SENTENCE

PREPARED BY
ZARMINA SADIQ
What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a

complete thought.
Different kinds of sentences have different purposes.
A sentence can make a statement, ask a question, or
give a command.
A sentence can also express strong feeling.
All sentences begin with a capital letter and end with
a punctuation mark.
The punctuation mark depends on the purpose of
the sentence.
Kinds of sentences:

Sentences can be divided into the following

four kinds (not types) on the basis of the
purpose they serve:
Declarative sentence
Interrogative sentence
Imperative sentence
Exclamatory sentence
Declarative sentence

A declarative sentence makes a statement. It

ends with a period.
EXAMPLE
Edgar Allan Poe wrote suspenseful short
stories.
EXAMPLE
John and Stephanie whisper about a surprise
party for Maria.
Interrogative sentence

An interrogative sentence asks a question. It

ends with a question mark.
EXAMPLE
Did Poe also write poetry?
EXAMPLE
Would you like some cookies?
Imperative sentence

An imperative sentence gives a command or

makes a request. It ends with a period or
exclamation point.
EXAMPLE
Go walk the dog.
EXAMPLE
Get out there and walk the dog!
Exclamatory sentence

An exclamatory sentence expresses strong

feeling. It ends with an exclamation point.
EXAMPLE
What a great writer Poe was!
EXAMPLE
How I enjoy his stories!
Sentences and sentence
fragments
Every sentence has two parts; a subject and a
predicate.
EXAMPLE
Sentence
Emily Dickinson wrote poetry.
Subject Predicate
 The subject part of a sentence names whom or what
the sentence is about.
The predicate part of a sentence tells what the
subject does or has. It can also tell what the subject is
or like.
A sentence fragment does not express a complete
thought. It may also be missing a subject, a
predicate, or both.
Correcting sentence
fragments
FRAGMENT PROBLEM SENTENCE
The poems. The fragment lacks a The poems lay in
predicate. What did the Dickinsons bureau
poems do? for years.
Wrote about The fragment lacks a This famous poet
emotions. subject. Who wrote wrote about her
about emotions.
her emotions?
Of meaning. The fragment lacks a Her poems contain
subject and a many layers of
predicate. meaning.
 Subjects and Predicates
A sentence consists of a subject and a predicate
that together expresses a complete thought.
Both a subject and a predicate may consist of
more than one word.
EXAMPLE:
Complete Subject Complete Predicate
Charles Dickens novels are still popular today
 The complete subject includes all the words in the
subject of a sentence.
The complete predicate includes all the words in the
predicate of a sentence.
Not all words in the subject or the predicate are
equally important.
EXAMPLE:
Complete Subject Complete Predicate
The young Charles Dickens wrote many articles.
Simple Subject Simple Predicate
 The simple subject is the main word or word
group in the complete subject.
The simple subject is usually a noun or a
pronoun.
A noun is a word that names a person, a place,
a thing, or an idea.
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of one
or more nouns.
 The simple predicate is the main word or word
group in the complete predicate.
The simple predicate is always a verb.
A verb is a word that expresses action or a
state of being.
Sometimes the simple subject is the same as
the complete subject.
Sometimes the simple predicate is the same
as the complete predicate.
 Identifying the subject
In most sentences, the subject comes before the
predicate.
EXAMPLE:
Subject Predicate
Washington Irving described New York in his stories.

Other kinds of sentences, such as questions, begin

with part or all of the predicate.
 The subject comes next, followed by the rest
of the predicate.
EXAMPLE:
Predicate Subject Predicate
Are people still reading his stories?

To locate the subject of a question, rearrange

the words to form a statement.
 SUBJECT PREDICATE
Did Irving write many funny stories?
Irving did write many funny
stories.

The predicate also comes before the subject in

sentences with inverted word order and in
declarative sentences that begin with here is,
here are, there is, there are.
EXAMPLE:
Predicate Subject
Over the paper raced Irvings pen.
 EXAMPLE:
Predicate Subject
There is Irvings original manuscript.
In imperative sentences (requests and
commands), the subject is usually not stated.
The predicate is the entire sentence.
The word you is understood to be the subject.
Understood
subject Predicate

(You) Look for the authors name on the cover.

Compound subjects and compound
predicates
A sentence may have more than one simple
subject or simple predicate.
A compound subject consists of two or more
simple subjects that have the same predicate.
The subjects may be joined by and, or,
both.and, either.or, or neither.nor.
EXAMPLE:
Compound subject
Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte were sisters.
 When the two simple subjects are joined by
and or by both.and, the compound subject
is plural. Use the plural form of the verb to
agree with the plural compound subject.
When simple subjects are joined by or,
either.or, or neither. nor, the verb must
agree with the nearer simple subject.
 EXAMPLES:
Neither Charlotte nor Emily is my favorite
author.
Neither her sisters nor Charlotte was
outgoing.
Neither Charlotte nor her sisters were
outgoing.
 In the first sentence, Emily is the nearer
subject, so the singular form of the verb is
used.
In the second sentence, Charlotte is the
nearer subject, so the singular form of the
verb is used here too.
In the third sentence, sisters is the nearer
subject, so the plural form of the verb is used.
 A compound predicate consists of two or more
simple predicates, or verbs, that have the same
subject.
The verbs may be connected by and, or, but,
both.and, either.or, or, neither. nor.
EXAMPLE: Compound Predicate
Many students read and enjoy novels.
The compound predicate in this sentence
consists of read and enjoy. Both verbs agree with
the plural subject, students.
Simple, Compound, and Run-On
Sentences
A simple sentence has one subject and one
predicate.
EXAMPLE:
Simple Sentence
Eudora Welty lived in Jackson, Mississippi.
 A simple sentence may have a compound
subject, a compound predicate, or both as in
the following example.
EXAMPLE:
Simple Sentence
Jeff and I read and enjoy Weltys stories.
Compound Subject Compound Predicate
 A compound sentence is a sentence that
contains two or more simple sentences joined by
a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and,
but, or) or by a semicolon.
EXAMPLE:
Compound Sentence
Welty is a novelist, but she also writes essays.
Welty is a novelist; she also writes essays.
Simple Sentence Simple Sentence
 A run-on sentence is two or more sentences
incorrectly written as one sentence.
To correct a run-on, write separate sentences
or combine the sentences.
Correcting run-on sentences
RUN-ON
Welty wrote novels she wrote essays.
Welty wrote novels, she wrote essays.
CORRECT
Welty wrote novels. She wrote essays.
Welty wrote novels, and she wrote
essays.
Welty wrote novels; she wrote essays.