{"id":50,"date":"2021-05-06T17:49:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T17:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/chapter\/sentence-fragments\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T20:56:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T20:56:42","slug":"sentence-fragments","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/chapter\/sentence-fragments\/","title":{"raw":"Sentence Fragments","rendered":"Sentence Fragments"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nBy the end of this chapter, you should be able to:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Explain the cause of sentence fragments.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Identify three different types of sentence fragments.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Apply strategies to fix sentence fragments.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIt\u2019s inevitable. You will have errors in using various sentence types in your writing. One of the most common errors that writers make is <strong>sentence fragments.<\/strong>\r\n<h2>The Basics<\/h2>\r\nIn past writing assignments, your professor may have written the word \"Fragment\" or \"frag\" or even \"not a complete sentence\" on your paper. A <strong>sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragment <\/strong>is a sentence that is missing a [pb_glossary id=\"188\"]subject[\/pb_glossary] or a [pb_glossary id=\"190\"]verb[\/pb_glossary]. While the sentence may include a description or express part of an idea, it does not express a complete thought, which is the issue.\r\n\r\nLook at the example below:\r\n<div id=\"mcleanbuseng-ch01_s01_s02_s02_n01\" class=\"im_callout im_editable im_block\">\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Children helping in the kitchen.<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The above example is a [pb_glossary id=\"193\"]<strong>sentence <\/strong><strong>fragment<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary]. It does not express a complete thought. If you read it out loud, it should sound like something is missing. In this case, a <strong>verb<\/strong> is missing.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Now, you might say, \"Wait a minute, isn't 'help' a verb?\" Well, often, it is a verb, but in this case, it is not. What we have here is known as a <strong>gerund phrase<\/strong>. We'll explain this in more detail in a little bit, but essentially, what that means is that the entire [pb_glossary id=\"191\"]phrase [\/pb_glossary] above serves as the subject for the sentence. That's right! Multiple words can combine to make a single subject!<\/p>\r\nYou can quickly fix this fragment type by adding the missing subject or verb. In the example, the sentence was missing a verb. <span style=\"font-size: 1em;\">Adding\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em;\">often makes a mess,<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em;\"> making this a complete sentence.<\/span>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Children helping in the kitchen\u00a0<strong class=\"im_emphasis im_bold\">often make a mess<\/strong>.<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It's that easy! If someone tells you\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">a\u00a0<strong>sentence fragment is<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in your writing, figure out whether you're missing a subject, verb, or both, and then fill it in.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Exercise #1: What is Missing?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nRead each<strong> [pb_glossary id=\"193\"]sentence fragment[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> below and decide if a subject or verb is missing. Then, try to come up with a fix on your own. Click on the arrow to check your answer.\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"12\"]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"mcleanbuseng-ch01_s01_s02_s02_n02\" class=\"im_callout im_editable im_block\">\r\n\r\nBefore we dive into different types of sentence fragments and how to fix them, here's a short video that will provide an overview.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dYJg-Pet3Uk\r\n\r\nLink to Original Video: <a href=\"http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/fixfrags\">tinyurl.com\/fixfrags<\/a>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Identifying Sentence Fragments<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"mcleanbuseng-ch01_s01_s02_s02_s01\" class=\"im_section\">\r\n\r\nLet's get a little more technical now. We know that a <strong>sentence <\/strong><strong>fragment<\/strong> occurs when a subject or verb is missing from a sentence. <strong>Sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragments<\/strong> also happen because of some standard error, such as starting a sentence with a <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"231\"]preposition[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>, a<strong> [pb_glossary id=\"192\"]subordinate conjunction[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>,\u00a0or a\u00a0<strong><span class=\"im_margin_term\"><span class=\"im_glossterm\">[pb_glossary id=\"232\"]gerund [\/pb_glossary]\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/strong><span class=\"im_margin_term\"><span class=\"im_glossterm\">d<\/span><\/span><span class=\"im_margin_term\"><span class=\"im_glossterm\">on't worry, we'll explain what those are in a minute<\/span><\/span>. If you use the <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/sentence-structure\/\">four basic sentence structures<\/a> when you write, you should be able to avoid these errors and thus avoid writing <strong>sentence fragments<\/strong>. Nevertheless, mistakes still happen, so it's important to know what to look for while you revise.