Fragments are no big deal in conversation; spoken English is full of them. In fact, if you spoke in complete sentences for one entire day, you would probably get some strange looks. But English conventions require that you avoid writing fragments (except in very rare instances), so you must be able to identify them in your writing and fix them.
To begin to identify fragments in your writing, read a sentence aloud. Does it sound complete? If you walked up to a stranger and said it to him, would it sound like a complete thought to him? Or would he be waiting expectantly for you to finish? Even if it sounds okay to you (because you already know what you mean), look at it and identify the subject (who or what did the action) and the verb (what the subject did) to make sure they're there. (For help identifying subjects and verbs, see the TIP Sheet Parts of Sentences.) If you think a subject is missing, or the verb sounds a little strange, or the thought is left hanging, refer to the tips below
Some fragments are missing subjects. Often the subject appears nearby, perhaps in the preceding sentence; however, each sentence must have a subject of its own. The following fragment lacks a subject:
Fragment
Was running late that day.
Who was running late? The instructor? The train? The simplest (but by no means only) way to correct this fragment is to add a subject:
I was running late that day.
A very common type of fragment is the unfinished thought fragment. While other kinds of f