COMMON ERROR 2: SENTENCE FRAGMENT

A sentence fragment is a group of words, which looks like a sentence i.e. it starts with a capital and ends with a period, but doesn’t make complete sense by itself. Often a change in punctuation will cure the error.

WRONG
We had two options. To drive to the nearest police station, or to lock the doors till the tailgater passed by.
RIGHT
We had two options: to drive to the nearest police station, or to slow down till the tailgater passed by.
ALSO RIGHT
We had two options. We could drive to the nearest police station or we could slow down till the tailgater passed by.

WRONG
Various procedures need to be considered. Altering the interest rate. Renegotiating the terms. Calling in all mortgages.
RIGHT
Various procedures, such as altering the interest rate, renegotiating the terms or calling in all mortgages, have to be considered.

Notice that a word phrase in answer to a question is NOT considered a fragment because the meaning is incomplete.
RIGHT
Should I spend more effort on my thesis? Certainly

Formal business writers must watch particularly carefully for fragments because they are common and acceptable in some kinds of writing. Stream of consciousness novels and short stories use them effectively. So do certain kinds of advertising. Other business writing hardly ever does.

It may help to remember that there are 2 kinds of sentences. Full sentences have at least 1 independent (could stand alone) clause e.g. I enjoy reading. Minor sentences are either exclamations e.g. Certainly not! or answers to questions like Three in answer to the question “How many bananas have you eaten?” A sentence, whether full or minor, makes sense in context and so is acceptable. A fragment lacks something that makes it unacceptable.