Sentences

What is a Sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. It is like a small story that tells us who is doing something and what they are doing. Every sentence needs to stand on its own so that the person reading it understands exactly what you mean.

The Two Main Parts To be a complete sentence, it must have these two "puzzle pieces" joined together:

1. The Naming Part (Subject) This tells us who or what the sentence is about.

• Examples: The boy, My dog, A big red bus, Sarah.

2. The Action Part (Predicate) This tells us what is happening or what the subject is doing. It always includes a verb.

• Examples: ...ran fast, ...is sleeping, ...jumped over the fence.

The "Big 3" Rules of Writing a Sentence When you write a sentence, you must always check for these three things:

1. Starts with a Capital Letter: The very first word must begin with an uppercase letter.
2. Makes Sense: If you read it out loud, does it sound like a finished thought?
3. Ends with Punctuation: You must use a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamation point (!) to show you are finished.

How a Sentence Grows You can start with a tiny sentence and add more words to make it more interesting!

• Level 1 (Tiny): The dog barked.
• Level 2 (Adding Adjectives): The little, brown dog barked.
• Level 3 (Adding Detail): The little, brown dog barked at the mailman.

Sentence vs. Not a Sentence If a group of words is missing a part, we call it a fragment.

• Not a Sentence: "Running to the park." (Who is running? We don't know!)
• A Sentence: "The girl is running to the park."
• Not a Sentence: "The shiny blue car." (What is the car doing? We don't know!)
• A Sentence: "The shiny blue car is fast."

Lesson Summary

• A sentence is a complete thought.
• It needs a who (Subject) and a do (Action).
• It always starts with a Capital and ends with a Mark.