Sentences

1. Eng I Sentences

2. Sentences A sentence is a word or word group that contains a subject and a verb and that expresses a complete thought. Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, exclamation point or a question mark. Sentence fragments are words or word groups that are capitalized and punctuated, but that do not contain a subject, verb or complete thought.

3. Sentences Sentence: I went to the store. Fragment: Went to the store. Sentence: He liked to eat cake. Fragment: He eat cake. Sentence: Go to the store. Fragment: To the store.

4. Subject The subject tells who or what the sentence is about. Most of the time, the subject comes before the verb. (But not always.) The subject is NEVER in a prepositional phrase. Example: Colorful details bring scenes to life. Example: The family of bears hibernated for the winter. Example: Ever since the game, most of the players have been tired.

5. Subject To find the subject of a sentence, find the verb first. Then ask who or what did the verbing. I went to the store. Verb: Went Who went to the store? I = subject

6. Predicate The predicate says something about the subject. The predicate usually begins with the verb. Example: Jazz music filled the room. Example: The piano carried the melody. Example: She stayed in the background.

7. Types of sentences A declarative sentence makes a statement. Example: She went to the store. An interrogative sentence asks a question and ends in a question mark. Who goes there? An imperative sentence gives a command. Go to the store. Eat the apple. An exclamatory sentence expresses emotion and ends in an exclamation point. I knew you could do it!

8. Simple sentence A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb. I run to the store. I swim in the lake. She likes to eat pizza. I wish on a star.

9. Compound sentences Compound sentences have two clauses that are separated by a conjunction. Each clause can be a sentence on its own if you take out the conjunction. If one side of the conjunction doesn’t make sense on its own, it is not a compound sentence. I want to go and I will go. I want to go. I will go. I like to eat ham and cheese. I like to eat ham. Cheese. Not a compound sentence.

10. NOTICE Use a comma for coordinating conjunctions except for: If both independent clauses are quite short, especially if the two clauses are very closely related, and even more so if the subject of both clauses is the same. Linda washed the dishes and Naomi cleaned up the living room.

11. NOTICE Use a comma for coordinating conjunctions except for: Even if only the first clause is quite short, especially if the two clauses are very closely related, and even more so if the subject of both clauses is the same. You have to write that paper tonight or you will almost certainly lose points for turning it in late.

12. Complex sentences A complex sentence is made up of a clause that makes sense on its own and a clause that doesn’t make sense on its own. The clause that doesn’t make sense is separated from the main part of the sentence by a comma. Running to the store, he tripped and fell. Running to the store. He tripped and fell. They jumped and sang, which showed their celebration. They jumped and sang. Which showed their celebration.

13. Complex sentences A complex sentence includes one independent clause – a clause that can stand alone – and one or more subordinate clauses – a clause that cannot stand alone. Many people are afraid of bats, which are usually harmless creatures. My sister took me to a large outdoor aquarium, which had sharks on display. Running to the store, the girl tripped and fell.

14. NOTICE Phrases and clauses are set off by COMMAS. Use a COMMA to indicate a phrase or a clause that is separate from the main sentence. Many people are afraid of bats, which are usually harmless creatures. My sister took me to a large outdoor aquarium, which had sharks on display. Running to the store, the girl tripped and fell.

15. Run-on sentences Run-on sentences contain more than one thought and do not have commas, semi-colons or conjunctions. Example: She went to the store and she went to the park and she went to the mall then she ate pizza. Instead: She went to the store, to the park and to the mall. Then she ate pizza. Fix run-on sentences by adding a conjunction or a semi-colon, or making the sentence new.

16. Run-on sentences I did not want to go I did. I did not want to go but I did. I did not want to go; I did. I did not want to go. I did. She ate pizza and drank soda and watched TV and laughed at the TV show and then she went to bed. She ate pizza and drank soda. She watched TV and laughed at the show. Then she went to bed.

17. Run-on sentences Limit the number of ideas in a sentence to three. She likes to fish, swim and run. I like to eat, I like to sleep and I like to fish. If two ideas are separated by a conjunction, limit the number of ideas to two. I like to eat and I like to fish.

18. Sentence Fragments Sentence fragments are incomplete thoughts. They are lacking a subject, verb or complete thought, OR their subject and verb do not agree. To the store. Out the window. She drink lemonade.

19. Why do I need to know this, Mrs. Kelly????? When we know different sentence structures, we can vary them in our writing. Our writing flows better if we use different types of sentences. It sounds better to our readers. Example: Jill ran to the store. Jill ate a banana. Jill walked her dog. Instead: Jill ran to the store and while there, she ate a banana. Then she walked her dog. While walking her dog, they ran into another dog.