How to Make Complete Sentences


Professor Pen says, 

"A complete sentence must have two parts!"

       A subject (HINT: A noun that the sentence is about)
       A predicate(HINT: contains some kind of VERB that the subject is or did, or is doing)

 

     
Easy Activity Page - an activity to identify subject and predicate
To be or not to be.....a sentence -activity to identify complete sentences
Take Professor Pen's Subject and Predicate Test!

Here is  a simple sentence:

The boy ran.
 

Subject
Predicate
The boy
ran

"The boy" is the subject. The sentence is about "the boy".
"ran" is the predicate. What did "the boy" do? The boy "ran".

When you start adding words to the sentence, they either connect themselves to the subject or to the predicate.

Example:

The boy ran slowly.
 

Subject
Predicate
The boy
ran slowly

 

"The boy" is the complete subject.
"ran slowly" is the complete predicate.

You can add prepositional phrases to the sentence, making it a complex sentence:

The boy ran slowly around the track.

Subject
Predicate
The boy
ran slowly around the track

because "around the track" describes how he ran, it becomes part of the predicate.

You can add adjectives to describe the boy:

The lazy boy ran slowly around the track.
 

Subject
Predicate
The lazy boy
ran slowly around the track

Because "lazy" describes the boy, it becomes part of the subject.

Compare our first sentence to our current sentence:

The boy ran.        The lazy boy ran around the track.

These two sentences tell a completely different story, don't they? The second sentence gives the reader a clearer picture of what is happening, yet both contain a subject and a predicate.
 
 

Common Mistakes
Having only a subject, but no predicate:

That woman next door.

This is only the subject. We need to know WHAT? What is she, or what is she doing, or what did she do????

These sentences would be complete sentences:

That woman next door is pretty.
That woman next door bought a dog.
That woman next door runs every day.

or even

That woman lives next door.

 

Having only the predicate:

I did a lot of things this week. I did my homework. went shopping.

Who went shopping? Well, we know you went shopping, but that's not what was written, was it? You can fix this a couple of ways:

I did my homework and went shopping.

I did my homework. I also went shopping.

 

:
 
 

Easy Activity Page - an activity to identify subject and predicate
To be or not to be.....a sentence -activity to identify complete sentences
Take Professor Pen's Subject and Predicate Test!

 
 
 

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