\r\n<h2>Preposition Fragments<\/h2>\r\n[pb_glossary id=\"231\"]<strong>Prepositions<\/strong> [\/pb_glossary] serve a lot of different purposes. These are words such as <em>in<\/em>, <em>on<\/em>, <em>at<\/em>, <em>of<\/em>, and <em>under<\/em> (and there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm\">many, <em>many<\/em> more<\/a>).\u00a0Essentially, they are used to show relationships between words.\r\n\r\nFor example:\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">The dog is <em>under<\/em> the table.<\/div>\r\n<em>Under<\/em> is the preposition, as it shows where the dog is about the table. For more background on a preposition, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/\">this link<\/a> from Grammarly.\r\n\r\nWhen you see a preposition in a sentence, check to see that it is part of a sentence containing a subject and a verb.\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">It is a sentence fragment if it is not connected to a complete sentence<\/span>.\r\n\r\nHere is an example of a <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"233\"]preposition fragment[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>:\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>After<\/em> walking two miles.<\/div>\r\nIn the above example,\u00a0<em>after<\/em> is the <strong>preposition,<\/strong> and we also miss a subject. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Who<\/span> is walking the two miles?\r\n\r\nLet's try this again.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>After<\/em> walking over two miles. John remembered his wallet.<\/div>\r\nNow we have two sentences. Does that fix the problem? We know who did the walking now. It's John.\r\n\r\nWell, no. It doesn't. \"After walking over two miles\" is still a <strong>sentence fragment<\/strong> because it is missing the subject. Even if it's explained in the following sentence, it still doesn't work grammatically because it's not a complete idea.\r\n\r\nLuckily, the problem is an easy fix. You can combine the <strong>sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragment<\/strong> with the second sentence.\r\n\r\nThe easy way is to replace the period with a comma:\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>After<\/em> walking over two miles, John remembered his wallet.<\/div>\r\nYou can also rearrange the sentence so the <strong>preposition fragment<\/strong> goes at the end of the sentence. Just make sure you drop the comma.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">John remembered his wallet <em>after<\/em> walking over two miles.<\/div>\r\nIs one version better than the other? Technically, no. As with all writing, the best approach depends on context. If you have an entire paragraph that starts with\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">only<\/span> prepositional phrases, it's going to look a little odd. It's all about balance and using a variety of sentence structures to make your writing stand out.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Subordinate Conjunction Fragments<\/h2>\r\nDo you remember <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"192\"]subordinate conjunctions[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> from the chapter on <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/chapter\/basicelements\/\">sentence structure<\/a>? <strong>Subordinate conjunctions<\/strong> include words such as <em>s<\/em><em class=\"im_emphasis\">ince<\/em>,\u00a0<em class=\"im_emphasis\">because<\/em>,\u00a0<em class=\"im_emphasis\">without<\/em>, or\u00a0<em class=\"im_emphasis\">unless<\/em>. Like [pb_glossary id=\"231\"]<strong>prepositions<\/strong> [\/pb_glossary], they serve many different purposes. For more background on how <strong>subordinate conjunctions<\/strong> work, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/\">this link<\/a> from Grammarly.\r\n\r\nTake a look at the incorrect example sentence below. In this case,\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><em>it is because<\/em> of\u00a0<\/span>the <strong>subordinate conjunction<\/strong>.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;\"><em>Because<\/em> we lost power.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\"Now hold on!\" you might say. You said at the start of this chapter that a <strong>sentence fragment<\/strong> is missing either a subject or a verb, and that first sentence has both!\"\r\n\r\nYou're right. It does. There is a subject (we) and a verb (lost), but since the sentence begins with \"because,\" it does not feel like a complete idea. Read it out loud. It should sound like something is missing. Its incompleteness suggests that it\u2019s a <strong>sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragment, <\/strong>and more specifically, a [pb_glossary id=\"234\"]subordinate conjunction fragment[\/pb_glossary]! Fortunately, there is an easy fix. Let's add another sentence just like last time.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;\"><em>Because<\/em> we lost power. The entire family<\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\"> overslept.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nDoes something about this type of sentence seem familiar? It should! Structurally, it should remind you of the prepositional fragment [pb_glossary id=\"233\"] we just fixed [\/pb_glossary]. Many writers will try adding another sentence to correct their <strong>sentence fragments, <\/strong>such as in the example above, but not fix anything! The example above is still wrong, but similar to the <strong>prepositional fragment<\/strong>.