(A fragment could be anything – not necessarily including subject and predicate.)

Once Adam smashed the spider…

| Adam = subject | smashed the spider= predicate

So what happened? Did his sister cheer him for his bravery or lecture him on animal rights? No complete thought = fragment; what this means is that this sentence is obviously incomplete. Here’s another one:

After Amy sneezed all over the tuna salad…

Yeah? Then what? A subordinate clause cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not provide a complete thought. The reader is left wondering, “So what happened?” If I didn’t finish the above two sentences about Amy and Adam, they would be considered fragments. So, the answer would be: b. Subordinate clause!

Hope this helps 🙂

PS, to clear any confusion you might have regarding the other choices and to thoroughly understand your grammar, visit: www.chompchomp.com (that is where I got all the examples from!)

🙂

Good Luck!!!