Sentence Factory · Today with The Mayor

Complete Sentences

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A capital letter, a subject (orange) and a predicate (green), and an end mark: one whole sentence.

Complete Sentences

Every sentence is built from two halves. Work through each one, then test it on the line.

Subject

Predicate

What makes a sentence complete

The subject tells who or what. The predicate tells what they do. Together they make one whole idea. Start it with a capital letter, finish it with an end mark, and you have a complete sentence.

On the line

The dog barked .

A capital letter, a subject (orange) and a predicate (green), and an end mark: one whole sentence.

Now you try

Put a who or what together with what they do, open with a capital letter, and close with an end mark.

The subject: who or what

The orange half is the subject: who or what the sentence is about. It is the person, animal, or thing the sentence talks about.

On the line

The cat slept .

The subject is who the sentence is about: the cat.

Now you try

Pick a person, an animal, or a thing. That is your subject.

The predicate: what they do or are

The green half is the predicate. It tells what the subject does. Its main word is the verb, the action.

On the line

Birds sing .

sing tells what the birds do.

Now you try

Add an action: ran, jumped, sang. The verb is the heart of the predicate.

Take a part away: a fragment

A fragment is missing a part. "Ran fast." Who ran? We do not know. Add the subject, "The dog ran fast," and it is complete.

On the line

Ran fast .

Fragment: no subject. Who ran? Add "The dog" and it is complete.

Now you try

Remove the subject or the predicate and the thought stops standing on its own. That is a fragment.