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Since some sentences dont, in fact, require an object, some grammarians prefer to say that the English sentence consists of a subject and a predicatea predicate being the verb and its object, or the verb and its modifiers:
Subject |
Michael | Michael |
Predicate
kicked the ball. slept.
Michael |
Michael |
slept fitfully.
almost never sleeps.
Writing Sentences
A group of words that expresses a complete thought is always a sentence: Maria bought a kettle. Tara bought a fan. Two complete thoughts linked by a conjunction are also a sentence: Maria bought a kettle, but Tara bought a fan.
The Concept
The concept, then, is very simple: A sentence contains one complete thought. Compound sentences are made up of two or more complete thoughts linked by conjunctions. Anything else is not a sentence.
Sentence Faults
Many people fail to recognize errors in sentence structure. This failure creates serious problems in communication and leaves readers feeling confused, frustrated, and unwilling to read any further. Sentence faults are major errors and should never occur in college-level writing.
2.
3.
Run-ons
Comma Splices
If any of these errors occur in your writing, you must strive to eliminate them.
Fragment Sentences
The fragment sentence is essentially an incomplete thought. Some element of the typical sentence is missingit is lacking a subject, or some vital part of its predicate. John and Michael and their friend Rory.
Run-on Sentences
The run-on sentence consists of several thoughts that merge into each other without the use of proper punctuation. They are sentences which require commas or semi-colons to function correctly. I went to Paris it was beautiful especially in the spring thats when we were there I want to go again next year the point is will I have the money. I got an A on my last exam I really dont know how since I didnt study for it at all I think maybe I was just lucky it was not a grade I actually deserved.
Painting by Magritte
The End
PowerPoint Presentation by Mark A. Spalding, BA, MEd, MA, 2007