Sentence fragments are incomplete grammatical units that are punctuated as complete sentences. They are very distracting for your reader unless you are using them for stylistic purposes. Many writers fall prey to the sentence fragment for one of two reasons: 1) they write an incomplete sentence unintentionally, or 2) they misuse punctuation, which results in a sentence fragment. The second of these reasons is the easiest to remedy - read your work out loud and check for correct punctuation. On the other hand, the first can be more tricky to fix. Below we've listed some tips for recognizing and correcting sentence fragments, and don't forget to consult your writing handbook for help.

Recognizing sentence fragments: For a sentence to be complete, it must have both a subject and a verb (an independent clause). If it doesn't have a subject or a verb or if it is a dependent cause, then it is a fragment.

Example:

Fixing Sentence Fragments:
To fix a fragment, you can 1) combine it with a nearby sentence, making sure to punctuate the new sentence correctly, or 2) turn it into a sentence. The following revisions do both.

Revisions:
Malcolm has two goals in life: wealth and power.
Malcom's two goals in life are wealth and power.
Wealth and power are Malcolm's two goals in life.

Molly ended her stories as she mixed her martinis, with a twist.
Molly's stories ended with a twist, just like she mixed her martinis.
Just as she mixed her martinis, Molly's stories ended with a twist.

To stamp out the union was the bosses' plan.
The bosses' plan was to stamp out the union.
Stamping out the union was the bosses' plan.

The students are taking the final exam in the auditorium.
In the auditorium the students are taking the final exam.
The final exam is being taken by the students in the auditorium.

How would you eliminate the fragments in the following examples?
1. Scholastic achievement is important to Alex. Being the first person in her family to ever attend college.
2. Jane seemed well qualified for the Air Force. Except for her tendency to get airsick.

KEY:
1. Scholastic achievement is important to Alex because she is the first person in her family to ever attend college. or As the first person in her family to attend college, scholastic achievement is important to Alex. or Because she is the first person in her family to attend college, scholastic achievement is important to Alex.

2. Except for her tendency to get airsick, Jane seemed well qualified for the Air Force. or Jane seemed well qualified for the Air Force, aside from her tendency to get sick.

Past Writing Tips:
Apostrophes: Plurals and Possessives by Lisa Mahle-Grisez.
Avoid redundant words and phrases by Faydra Womble.
Use semi-colons appropriately by Pegeen Reichert Powell.
Avoiding Affectation by Lisa Mahle-Grisez.
Use "hopefully" correctly by Kate Ronald.