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Because<\/em> we lost power, the entire family overslept.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The entire family overslept because we lost power.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nBe sure not to forget to include that comma between the two sentences if the <strong>subordinate conjunction<\/strong> starts the sentence.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Gerund Fragments<\/h2>\r\n<strong>[pb_glossary id=\"232\"]Gerunds[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> are a little more complicated. Essentially, when a word ends in <em>-ing,<\/em> it can be a noun, an adjective, or a verb. <span style=\"font-size: 1em;\">If the -ing word is a noun or, in some cases, an adjective, it is known as a <\/span><strong style=\"font-size: 1em;\">gerund.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLet's use the word \"singing\" as an example.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">She is singing at the festival tonight.<\/div>\r\nIn the above example, <em>singing<\/em> is combined with a helper verb (is) to make\u00a0<em>is singing<\/em>. In this case,\u00a0<em>singing <\/em>is being used as a verb.\r\n\r\nNow, look at this example.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Singing<\/em> is what I was born to do!<\/div>\r\nDon't be fooled! <em>Singing<\/em> looks the same, but it's no longer used as a verb. It's a noun! More specifically, it's the subject of the sentence. Now it's a[pb_glossary id=\"232\"]gerund[\/pb_glossary]!\r\n\r\nLet's look at one other example with the word <em>working<\/em>:\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Verb<\/strong>: I <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>was working<\/strong><\/span> on my part of the report until midnight.\r\n\r\n<strong>Gerund:<\/strong> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Working<\/strong><\/span> on reports until midnight makes me tired the following day.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nIn the first sentence, <em>working<\/em> has a helping verb (was), the verb form. In the second sentence, <em>working\u00a0<\/em>is used as the sentence's subject, making it a noun. Therefore, it is a <strong>gerund<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nIf you need more help understanding <strong>gerunds, <\/strong>check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/\">this link<\/a> from Grammarly.\r\n\r\nSo, what do these <strong>gerunds<\/strong> have to do with <strong>sentence fragments<\/strong>? Let's look at an example of a <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"235\"]gerund fragment[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>:\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Taking<\/em> deep breaths. Saul prepared for his presentation.<\/div>\r\nIn that example,\u00a0<em>taking<\/em> is the <strong>gerund<\/strong>. Does the first sentence make sense on its own? Does it sound like a complete idea?\r\n\r\nNo. It doesn't.\r\n\r\nSo, how do we fix this? Like the other two fragment types we covered, we can combine the fragment with the following sentence using a comma instead of a period.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Taking<\/em> deep breaths, Saul prepared for his presentation.<\/div>\r\n<span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">You can also rearrange the order of the sentences. However, when you do that, you may have to add words so that it makes sense.<\/span>\r\n<div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Saul prepared for his presentation by <em>taking<\/em> deep breaths.<\/div>\r\n<div>You can also change the <strong>gerund<\/strong> back into a verb by changing the structure of the sentence.<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Saul prepared for his presentation. He\u00a0<em>was taking<\/em>\u00a0deep breaths.<\/div>\r\nNotice that we can tell that <em>taking<\/em> is a verb now because it has a helping verb (was).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Sentence Fragment Review<\/h2>\r\nAs we've seen, <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"193\"]sentence fragments[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> can take many different forms. Fortunately, they are easy to fix. It's all a matter of knowing what to look for and ensuring your fixes make sense. Let's test your understanding now.\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Exercise #2: Identify and Fix the Sentence Fragment<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nBelow, you will see two sentences. One will be a sentence fragment, the other a complete sentence. First, identify which sentence is the fragment and what type it is: a [pb_glossary id=\"233\"]preposition fragment[\/pb_glossary], a [pb_glossary id=\"234\"]subordinate conjunction fragment[\/pb_glossary], or a [pb_glossary id=\"235\"]gerund fragment[\/pb_glossary].\r\n\r\nNext, develop a fix so that both sentences make grammatical sense. The solution will provide two <em>possible <\/em>solutions since you can fix the sentences in many ways. If you're unsure if your solution works, please check with your instructor.