Page 711 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

Sometimes, the -ing word may be the second or third word in the
fragment.

James hopped into his car and left the restaurant’s parking lot.

Not realizing that he had left his bucket of chicken on the roof of

the car.

James hopped into his car and left the restaurant’s parking lot,

not realizing that he had left his bucket of chicken on the roof of the

car.

Punctuation Pointer

Usually, -ing fragments can be connected to the rest of the

sentence with a comma. When the -ing fragment acts as an

introductory element, place a comma after it. When you add

it to the end of a sentence, lead into it with a comma.

Practice 16-3 Correcting -ing Fragments

Underline and correct the -ing fragments in the following exercise.

Write the corrected portion of each sentence on the line provided.

1. Puffing as if she had run a marathon. Bonita completed her first

lap on the circular track.

2. The vines grew thick on the abandoned house. Obscuring the
windows and part of the front door.