I.

THE COMPLETE SENTENCE

What is a sentence, really? Before learning the terms: subject, verb, predicate, students
need to understand what a sentence is and what it is not. They need to see sentences in
their reading and in their writing. If we look at a set of scrambled words, it becomes
easier to see what a complete sentence looks like.
a

Jose

is

rapper

great

Most of us know how to arrange these words into a complete thought:

Jose is a great rapper.
The sentence makes sense because it uses a verb, is, to tell about the subject, Jose.
Now try a harder set of scrambled words. Fill in the blanks below:
listen

to

songs

the

girls

Joses

pretty

The ______ girls ______ __ ____ songs.

You could see that the sentence is about pretty girls, not pretty songs and you figured out
what the girls do:
The pretty girls listen to Joses songs.
If students can see and understand how to form these sentences, they can write clearly so
that anyone who understands English can understand them. This includes not only their
teachers, but their friends, future employers, even the Department of Motor Vehicles.
So what makes these sentences complete? They consist of two basic parts: a subject and
a verb, and they express a complete thought.
The Subject is a word or words which answer the question who or what? It is what the
sentence is talking about.
The boys admire Joses talent. The noun, boys, is the subject that answers the question,
who admires Joses talent?
His rhymes are hypnotizing. The noun rhymes, tells us what was hypnotizing.

The verb may express action, telling you what the subject is doing, what happened to the
subject or it can tell you what condition the subject is in.
1. Music energizes people. Energizes tells what the subject, music, does.
2. Musical styles have changed over the years. Have changed tells what happened
to musical styles.
3. Music is a universal form of communication. Is tells the state or condition of
music and it links the subject to the second part of the sentence, the predicate.
The predicate is the second part of the sentence. It contains the verb and added words
which describe or complete the thought. The predicates in the examples above are:
1. energizes people.
2. have changed over the years
3. is a universal form of communication.

II. COMPOUND SUBJECTS and VERBS

Sentences may be about two subjects or may contain two verbs, joined by the
conjunctions, and or or.
Compound subjects: The subjects are underlined in the examples below
The Mississippi Blues and Hip Hop music tell personal stories of hardship.
Music or rhythm plays a role in most societies.
Underline the compound subjects in the sentences below:
Eminem and Michael Jackson are both singers.
Mozart and Beethoven were both classical composers.
Jazz, rock and rap are forms of popular music.
Compound verbs: The verbs are in bold in the examples below.
Music relaxes and comforts most people.
Children dance, skip, hop or jump around to the music.
Underline the compound verbs in the sentences below:
Rap artists often sing and dance simultaneously.
In the 1950s vocal singing groups sang a cappella and harmonized with each other.
Today performance artists recite poetry and play the drums as accompaniment.

Compound sentences are two complete sentences connected with a joining word such
as, and, but, or, for, nor, so or yet. Each sentence contains a subject-verb pair. The
joining word is underlined in the examples below.
Jose often composes his own music and he writes the lyrics for his songs.
50 Cent is a rap artist who uses foul language but Will Smith appeals to younger kids.
Usher makes the young teenage girls dizzy, yet Destinys Child is a big hit with the boys.

II. SENTENCE ERRORS

We often speak in bits and pieces of sentences, but in writing these phrases would not
make sense to a reader. The groups of words below, though they may be familiar, do not
express complete thoughts and would leave a reader guessing about the missing
information.
in the zone

the right stuff

here to stay

from time to time

love at first sight

one shot

Fragments
These phrases are called fragments. They may have a subject, but not a verb; they may
have a verb, but no subject. Sometimes they have neither verb nor subject. They are
fragments because they are missing one key part of a sentence. The missing part causes
the reader to ask, for example, what happens in the zone? or what is in the zone?
If we add an introductory phrase, plus a subject and verb, when a person feels inspired,
she is in the zone, weve completed the thought and created a sentence.
Or, we may add just two words, a subject and a verb: Alex Rodriguez is in the zone.
Or, we may add a complete sentence after the fragment: In the zone, the poet let loose
words which danced in our ears.
The subject-verb unit: Remember some two word pairs can stand alone as complete
sentences, because they contain the required subject and verb. In addition, they express a
complete thought.
Fish swim.
Babies cry.
Trees grow.
In each example, a subjectfish, babies, or trees, is doing one thing, that is expressed by
the verbswim, cry, or grow. In the fragments below, one of the key words is missing.
They can be corrected by adding a subject or a verb:
Fragment
_____ is cool.
Smart girls_____.
Men _____.

Sentence
Ricky is cool. (subject)
Smart girls rule. (verb)
Men manipulate. (verb)

Clause Fragments are groups of words with their own subjects and verb. Some clauses
can stand alonethe independent clause. Sometimes they can not. Dependent clauses
do not express complete thoughts, so they are considered fragments.
The independent clause has a subject and a verb. It expresses a complete thought.
The thief escaped.
San Jose is a beautiful city.
Lance Armstrong wins again.
The skier was soaring with the wind.
The dependent clause needs to be attached to another complete thought. Thats why it is
also called a subordinate clause. These clauses are fragments because the reader needs
to ask for more information. They usually begin with subordinating conjunctions: if,
since, when, because, while, etc.
When the thief escaped
Since Lance Armstrong wins again
Soaring with the wind
For example, what happened when the thief escaped? What will be the result of
Armstrong winning? Who or what was soaring with the wind?
These clauses do have subjects and verbs, but they lack something.
To correct a clause fragment, add a sentence to it which supplies the missing information:
When the thief escaped, fear filled the city.
Since Lance Armstrong won, Americans have been rejoicing.
Soaring with the wind, the skier felt ecstatic.
Correcting Fragments
There are several ways to correct a fragment. Each way involves adding either a subject
or a verb. You can use the fragment as a phrase to introduce another complete thought.
Refer to the phrases introduced at the beginning of this unit. Below they are turned into
complete sentences:
From time to time, we kick off our shoes and dance all night.
Teenagers often believe in love at first sight.
Our new teacher was here to stay.
The US Marine Corps has the right stuff.
One shot wins.