\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"13\"]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIf you would like to watch another video on <strong>sentence fragments<\/strong>, try this one:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0-JRCuwpasA\r\n\r\nLink to Original Video: <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/senfragrev\">https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/senfragrev<\/a>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaways<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>A [pb_glossary id=\"193\"]sentence fragment[\/pb_glossary] occurs when it is missing either a [pb_glossary id=\"188\"]subject[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"190\"]verb[\/pb_glossary], or both.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>They can generally be fixed by adding the missing elements to the sentence. The most common issue is a missing verb.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>There are also different types of fragments: [pb_glossary id=\"233\"]prepositional fragments[\/pb_glossary], [pb_glossary id=\"234\"]subordinate conjunction fragments[\/pb_glossary], and [pb_glossary id=\"235\"]gerund fragments[\/pb_glossary].<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nNow that you are finished with this chapter, you can either click on one of the other sentence-level issues and learn about them or continue to the next required chapter.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Go To Another Topic<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/run-on-sentences\/\">Run-On Sentences<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/verb-tense\/\">Verb Tense<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/punctuation\/\">Punctuation<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/eliminating-wordiness\/\">Eliminating Wordiness<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<h2 class=\"textbox__title\">References<\/h2>\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nEnglishClub. (n.d.).\u00a0<em>Preposition list<\/em>.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm\">https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">Grammarly. (2017, April 7).\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">Gerund<\/em><span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">. <\/span><a style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/\">https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">Ross, B. (2021, January 14).\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">Prepositions<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">. Grammarly.\u00a0 <\/span><a style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/\" style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\nTraffis,\u00a0C. (2020, December 16).\u00a0<em>What is a subordinating conjunction?<\/em> Grammarly. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/\">https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/<\/span><\/a>\r\n<h2>Attributions<\/h2>\r\nThis chapter is adapted from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub\/communicationatwork\/chapter\/5-2-proofreading-for-grammar\/\">Communication at Work<\/a>\u201d by Jordan Smith (on <a href=\"https:\/\/ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub\/\">Open Library<\/a>). It is licensed under the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThis chapter is also adapted from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.lib.umn.edu\/writingforsuccess\/chapter\/2-1-sentence-writing\/\">Writing for Success<\/a>\u201d by the University of Minnesota (on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lib.umn.edu\/services\/publishing\">University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing<\/a>). It is licensed under the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Explain the cause of sentence fragments.<\/li>\n<li>Identify three different types of sentence fragments.<\/li>\n<li>Apply strategies to fix sentence fragments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s inevitable. You will have errors in using various sentence types in your writing. One of the most common errors that writers make is <strong>sentence fragments.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>The Basics<\/h2>\n<p>In past writing assignments, your professor may have written the word &#8220;Fragment&#8221; or &#8220;frag&#8221; or even &#8220;not a complete sentence&#8221; on your paper. A <strong>sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragment <\/strong>is a sentence that is missing a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_188\">subject<\/a> or a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_190\">verb<\/a>. While the sentence may include a description or express part of an idea, it does not express a complete thought, which is the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Look at the example below:<\/p>\n<div id=\"mcleanbuseng-ch01_s01_s02_s02_n01\" class=\"im_callout im_editable im_block\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Children helping in the kitchen.<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The above example is a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_193\"><strong>sentence <\/strong><strong>fragment<\/strong><\/a>. It does not express a complete thought. If you read it out loud, it should sound like something is missing. In this case, a <strong>verb<\/strong> is missing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Now, you might say, &#8220;Wait a minute, isn&#8217;t &#8216;help&#8217; a verb?&#8221; Well, often, it is a verb, but in this case, it is not. What we have here is known as a <strong>gerund phrase<\/strong>. We&#8217;ll explain this in more detail in a little bit, but essentially, what that means is that the entire <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_191\">phrase <\/a> above serves as the subject for the sentence. That&#8217;s right! Multiple words can combine to make a single subject!