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The Building Blocks of Sentences

What is a Sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. It must have a subject and a predicate, and it must end with proper punctuation (period, question mark, or exclamation point).

A sentence answers: Who/What is the sentence about? (Subject) and What is happening? (Predicate)

Essential Components

Subject

The person, thing, or idea that the sentence is about. It performs the action or is being described.

Examples:

  • The cat sleeps.
  • Maria studies.
  • They are happy.

Predicate

The part of the sentence that tells what the subject does, is, or experiences. It always contains a verb.

Examples:

  • The cat sleeps peacefully.
  • Maria studies hard.
  • They are very happy.

Object

The person or thing that receives the action of the verb (not all sentences have objects).

Examples:

  • Maria reads a book.
  • They watched the movie.
  • I love ice cream.
Basic Sentence Pattern
Subject: The person or thing doing the action
Predicate/Verb: The action or state of being
Object: (Optional) What receives the action

Pattern: Subject + Verb (+Object)

Common Sentence Errors

Fragment: Missing Subject
Wrong: "Walked to the store." (Who walked?)
Correct: "Maria walked to the store."
Fragment: Missing Verb
Wrong: "The cat on the porch." (What about it?)
Correct: "The cat is on the porch."
Run-on Sentence: Two sentences joined incorrectly
Wrong: "I like pizza I eat it every day."
Correct: "I like pizza, and I eat it every day." or "I like pizza. I eat it every day."

Simple Sentences: One Independent Clause

The most basic sentence structure

What is a Simple Sentence? Beginner

A simple sentence has ONE independent clause: one subject and one verb. It expresses one complete thought.

Simple Sentence Structure
Subject + Verb (+ Object/Modifiers)

One independent clause = One complete thought

Examples of Simple Sentences

The dog barks.

Subject: The dog | Verb: barks | Object: None

Sarah eats breakfast.

Subject: Sarah | Verb: eats | Object: breakfast

They are happy.

Subject: They | Verb: are | Complement: happy

The students studied hard for the exam.

Subject: The students | Verb: studied | Object: hard for the exam

Key Point: Simple = One Independent Clause
"Simple" refers to the number of clauses, not the sentence complexity. A simple sentence can have multiple modifiers and still be simple as long as it has only ONE subject-verb combination.

Complex Simple Sentences

Even though they're called "simple," these sentences can have many descriptive words:

The large, golden retriever ran quickly through the park on a sunny afternoon.

Still simple: ONE subject (the dog) and ONE verb (ran)

Compound Sentences: Two Independent Clauses

Join equal ideas with conjunctions

What is a Compound Sentence? Intermediate

A compound sentence joins TWO OR MORE independent clauses (each could be a simple sentence on its own). The clauses are equal in importance.

Compound Sentence Structure
Independent Clause + Conjunction + Independent Clause

Two complete thoughts connected by a coordinator

Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS)

Use these conjunctions to join independent clauses:

for
Reason
"I studied hard, for the exam was difficult."