Which Part Is Missing?

Name what is gone

Finding a fragment is the first step. Fixing one starts with saying exactly which part is missing.

Ask both questions in order.

1. Who or what is this about?
2. What happens?

Whichever question has no answer points to the missing part.

Missing the telling part

“The little brown bird”

Who or what? The bird. What happens? Nothing is said. The telling part is gone.

Add words that tell what happens.

“The little brown bird sang.”

Missing the naming part

“washed the muddy boots”

Who or what? Nothing is said. What happens? Somebody washed boots.

Add words that tell who or what.

“My dad washed the muddy boots.”

Fix the right thing

Here is where people go wrong. They notice something is off and reach for the easiest change.

Fragment	What does not fix it	What does
sat on the fence	Sat on the fence.	Three birds sat on the fence.
The wet paint	The sticky wet paint	The wet paint dripped.
rang all morning	rang all morning long	The phone rang all morning.

A capital letter and a period do not add a missing part. Neither do more describing words. Only the missing part fixes a fragment.

Your turn

Say which part is missing. Then write the whole sentence.

1. “My noisy alarm clock”
2. “fell out of the tree”
3. “The empty box”

Check your answers

Your added words may be different from these and still be right.

1. Telling part. “My noisy alarm clock woke me up.”
2. Naming part. “Two apples fell out of the tree.”
3. Telling part. “The empty box sat by the door.”

Remember

• Ask both questions to find the missing part.
• Add that part and nothing else.
• Punctuation and describing words never fix a fragment.