<\/p>\n<p>You can quickly fix this fragment type by adding the missing subject or verb. In the example, the sentence was missing a verb. <span style=\"font-size: 1em;\">Adding\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em;\">often makes a mess,<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em;\"> making this a complete sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Children helping in the kitchen\u00a0<strong class=\"im_emphasis im_bold\">often make a mess<\/strong>.<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It&#8217;s that easy! If someone tells you\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">a\u00a0<strong>sentence fragment is<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in your writing, figure out whether you&#8217;re missing a subject, verb, or both, and then fill it in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Exercise #1: What is Missing?<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>Read each<strong> <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_193\">sentence fragment<\/a><\/strong> below and decide if a subject or verb is missing. Then, try to come up with a fix on your own. Click on the arrow to check your answer.<\/p>\n<div id=\"h5p-12\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-12\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"12\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"What is Missing?\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mcleanbuseng-ch01_s01_s02_s02_n02\" class=\"im_callout im_editable im_block\">\n<p>Before we dive into different types of sentence fragments and how to fix them, here&#8217;s a short video that will provide an overview.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Fixing Sentence Fragments\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dYJg-Pet3Uk?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Link to Original Video: <a href=\"http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/fixfrags\">tinyurl.com\/fixfrags<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Identifying Sentence Fragments<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mcleanbuseng-ch01_s01_s02_s02_s01\" class=\"im_section\">\n<p>Let&#8217;s get a little more technical now. We know that a <strong>sentence <\/strong><strong>fragment<\/strong> occurs when a subject or verb is missing from a sentence. <strong>Sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragments<\/strong> also happen because of some standard error, such as starting a sentence with a <strong><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_231\">preposition<\/a><\/strong>, a<strong> <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_192\">subordinate conjunction<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0or a\u00a0<strong><span class=\"im_margin_term\"><span class=\"im_glossterm\"><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_232\">gerund <\/a>\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/strong><span class=\"im_margin_term\"><span class=\"im_glossterm\">d<\/span><\/span><span class=\"im_margin_term\"><span class=\"im_glossterm\">on&#8217;t worry, we&#8217;ll explain what those are in a minute<\/span><\/span>. If you use the <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/sentence-structure\/\">four basic sentence structures<\/a> when you write, you should be able to avoid these errors and thus avoid writing <strong>sentence fragments<\/strong>. Nevertheless, mistakes still happen, so it&#8217;s important to know what to look for while you revise.<\/p>\n<h2>Preposition Fragments<\/h2>\n<p><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_231\"><strong>Prepositions<\/strong> <\/a> serve a lot of different purposes. These are words such as <em>in<\/em>, <em>on<\/em>, <em>at<\/em>, <em>of<\/em>, and <em>under<\/em> (and there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm\">many, <em>many<\/em> more<\/a>).\u00a0Essentially, they are used to show relationships between words.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">The dog is <em>under<\/em> the table.<\/div>\n<p><em>Under<\/em> is the preposition, as it shows where the dog is about the table. For more background on a preposition, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/\">this link<\/a> from Grammarly.<\/p>\n<p>When you see a preposition in a sentence, check to see that it is part of a sentence containing a subject and a verb.\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">It is a sentence fragment if it is not connected to a complete sentence<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Here is an example of a <strong><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_233\">preposition fragment<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>After<\/em> walking two miles.<\/div>\n<p>In the above example,\u00a0<em>after<\/em> is the <strong>preposition,<\/strong> and we also miss a subject. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Who<\/span> is walking the two miles?<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s try this again.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>After<\/em> walking over two miles. John remembered his wallet.<\/div>\n<p>Now we have two sentences. Does that fix the problem? We know who did the walking now. It&#8217;s John.<\/p>\n<p>Well, no. It doesn&#8217;t. &#8220;After walking over two miles&#8221; is still a <strong>sentence fragment<\/strong> because it is missing the subject. Even if it&#8217;s explained in the following sentence, it still doesn&#8217;t work grammatically because it&#8217;s not a complete idea.