1. Recognizing Sentence Fragments A group of words needs to possess certain characteristics in order to be a complete sentence. Learning to recognize the elements of a sentence can help you tell the difference between a phrase and a sentence.

In order for a group of words to be a complete sentence, it must fulfill these requirements:
1. It must express a complete thought.
2. It must have a subject.
3. It must have a verb.

A fragment is a piece of a sentence. It may appear to be a complete sentence, but it is missing one or more of these requirements.

Directions: Read the following cartoon. Then, answer the questions that follow.

In the cartoon above, which of the following group of words is a fragment?

Are you talking about history or biology?
or
Such a good class!

The fragment above is not a complete sentence because something is missing. Which of the following is missing?

A subject
An adjective
A verb
A prepositional phrase