What is a 'sentence fragment'?

A sentence fragment refers to a group of words that does not express a complete thought and lacks the necessary grammatical components to form a complete sentence. This means that while the words may present a coherent idea, they are not structured in a way that fulfills the requirements of standard sentence construction. For example, a fragment might be missing a subject or a verb, or it could be a dependent clause that cannot stand on its own as a complete statement.

Understanding what qualifies as a sentence fragment is crucial in writing and grammar because sentence fragments can lead to unclear communication and disrupt the flow of thought within written content. By identifying fragments, one can revise them to enhance clarity and ensure that each statement conveys a complete and comprehensible idea.