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, the problem is an easy fix. You can combine the <strong>sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragment<\/strong> with the second sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The easy way is to replace the period with a comma:<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>After<\/em> walking over two miles, John remembered his wallet.<\/div>\n<p>You can also rearrange the sentence so the <strong>preposition fragment<\/strong> goes at the end of the sentence. Just make sure you drop the comma.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">John remembered his wallet <em>after<\/em> walking over two miles.<\/div>\n<p>Is one version better than the other? Technically, no. As with all writing, the best approach depends on context. If you have an entire paragraph that starts with\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">only<\/span> prepositional phrases, it&#8217;s going to look a little odd. It&#8217;s all about balance and using a variety of sentence structures to make your writing stand out.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Subordinate Conjunction Fragments<\/h2>\n<p>Do you remember <strong><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_192\">subordinate conjunctions<\/a><\/strong> from the chapter on <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/chapter\/basicelements\/\">sentence structure<\/a>? <strong>Subordinate conjunctions<\/strong> include words such as <em>s<\/em><em class=\"im_emphasis\">ince<\/em>,\u00a0<em class=\"im_emphasis\">because<\/em>,\u00a0<em class=\"im_emphasis\">without<\/em>, or\u00a0<em class=\"im_emphasis\">unless<\/em>. Like <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_231\"><strong>prepositions<\/strong> <\/a>, they serve many different purposes. For more background on how <strong>subordinate conjunctions<\/strong> work, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/\">this link<\/a> from Grammarly.<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at the incorrect example sentence below. In this case,\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><em>it is because<\/em> of\u00a0<\/span>the <strong>subordinate conjunction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;\"><em>Because<\/em> we lost power.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Now hold on!&#8221; you might say. You said at the start of this chapter that a <strong>sentence fragment<\/strong> is missing either a subject or a verb, and that first sentence has both!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;re right. It does. There is a subject (we) and a verb (lost), but since the sentence begins with &#8220;because,&#8221; it does not feel like a complete idea. Read it out loud. It should sound like something is missing. Its incompleteness suggests that it\u2019s a <strong>sentence<\/strong> <strong>fragment, <\/strong>and more specifically, a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_234\">subordinate conjunction fragment<\/a>! Fortunately, there is an easy fix. Let&#8217;s add another sentence just like last time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;\"><em>Because<\/em> we lost power. The entire family<\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\"> overslept.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Does something about this type of sentence seem familiar? It should! Structurally, it should remind you of the prepositional fragment <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_233\"> we just fixed <\/a>. Many writers will try adding another sentence to correct their <strong>sentence fragments, <\/strong>such as in the example above, but not fix anything! The example above is still wrong, but similar to the <strong>prepositional fragment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Because<\/em> we lost power, the entire family overslept.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The entire family overslept because we lost power.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Be sure not to forget to include that comma between the two sentences if the <strong>subordinate conjunction<\/strong> starts the sentence.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Gerund Fragments<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_232\">Gerunds<\/a><\/strong> are a little more complicated. Essentially, when a word ends in <em>-ing,<\/em> it can be a noun, an adjective, or a verb. <span style=\"font-size: 1em;\">If the -ing word is a noun or, in some cases, an adjective, it is known as a <\/span><strong style=\"font-size: 1em;\">gerund.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s use the word &#8220;singing&#8221; as an example.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">She is singing at the festival tonight.<\/div>\n<p>In the above example, <em>singing<\/em> is combined with a helper verb (is) to make\u00a0<em>is singing<\/em>. In this case,\u00a0<em>singing <\/em>is being used as a verb.<\/p>\n<p>Now, look at this example.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Singing<\/em> is what I was born to do!