Worksheets › Fragments & Run-Ons (Grades 2-4)

Free Printable Sentence Fragment and Run-On Worksheets (Grades 2-4)

Two errors dominate elementary writing and they are opposites: a fragment stops too soon, a run-on never stops. These sheets cover spotting each one and - more usefully - the three standard ways to repair a run-on, since which one to use is a real choice about how the ideas relate.

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Fragments and Run-Ons - Grades 2-4

The four kinds of sentence

1.
What kind of sentence is this?
Write your name at the top.
2.
What kind of sentence is this?
What a huge dog that is!
3.
What kind of sentence is this?
How many pages did you read?

Spotting a fragment

4.
Which one is not a complete sentence?
5.
Which one is not a complete sentence?
6.
Which one is not a complete sentence?

Fixing a fragment

7.
Which one fixes this fragment?
Three brown puppies in a cardboard box.
8.
Which one fixes this fragment?
Sang every song twice.
9.
Which one fixes this fragment?
A cold wind from the north.

Spotting a run-on

10.
Which one is a run-on - two sentences jammed together with nothing between them?
11.
Which one is a run-on - two sentences jammed together with nothing between them?
12.
Which one is a run-on - two sentences jammed together with nothing between them?

Three ways to fix a run-on

13.
Which repair is correct? Two of these are the mistakes people make when they try to fix a run-on.
My bike has a flat tire I walked to school.
14.
Which repair is correct? Two of these are the mistakes people make when they try to fix a run-on.
The soup was too hot I waited five minutes.
15.
Which repair is correct? Two of these are the mistakes people make when they try to fix a run-on.
My bike has a flat tire I walked to school.

Sentence, fragment, or run-on?

16.
Read it carefully. Is this a complete sentence, a fragment, or a run-on?
Because the power went out.
17.
Read it carefully. Is this a complete sentence, a fragment, or a run-on?
The bell rang everyone stood up.
18.
Read it carefully. Is this a complete sentence, a fragment, or a run-on?
The rain stopped we went outside.

Answer Key

1.A command - it tells you to do something, and usually ends with a period
2.An exclamation - it shows strong feeling, and ends with an exclamation point
3.A question - it asks something, and ends with a question mark
4.Although she had studied for hours.
5.A cold wind from the north.
6.Waiting quietly by the door.
7.Three brown puppies in a cardboard box slept in the sun.
8.The choir sang every song twice.
9.A cold wind from the north rattled the windows.
10.The soup was too hot I waited five minutes.
11.I like pizza my brother likes pasta.
12.The bell rang everyone stood up.
13.My bike has a flat tire. I walked to school.
14.The soup was too hot, so I waited five minutes.
15.Because my bike has a flat tire, I walked to school.
16.Fragment - something is missing
17.Run-on - two whole ideas with nothing between them
18.Run-on - two whole ideas with nothing between them

Want practice that adapts to your child?

These printables come straight from Lit Ladder - an adaptive K-12 reading program that gives your child a quick placement check, finds exactly where they are (not just their grade), and moves them up one skill at a time - from hearing the sounds in a spoken word to weighing evidence in a nonfiction text.

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Frequently asked questions

Are these fragment and run-on worksheets free?
Yes - view, print, and share every sheet for free, with no account and no signup.

Do they include an answer key?
Every worksheet has a full answer key at the bottom of the page.

What grades are these fragment and run-on worksheets for?
They are designed for grades 2 to 4.

Does my child need to read the questions alone?
No. Print it and read the instructions aloud if that is what the sheet needs - at these ages the point is the skill, not whether they can decode the directions.

Can I get a different worksheet?
Yes - click “Generate a new sheet” and a fresh set of problems (with a matching answer key) is created instantly.