The fragment is another very common error in student papers. A fragment is only a part of a sentence; it does not say enough to stand alone as a complete thought. A fragment can lack a subject, verb, or independent clause. Some fragments are more confusing than others because they are illogical. The fragment errors many students make, however, can usually be resolved by connecting the fragment to what comes before or after.

Incorrect: The student’s paper was insightful and powerful. Because she had written about her personal experience.

In this example, the student has a complete thought, but she has failed to connect it into one sentence. This is an easy fragment to correct; the two elements need to be made into one sentence:

Correct: The student's paper was insightful and powerful because she had written about her personal experience.

It is helpful to read the fragment to the student; often she can hear that her words do not make a complete sentence or a logical thought. To find fragments, you can also ask the student to read the paper backward, aloud, sentence by sentence. This technique disrupts the continuity of thought and helps the student detect a fragment more easily.

Other fragments are more complicated to correct.

Incorrect: Einstein who discovered the theory of relativity.

In this example, the reader is left hanging—what about this Einstein “who discovered the theory of relativity”? The student may argue that she has a subject (Einstein) and a verb (discovered), but actually she has written a dependent clause (“who discovered the theory of relativity”) without giving it something to depend on. The student must provide more information.

Possible corrections: 

Einstein, a brilliant scientist, discovered the theory of relativity.

Einstein, who discovered the theory of relativity, was a brilliant scientist.

Einstein, who discovered the theory of relativity, also made other breakthroughs in the scientific world.