<\/div>\n<p>Don&#8217;t be fooled! <em>Singing<\/em> looks the same, but it&#8217;s no longer used as a verb. It&#8217;s a noun! More specifically, it&#8217;s the subject of the sentence. Now it&#8217;s a<a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_232\">gerund<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at one other example with the word <em>working<\/em>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><strong>Verb<\/strong>: I <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>was working<\/strong><\/span> on my part of the report until midnight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gerund:<\/strong> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Working<\/strong><\/span> on reports until midnight makes me tired the following day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In the first sentence, <em>working<\/em> has a helping verb (was), the verb form. In the second sentence, <em>working\u00a0<\/em>is used as the sentence&#8217;s subject, making it a noun. Therefore, it is a <strong>gerund<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If you need more help understanding <strong>gerunds, <\/strong>check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/\">this link<\/a> from Grammarly.<\/p>\n<p>So, what do these <strong>gerunds<\/strong> have to do with <strong>sentence fragments<\/strong>? Let&#8217;s look at an example of a <strong><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_235\">gerund fragment<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Taking<\/em> deep breaths. Saul prepared for his presentation.<\/div>\n<p>In that example,\u00a0<em>taking<\/em> is the <strong>gerund<\/strong>. Does the first sentence make sense on its own? Does it sound like a complete idea?<\/p>\n<p>No. It doesn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p>So, how do we fix this? Like the other two fragment types we covered, we can combine the fragment with the following sentence using a comma instead of a period.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Taking<\/em> deep breaths, Saul prepared for his presentation.<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">You can also rearrange the order of the sentences. However, when you do that, you may have to add words so that it makes sense.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Saul prepared for his presentation by <em>taking<\/em> deep breaths.<\/div>\n<div>You can also change the <strong>gerund<\/strong> back into a verb by changing the structure of the sentence.<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Saul prepared for his presentation. He\u00a0<em>was taking<\/em>\u00a0deep breaths.<\/div>\n<p>Notice that we can tell that <em>taking<\/em> is a verb now because it has a helping verb (was).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Sentence Fragment Review<\/h2>\n<p>As we&#8217;ve seen, <strong><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_193\">sentence fragments<\/a><\/strong> can take many different forms. Fortunately, they are easy to fix. It&#8217;s all a matter of knowing what to look for and ensuring your fixes make sense. Let&#8217;s test your understanding now.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Exercise #2: Identify and Fix the Sentence Fragment<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>Below, you will see two sentences. One will be a sentence fragment, the other a complete sentence. First, identify which sentence is the fragment and what type it is: a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_233\">preposition fragment<\/a>, a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_234\">subordinate conjunction fragment<\/a>, or a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_235\">gerund fragment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Next, develop a fix so that both sentences make grammatical sense. The solution will provide two <em>possible <\/em>solutions since you can fix the sentences in many ways. If you&#8217;re unsure if your solution works, please check with your instructor.<\/p>\n<div id=\"h5p-13\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-13\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"13\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Sentence Fragment Review\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you would like to watch another video on <strong>sentence fragments<\/strong>, try this one:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-2\" title=\"Sentence Fragments by Shmoop\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0-JRCuwpasA?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Link to Original Video: <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/senfragrev\">https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/senfragrev<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaways<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ul>\n<li>A <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_193\">sentence fragment<\/a> occurs when it is missing either a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_188\">subject<\/a>, <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_190\">verb<\/a>, or both.<\/li>\n<li>They can generally be fixed by adding the missing elements to the sentence. The most common issue is a missing verb.<\/li>\n<li>There are also different types of fragments: <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_233\">prepositional fragments<\/a>, <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_234\">subordinate conjunction fragments<\/a>, and <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_50_235\">gerund fragments<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Now that you are finished with this chapter, you can either click on one of the other sentence-level issues and learn about them or continue to the next required chapter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Go To Another Topic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/run-on-sentences\/\">Run-On Sentences<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/verb-tense\/\">Verb Tense<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/punctuation\/\">Punctuation<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/rcm300\/chapter\/eliminating-wordiness\/\">Eliminating Wordiness<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<h2 class=\"textbox__title\">References<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>EnglishClub. (n.d.).