English for Academic Studies (Workshop) Session 4: Fragments

Semester 1, 2009/10 ©PolyU HKCC

Session 4: Fragments (Phrases and Clauses)

Part A: Diagnostic Test

Identify and underline the sentence fragments (incomplete sentences) in the

following passage. Then, correct the sentence errors in the space between the lines.

In late February, Mr Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, introduced

the Three-Child Policy in order to solve the aging issue in Hong Kong. No one can deny

that. There are many advantages for the Three-Child Policy. However, at the same time.

People must consider various aspects before adopting the policy. Such as the society, their

children and themselves.

First of all, married couples should think about their willingness and abilities of

having children. If they don’t want to have a baby for whatever reason, they had better

not to have any. Otherwise, for those babies “accidentally” brought to the world. They

would just suffer in their life. Being parents is not an easy task. Married couples should

think carefully if they have enough time to take care of their children. As parents are

responsible for the growth of their children. They need to ensure both their physical and

mental health.

Another point that young couples should consider is their financial position. Actually,

the expense of raising a child is very high. Therefore, married people should have a stable

income and a reasonable financial position. In order to ensure their children to have a

high quality of life.

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English for Academic Studies (Workshop) Session 4: Fragments
Semester 1, 2009/10 ©PolyU HKCC

Part B: Grammatical Sentences – Review

Complete Sentence
¾ A complete sentence consists of three components: (a) a subject, (b) a main verb, and
(c) a complete thought.
¾ A complete sentence can be very short as long as it has all the above components:
Example: John came.

Phrase
¾ A phrase is a sequence of two or more words that cannot stand alone as a complete
sentence but only as a unit in one sentence.
Example: A presentation with interesting points.

Clause
¾ A clause contains a subject and a main verb.
¾ An independent clause is a complete sentence.
Example: Emily studied in the library.
¾ A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and begins
with subordinating conjunctions like if, before, although, etc.
Example: After she had finished all her classes.

SUBJECT MAIN VERB COMPLETE BY ITSELF?

MAIN CLAUSE 9 9 9
(Independent)
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE 9 9 8
(Dependent - rely on the
independent clause for their
meaning.)
PHRASE 8 8 8

Sentence Fragments
¾ A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence, lacking a subject, a verb, or a
complete thought.
¾ In the above examples, a phrase and a dependent clause are sentence fragments.
¾ To convert a phrase into a sentence, we may need to add a subject or verb.
Example: A presentation with interesting points. Æ A sentence fragment
Revision: She delivered a presentation with interesting points.

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English for Academic Studies (Workshop) Session 4: Fragments
Semester 1, 2009/10 ©PolyU HKCC

¾ To change a dependent clause into a sentence, we have to complete its meaning.

Example: After she had finished all her classes. Æ A sentence fragment
Revision: After she had finished all her classes, Emily studied in the library.

Part C: Concept Boosting Exercises

Exercise C1: Identify and underline the sentence fragments (incomplete sentences)
in the following passage. Then, correct the sentence errors in the space between
the lines.

Although the policy of CMI (Chinese as the Medium of Instruction) has been

introduced for years. Many students and their parents still think that the implementation

of CMI will reduce the time for learning English. They believe it will affect students’

English proficiency. However, this is just a misconception about the correlation between

the teaching medium and language learning. The teaching medium is only a tool to be

used to impart knowledge. Rather than a means for language learning. In fact, English

learning is not confined to classroom but can be conducted in many other ways. For

example, reading English newspapers, listening to English songs and watching English

movies or television programmes. In addition, schools can introduce other measures to

boost students’ English competence. Such as hiring more native English teachers,

reducing the class size for English lessons, and organising more English activities. These

can help students overcome their fear of learning English. Which in turn can improve

their language ability.

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English for Academic Studies (Workshop) Session 4: Fragments
Semester 1, 2009/10 ©PolyU HKCC

Exercise C2: Identify and underline the sentence fragments (incomplete sentences)
in the following passage. Then, correct the sentence errors in the space between
the lines.

What is the meaning of a war? It just means death. Sorrowful tear, relentless unrest

and heart-breaking cries will afflict every individual during war time. Is it right for a

country to fight a war? In my opinion, there is never a reasonable ground for any country

to initiate a war. Because it is simply inhumane. It is not an effective way to solve

conflicts and it will ruin the economies of the countries involved in a war.

Besides damaging the economy of a country. Wars will have more adverse impacts

on us. One of the most heartrending outcomes would be countless deaths and injuries.

With most innocent and unarmed citizens being the victims. Therefore, we should strive

to avoid wars as much as possible. Unfortunately, there were just many unjustifiable wars

in our history. For instance, the one against Iraq. Although the US claimed it was

necessary to fight this battle to identify if any nuclear weapons were produced by Iraq.

There should be other ways to achieve the same purpose. Nevertheless, many people lost

their lives in this war.