The Sentence

What is a Sentence?
A sentence is a word or word group that contains a subject and a verb and that expresses a complete thought. Examples:
The Cross Country Team won the race. Why did the girl stop running? Wait! (The understood subject is you)

What is a Sentence Fragment

A sentence fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence but does not contain both a subject and a verb or does not express a complete thought. Examples:
When they finish The hike through the woods

Sentence or Fragment?
Sailing around the world. They are sailing around the world. The hike through the Grand Canyon. The hike through the Grand Canyon was long and hard. After they pitched the tent. After they pitched the tent, they rested.

Try It
Decide whether each is a sentence or a fragment. If it is a sentence, write it in the correct form, using a capital letter and appropriate punctuation. Then, make the fragments complete, correct sentences.

1. do you know what happened during Michelles boat trip 2. down the rapids on the Colorado River 3. at first her boat drifted calmly through the Grand Canyon 4. then the river dropped suddenly 5. and became foaming rapids full of dangerous boulders

What is a Run-on Sentence

A run-on sentence is actually 2 complete sentences punctuated like one sentence. In a run-on, two separate thoughts run into each other, keeping the reader from telling where one idea ends and another one begins. Example:
Asteroids are tiny planets they are sometimes called planetoids. Some asteroids shine with a steady light, others keep changing brightness.

 Decide which of the following groups of words are run-on sentences. Then, revise each run-on by (1) making in into 2 separate sentences or (2) using a comma and and, but, or or.

Try It!

1. Saturn is a huge planet it is more than nine times larger than Earth. 2. Saturn is covered by clouds, it is circled by bands of color. 3. Saturns most striking feature is a group of rings that circles the planet.

Questions?

Subject and Predicate

Sentences are composed of two parts:
1. Subject tells whom or what the sentence is about. 2. Predicate tells something about the subject.

Examples:
The girls on the swim team were all good students. Running is good exercise. Subject = Red Predicate = White

Simple Subject and Complete Subject

The simple subject is the main word or word group that tells whom or what the sentence is about. The complete subject consists of all the words that tell whom or what a sentence is about. Examples:
The girls on the swim team were all good students. Running is good exercise. Complete Subject = Red and Yellow Simple Subject = Yellow

Simple Predicate and Complete Predicate

The simple predicate, or verb, is the main word or word group that tells something about the subject. The complete predicate consists of a verb and all the words that describe the verb and complete its meaning.

Examples
The girls on the swim team were all good students. Running is good exercise.

Complete Predicate = Blue including the verb (in green) Simple Predicate = Green

Try It!
What are the simple subjects of the following sentences? The complete subjects? 1. The four new students arrived early. 2. Is the winner of the go-cart race present? 3. A round walnut table with five legs stood in the middle of the dining room.

Try It!
What are the simple subjects of the following sentences? The complete subjects? 1. The four new students arrived early. 2. Is the winner of the go-cart race present? 3. A round walnut table with five legs stood in the middle of the dining room.
(simple subject = yellow, complete subject is underlined)

Try It!
What are the simple predicates of the following sentences? The complete predicates? 1. The pilot broke the sound barrier. 2. We should have visited the diamond field in Arkansas. 3. The telephone on the table rang.

Try It!
What are the simple predicates of the following sentences? The complete predicates? 1. The pilot broke the sound barrier. 2. We should have visited the diamond field in Arkansas. 3. The telephone on the table rang. (simple subject = green, complete subject is underlined)