\u00a0<em>Preposition list<\/em>.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm\">https:\/\/www.englishclub.com\/grammar\/prepositions-list.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">Grammarly. (2017, April 7).\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">Gerund<\/em><span style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\">. <\/span><a style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/\">https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/gerund\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">Ross, B. (2021, January 14).\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">Prepositions<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">. Grammarly.\u00a0 <\/span><a style=\"text-align: initial; font-size: 1em;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/\" style=\"font-size: 1em; text-align: initial;\">https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/prepositions\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Traffis,\u00a0C. (2020, December 16).\u00a0<em>What is a subordinating conjunction?<\/em> Grammarly. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/\"><span class=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/\">https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Attributions<\/h2>\n<p>This chapter is adapted from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub\/communicationatwork\/chapter\/5-2-proofreading-for-grammar\/\">Communication at Work<\/a>\u201d by Jordan Smith (on <a href=\"https:\/\/ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub\/\">Open Library<\/a>). It is licensed under the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This chapter is also adapted from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.lib.umn.edu\/writingforsuccess\/chapter\/2-1-sentence-writing\/\">Writing for Success<\/a>\u201d by the University of Minnesota (on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lib.umn.edu\/services\/publishing\">University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing<\/a>). It is licensed under the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"glossary\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\" id=\"definition\">definition<\/span><template id=\"term_50_188\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_188\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>the topic being discussed in a clause or sentence<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_190\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_190\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a word that conveys the action or state of being in a sentence<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_193\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_193\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a writing error where a sentence is missing a subject or verb<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_191\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_191\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a group of words that are missing a subject, a verb, or both<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_231\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_231\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>words that show relationships between other words. Some examples include <em>in<\/em>, <em>on<\/em>, <em>at<\/em>, <em>of<\/em>, and <em>under<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_192\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_192\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a word that connects a dependent clause to an independent clause. It shows a cause-and-effect relationship or a shift in time and place between the two clauses<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_232\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_232\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a word ending in -ing that serves as a noun or adjective in a sentence, not a verb<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_233\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_233\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a type of sentence fragment where an issue with a preposition makes the sentence an incomplete idea<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_234\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_234\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a type of sentence fragment that is caused by an issue with a subordinate conjunction<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_50_235\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_50_235\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>a type of sentence fragment where the issue is a gerund (an -ing word serving as a noun or adjective) being used incorrectly in a sentence<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-50","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":43,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2795,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50\/revisions\/2795"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/43"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/2250organizationalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}