. Here’s a short dialogue that includes a sentence fragment:

• Question: Where are you going?
• Answer: To the library.

The answer is a sentence fragment, but we understand the meaning because it’s part of the conversation. We understand it because we understand the context. (By the way, how often or in what situations would you answer such questions in the complete sentence, “I am going to the library”?)

Let’s reconsider our initial sentence fragments. Despite being grammatically incomplete, each of our three examples is understood when read in the context of the story or article.

Here are excerpts from which the sample fragments were taken. (Want to read more? See the Works Cited section for information about the full texts of each excerpt.)

In the fields, la migra. My aunt saying, “No corran, don’t run. They’ll think you’re del otro lao.” In the confusion, Pedro ran, terrified of being caught. He couldn’t speak English, couldn’t tell them he was fifth generation American. Sin papeles—he did not carry his birth certificate to work in the fields. (Anzaldúa 26)

Not that Yellowjackets and its ilk are utopian counterparts to the patriarchal dystopia of The Handmaid’s Tale. They harbor no illusions that all girls are inherently peaceful or kind or perfect. Which makes these stories, rife as they are with darkness, violence, and suffering, both psychologically realistic and viscerally thrilling. Yet they also embody a women’s movement, weary from so many fallen idols and so much lost ground, in the midst of an existential crisis. (Berman)

Six a.m.: the first day of class. I was already up. Too excited to eat breakfast, I put the coffee on and then took a long, leisurely shower. … For the first time in many years, … I would not need to go through the tortuous rituals that had marked my days when I taught at the university—rituals governing what I was forced to wear, how I was expected to act, the gestures I had to remember to control. For this class, I would prepare differently. (Nafisi 9)

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect. I am standing here as a Black lesbian poet, and the meaning of all that waits upon the fact that I am still alive, and might not have been. Less than two months ago I was told by two doctors, one female and one male, that I would have to have breast surgery, and that there was a 60 to 80 percent chance that the tumor was malignant. (Lorde 40).

When should I avoid fragments?

In professional, academic, and other formal contexts, sentence fragments are considered incorrect or inappropriate to the rhetorical situation. For example, in a formal letter that’s part of a job application, these opening lines could cost the writer a chance at the position:

Dear Mrs. Janeway,

Please accept my application. For the copy editor position. Because I would be really good at it. Really.

As discussed in the previous section, sometimes we use sentence fragments as a way to emphasize a point, draw attention to a detail, introduce a conversational tone in our writing, and other rhetorical purposes. But the above letter does not work this way or for that purpose. For a copy-editor position, the writer would be expected to punctuate the opening phrases in one coherent sentence, perhaps this way:

Please accept my application for the copy editor position, because I would be really good at it.

That’s a complete sentence. Of course, it may not be the most effective sentence, because the writer may be misreading the situation. In a formal application letter, in other words, we expect a detailed list of qualifications or a formal statement, rather than the casual “because I would be really good at it” and the extra “really.” What do you think would be a better concluding phrase for the sentence?

Activity

In the following paragraph, we have introduced sentence fragments into a published narrative. Try to…

• Identify each fragment.
• Explain why it’s a sentence fragment.

“Growing up. I had an average, simple family. I had an older sister. Who I got along with. An intelligent father who spent most days working, and a decent mother who took care of me when my father was gone. My mother Susan was a realtor and always had been throughout my life. I never saw any issues with the job. Until it started getting slow during the winter of 2016. It had been months, and my mother still hadn’t sold any houses. This lack of job success took a toll on her, and she began to act differently. I didn’t understand it then, but she fell into a despondent state of depression. As one does when depressed. She turned to drinking.”

How can I fix fragments?

Now that you have a better idea what sentence fragments are and what rhetorical situations allow or discourage them, how can you fix them when you find them?

Remember: In informal situations and for some written works, fragments are okay. They suit the rhetorical situation, such as a conversation, an informal communication, or a special purpose. You might use a fragment in your narrative or story, especially if you’re speaking. However, in most formal, academic, and professional writing, sentence fragments are viewed as mistakes or as rhetorically inappropriate.

Here are a few examples of fragments and a possible fix for each one. Sometimes the fix is as simple as replacing a period with a comma, so that the fragment is joined with the sentence it adds information to. Sometimes, the fix means adding a subject or verb. Sometimes, the fix means changing the verb to a more conventional or grammatical form. Sometimes, playing with the order of phrases or adding context can fix the problem.

• If I can find my phone. We can go.
  • If I can find my phone, we can go.
  • If I can find my phone, then we can go.
• She said we can go. If I finish my homework..
  • She said we can go if I finish my homework.
  • If I finish my homework, she said, we can go.
• Grandfather saying, “Let’s go.”
  • Grandfather said, “Let’s go.”
  • Grandfather says, “Let’s go.”
  • I heard my grandfather saying, “Let’s go.”
• I need to my find my phone. Because my wallet is with it.
  • I need to find my phone, because my wallet is with it.
  • My wallet is with my phone, which I need to find.

Activity

Now it’s your turn. Each of the following contains a sentence fragment. Turn them into complete sentences. For some of these, you’ll need to be creative by adding a subject or verb or other element that completes the fragment.

• I had already lost hope. That there was going to be a solution for myself.
• 10 a.m. that day.
• I was still exhausted from dumping everything out, but I couldn’t help but feel grateful. Because I had finally released everything.
• One Wednesday night in February of 2021. I sat silent in a group discussion. At church.
• Saying, “Let’s find it together.”
• She would fall asleep behind the steering wheel while driving. Because she was high.
• Clothes all over the floor.
• I went to bed. Since I was tired.
• Because I couldn’t find my phone.
• Nope. Not going to happen.

Further Resources:

• Tarrant County College’s Fragments: How to Correct Incomplete Sentences
• Purdue OWL’s Sentence Fragments
• Grammarly’s “What is a Subordinate Clause?”

Notes

“Six a.m.: the first day of class” is the opening phrase of a paragraph in which the author (Nafisi) recollects the first time she hosted a group of female Iranian students in her home to discuss books that she was not allowed to teach at the university any more. The phrase makes us feel as if Nafisi is talking to us informally while she is remembering an important scene.

“My aunt saying, “No corran, don’t run” serves a similar purpose in Anzaldúa’s “Homeland” essay; the phrase begins a short tale about Pedro, who was caught by U.S. border agents and deported, although he was born in the U.S.

Berman’s “Which makes these stories” phrase is also meant to introduce a conversational tone but also to make a point about current television shows. Her article discusses several popular television shows in which girls and women are the main characters: Yellowjackets and The Power. Berman questions the feminism represented in each show. In The Power, for example, teenage girls around the world develop the ability to control the electrical energy of their own bodies; this ability reshapes the patriarchal power structures of communities and governments around the world.