What a Fragment Is

A piece of a sentence

Read this.

“The bright red wagon.”

It starts with a capital letter. It ends with a period. It still leaves you hanging. What about the wagon?

A group of words like that is a piece of a sentence, not a whole one. Grown-ups call it a fragment.

What makes a fragment

You already know that every sentence needs two parts:

• a naming part that tells who or what
• a telling part that tells what happens

A fragment is missing one of them. Sometimes it is missing both.

Group of words	Naming part?	Telling part?	Sentence or fragment?
The bright red wagon.	yes	no	fragment
Rolled down the hill.	no	yes	fragment
The wagon rolled down the hill.	yes	yes	sentence
Ava waits.	yes	yes	sentence

Short does not mean fragment

Look at the last row. “Ava waits.” is only two words and it is a whole sentence. The first row is four words and is not.

Counting words tells you nothing. Checking for the two parts tells you everything.

Words to know

• fragment: a group of words that is only a piece of a sentence

Your turn

Say sentence or fragment.

1. “My socks are wet.”
2. “The little brown bird.”
3. “Leo waves.”
4. “Fell off the shelf.”

Check your answers

1. Sentence.
2. Fragment. You never find out about the bird.
3. Sentence.
4. Fragment. You never find out what fell.

Remember

• A fragment is a piece of a sentence.
• It is missing the naming part or the telling part.
• Length has nothing to do with it.