Let’s go through each sentence one by one and decide if it’s a
fragment, a
sentence, or a
run-on.
Remember:
- A
sentence has a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought.
- A
fragment is missing something — maybe no subject, no verb, or doesn’t make sense on its own.
- A
run-on smashes two sentences together without proper punctuation or connecting words.
---
1. *Because we lost the game.*
→ This starts with “because” — that means it’s giving a reason, but it doesn’t tell us what happened because of losing. It’s incomplete.
✔ Fragment
2. *The dog chased the three cats.*
→ Subject: “The dog”, Verb: “chased”, Object: “the three cats”. Complete thought.
✔ Sentence
3. *My parents help me.*
→ Subject: “My parents”, Verb: “help”, Object: “me”. Makes sense alone.
✔ Sentence
4. *We bought the new chair with our credit card.*
→ Subject: “We”, Verb: “bought”, rest tells what and how. Complete.
✔ Sentence
5. *She taught the lesson she gave a test.*
→ Two ideas here: “She taught the lesson” AND “she gave a test.” But there’s no period, comma, or word like “and” to connect them. Smashed together!
✔ Run-on
6. *He wants to go to school he wants to get a job.*
→ Again, two full thoughts: “He wants to go to school” + “he wants to get a job.” No punctuation or connector between them.
✔ Run-on
7. *While he was reading the book.*
→ Starts with “while” — this sets up a time, but doesn’t say what happened during that time. Incomplete.
✔ Fragment
8. *I failed the test I didn’t study.*
→ Two separate thoughts: “I failed the test” and “I didn’t study.” No punctuation or conjunction.
✔ Run-on
9. *The salesman wearing the red tie.*
→ Who? The salesman. What about him? He’s “wearing the red tie” — but that’s just describing him. There’s no main verb telling what he did. Not a full thought.
✔ Fragment
10. *The play was long we didn’t stay until the end.*
→ Two complete thoughts: “The play was long” and “we didn’t stay until the end.” No punctuation or connector.
✔ Run-on
---
Final Answer:
1. Fragment
2. Sentence
3. Sentence
4. Sentence
5. Run-on
6. Run-on
7. Fragment
8. Run-on
9. Fragment
10. Run-on
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of fragments and run ons worksheets with answer key.
