The Sentence Chapter 1 Sentence and Fragment A sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate and contains a complete thought. A fragment is a group of words that might look like a sentence but does not contain everything it takes to make it a sentence! A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. A sentence will answer two important questions: Who or what did it? And What happened? By answering both of these questions, the sentence completes a thought. If both questions are not answered, the thought is not complete and the group of words is a fragment. Subjects The subject of a sentence tells whom or what the sentence is about. The subject of a sentence answers the question Who or what did it? Or About whom or what is something being said. The subject may come anywhere in the sentence, at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. The subject of a sentence is a word or group of words doing the job of a noun or pronoun. The subject will never be found in a prepositional phrase (those nouns and pronouns are the objects of the preposition!). The simple subject is the main word or word group that tells whom or what the sentence is about.
The simple subject is part of the complete subject. The complete subject is all of the words needed to tell whom or what the sentence is about. It is the simple subject and all of its modifiers. A modifier is a word or group of word that tells more about another word or group of words. (PHEW! A lot to remember isn’t it?!) Example: The Good Shepherd sixth grade students are really awesome. The simple subject is students. The complete subject is The Good Shepherd sixth grade students really awesome. The modifiers are The, Good Shepherd, sixth grade, really, and awesome.
A compound subject is made of two or more subjects that are joined by a conjunction (and, or, but) and share the same verb. (Two or more subjects doing the same thing!) Look for conjunctions and commas! Bill, Bob, and Tom are on the football team. Sally or I will be there to help on Saturday.
Predicates The predicate of a sentence tells something about the subject. The predicate of a sentence answers the question What happened? The predicate of a sentence is often the action of the sentence (something you can do). The predicate of a sentence will contain a verb. The complete predicate consists of a verb and all the words that describe the verb and complete its meaning. In other words, the verb and all of its modifiers. The simple predicate, or verb is the main word or word group in a complete predicate. Examples: Martha walked slowly across the room. The simple predicate is walked. The complete predicate is walked slowly across the room. Slowly and across the room are modifiers of the verb walked. A compound verb is made up of two or more verbs joined by a conjunction (and, or, but). (A subject doing two or more things!) Example: Martha hopped, skipped, and jumped all the way to her grandmother’s house.
“Hopped, skipped, and jumped” is a compound verb. The predicate of a simple sentence usually comes after the subject, but in some sentences the subject may be in the middle of the predicate. This is especially true if the sentence is a question. Examples: Quickly all of the children left for lunch. The complete predicate is quickly left for lunch. The simple predicate is left. In the sky were beautiful stars. The complete predicate is in the sky were. The simple predicate is were. Have you finished your homework? The subject, you, interrupts the verb. The predicate is have finished. *Helpful Hint When the sentence is a question, (interrogative sentence) turn it around to make a statement (declarative sentence). That usually makes it easier to find the subject and the predicate (verb). Example: Did you have a good day today? You did have a good day today! The predicate is the verb phrase did have.
Kinds of Sentences: Declarative Sentence A declarative sentence makes a statement. A declarative sentence ends with a period. Examples: You are doing a good job. Homework is not fun. *Hint Remember Aunt Sadie “I declare,” said Aunt Sadie. Imperative Sentence An imperative sentence gives a command or makes a request. Requests or tells someone to do something. Most imperative sentences end with a period. A strong command may end with an exclamation point. (It all depends upon how excited the speaker really is! The subject of an imperative sentence is always YOU even though the word you never appears in the sentence. This is called the understood subject or the understood YOU. Examples: Get ready to go to bed. (YOU) Get ready to go to bed. (That is what mom says at 8:30.) Get to bed right now and I mean it! Don’t make me come up there! (YOU) Go to bed right now!
(YOU) Don’t make me come up there! (This is what mom says at 10:45.) Interrogative Sentence An interrogative sentence asks a question. An interrogative sentence ends with a question mark. Example: How many more notes are there, Mrs. Murray? Is this going to be on the test? *Hint Remember CSI; they interrogate the suspects by asking questions. Exclamatory Sentences An exclamatory sentence shows excitement or expresses strong feeling. An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation point. *Use with care in your writing. Overuse will result in loss of effectiveness! Read the sentence and make sure it is not an imperative sentence. Example: Finally! The end of the chapter notes is here! I thought this lesson would never end! Good-bye!