Question

Are these complete sentences, or is one of them a fragment?
Concerned, the clerk stared at Nakia's groceries. Especially because he noticed that the cart only contained chocolate bars.

Answer 1

The first sentence is complete; the second is a fragment.

- "Concerned, the clerk stared at Nakia's groceries." — complete. ("Concerned" is a participial phrase; the sentence has an independent clause: "the clerk stared...".)
- "Especially because he noticed that the cart only contained chocolate bars." — fragment. It begins with the subordinating conjunction "because" (headed by the modifier "especially") and does not form an independent clause, so it cannot stand alone.

Fixes: attach the dependent clause to the main clause or turn it into a full sentence. Examples:
- "Concerned, the clerk stared at Nakia's groceries, especially because the cart contained only chocolate bars."
- "The clerk was concerned because he noticed that the cart only contained chocolate bars."
- "Concerned, the clerk stared at Nakia's groceries. He was especially bothered because the cart contained only chocolate bars."