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SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
What is a sentence?
A sentence is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb
and makes sense on its own
A sentence can be:
A statement
The door is locked.
A question
Did you get there on time?
A command
Stop talking.
An exclamation
That’s great!
A sentence must have a subject and a verb
The door is locked
The door = subject
is = verb
Did you get there on time?
you= subject
Stop talking
the subject is assumed to be you
stop = verb
That’s great
That = subject
get = verb
is = verb
If a sentence is a command the subject is not stated, but is
assumed:
Stop talking.
You stop talking
All of you stop talking
Get out
You get out
All of you get out
Sentence Construction
A sentence is a string of words satisfying the grammatical rules of a
language. A sentence must make sense, start with a capital letter
and end with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark and
have a subject and verb.
Full stop.
Question mark ?
Exclamation mark!
Are these sentences? Exercise 1
Yes
The dog barked loudly.
Around the corner was.
On Monday, we.
The dog on the hillside.
Put it over there.
`
Thought about leaving the room.
Get out!
The leaves turned bright shades of red.
Are you going?
While walking up the street.
No
ANSWERS Exercise 1
Yes
The dog barked loudly.


Around the corner was.

On Monday, we.

The dog on the hillside.
Put it over there.


Thought about leaving the room.
Get out!
The leaves turned bright shades of red.
Are you going!
While walking up the street.
No




SUBJECT OF A SENTENCE
A sentence must make sense, start with a capital letter and end
with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark and have a
subject and verb.
The Subject
The subject is the person, place or thing or idea that the sentence is
'about'. Often (but not always) it will be the first part of the
sentence.
The subject is the person, place, thing or idea that is ‘doing’.
Sometimes there is more than one subject, but they will both/all be
‘doing’ the same thing.
Janet pushed the pram
Janet is the person ‘doing’. She is pushing.
My brother and sister live in the same road.
My brother and sister are the people ‘doing’. They are ‘living’
The thought popped into his head
The though is the idea ‘doing’. It ‘popped’
The bridge was opened so the ship could sail down the river.
The bridge is ‘doing’. It is ‘opening’
Exercise 2
Find the subject of these sentences.
Ask who or what is ‘doing’.
The Johnsons added a double garage to their house.
Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
Can you find the subject of a sentence?
The tiles in the bathroom needed cleaning.
John was arrested by the police.
The chain broke!
Will you call me?
She looked over the wall.
The cat and the dog slept all day
He loves playing football
Fifteen children sang in the choir
Jane and I were sorry to see them go.
She was happy to see her family again
It doesn't interest me at all.
Answers Exercise 2
The Johnsons added a double garage to their house.
Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
Can you find the subject of a sentence?
The tiles in the bathroom needed cleaning.
John was arrested by the police.
The chain broke!
Will you call me?
She looked over the wall.
The cat and the dog slept all day
He loves playing football
Fifteen children sang in the choir
Jane and I were sorry to see them go.
She was happy to see her family again
It doesn't interest me at all.
VERBS
A sentence must make sense, start with a capital letter and end
with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark and have a
subject and verb.
A sentence must have a verb. Verbs are ‘doing’ or ‘action’ words.
They tell you what the subject is doing.
Which of these verbs?
Exercise 3
JUMP
GO
CHANGE
JANET
THINK BRING
WALKED
LEG
SATURDAY
STAFF
AM
PLUG
TWILIGHT
BRIDGE
SINGING
PLAY
SAID
CUP
A verb is a ‘doing’ or ‘action’ word and can be found by putting ‘to’
in front of it.
To run, to jump, to sing, to walk
A verb also tells you when something has happened.
He walks – this is happening now
He walked- this has already happened
He will walk- this hasn’t happened yet
Answers to Exercise 3
jump
go
change
think bring
walked
Saturday
staff
Janet
leg
am
plug
twig light
bridge
singing
play
said
cup
SUBJECT AND VERB
Exercise 4: If you think it is wrong, correct the verb so it
agrees with the subject.
Pamela
he
I
Mark
all of us
you
my sister
she
they
we
the table
dogs
my neighbour
it
Shana
the doctor
the thief
footballers
students
teachers
girls
Darren
some of them
was
am
like
need
drive
write
lift
have
are
has
are
walk
feel
has been
say
put
said
goes
wants
say
dances
had
go
Answers to Exercise 4
Pamela
he
I
Mark
all of us
you
my sister
she
they
we
the table
dogs
my neighbour
it
Shana
the doctor
the thief
footballers
students
teachers
girls
Darren
some of them
was
am
is
like
need needs
drive
write
lift lifts
have
has
are
has
have
are
is
walk
feel
feels
has been
say
says
put
said
goes
go
wants want
say
dances
dance
had
go
WRITING SENTENCES
Read this passage and write each sentence out on an individual line.
Add capital letters, full stops, exclamation or question marks where
necessary.
Exercise 5
A strange thing happened to me on the way to college today I was
just going to cross the road when a big red van drove by the driver
sounded his horn and then opened his window I thought he was
going to shout at me instead he threw a cardboard box into the
road there was nobody around so I picked it up imagine my surprise
when I found out what was inside.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Exercise 5
Answers
1.
A strange thing happened to me on the way to college today.
2.
I was just going to cross the road when a big red van
drove by.
3.
The driver sounded his horn and then opened his
window.
4.
I thought he was going to shout at me.
5.
6.
Instead, he threw a cardboard box into the road.
There was nobody around, so I picked it up.
7.
Imagine my surprise when I found out what was inside.
TYPES OF SENTENCES
There are 3 types of sentences; simple, compound and complex.
We have looked at simple sentences. They have a subject and a verb
and must make complete sense on their own.
Example:
I went to the shop. I bought a newspaper. I gave the man £5.00. He
gave me change.
Compound sentences are two simple sentences joined together
with a conjunction (and, but, so, etc.)
Example:
I went to the shop and I bought a newspaper. I gave the man £5.00
and he gave me change.
Complex sentences are simple sentences joined to a dependent
clause (a dependent clause is a group of words that do not make
sense on their own)
Example:
On Monday, I went to the shop and I bought a newspaper. After I
found my purse, I gave the man £5.00 and he gave me change.
For more information and practice on compound and complex
sentences, please see below.
COMPOUND SENTENCES
Compound sentences are made up of at least 2 independent clauses
(complete simple sentences).
Compound sentences can be formed in three ways:

using coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so,
yet);

using the semicolon, either with or without conjunctive
adverbs;
Examples:
It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking ten.
It was a bright, cold day is an independent clause. It makes
sense on its own.
And is a conjunction
The clocks were striking ten is an independent clause. It makes
sense on its own.
Exercise 6
Add one of the following conjunctions to join these independent
clauses together into a compound sentence.
and
so
nor
yet
while as because
a comma in front of but)
but (you need
1) I gave the shopkeeper fifty pence. I had ten pence change.
2) We waited for Josie. She didn't turn up.
3) The weather was very cold. Steven wore gloves.
4) James was sad. His football team had lost the match.
5) Susan had her supper .She went to bed.
6) The children washed their hands. They had finished gardening.
7) We wanted to go to the beach. It rained.
8) Bilal read a book. He waited for the train.
9) Paul dropped the cup. It broke.
10) Julie was a very patient. She waited without complaining.
11) I will ignore him. He acts like a fool.
Answers to exercise 6
1) I gave the shopkeeper fifty pence and I had ten pence change.
2) We waited for Josie, but she didn't turn up.
3) The weather was very cold so Steven wore gloves.
4) James was sad because his football team had lost the match.
5) Susan had her supper and she went to bed.
6) The children washed their hands as they had finished gardening.
7) We wanted to go to the beach, but it rained.
8) Bilal read a book while he waited for the train.
9) Paul dropped the cup and it broke.
10) Julie was a very patient so she waited without complaining.
11) I will ignore him because he acts like a fool.
COMPLEX SENTENCES
Complex sentences are made up of independent clauses (complete
simple sentences) and dependant clauses (not whole sentences). If
the independent clause comes at the front of the sentence, you DO
NOT need a comma. If the dependant clause comes at the front of
the sentence, you do. Example:
I have played tennis since I was a young boy.
I have played tennis is an independent clause (a complete
sentence)
Since I was a young boy does not make sense on its own. It is a
dependant clause.
If the clauses are changed round to make this sentence:
Since I was a young boy, I have played tennis,
The sentence needs a comma.
Exercise 7: Change the clauses around and use commas where
necessary.
They have worked here since 1987.
As I was finishing my homework, the dinner was ready
He will let us know as soon as he decides
As soon as I hear from Tom, I will give you a telephone call.
Whenever he comes, we go and have lunch at "The Green Man".
We take a hike every time he visits.
The first time I went to New York, I got lost in the city.
I saw Jack the last time I went to the market.
Answers to Exercise 7:
Since 1987, they have worked here.
The dinner was ready as I finished my homework.
As soon as he decides, he will let us know.
We go and have lunch at ‘The Green Man’ whenever he comes.
Every time he visits, we take a hike.
I got lost in the city the first time I went to New York.
The last time I went to the market, I saw Jack.
THE COMMA SPLICE
Commas are often used where a full stop should be used.
For instance: Paul loves to travel, he visits Spain every month.
The comma should not have been use here as there are two
independent sentences.
Paul loves to travel. He visits Spain every month.
Exercise 8
Write out the following passages changing the commas to full stops
where necessary.
1. I am a clever farmer and I don’t believe in wasting
money, I have found an easy way to weigh a pig, there is
no need to buy expensive scales, you take a long plank
and place the plank across a stool, you get a big stone
and put the pig on one end of the plank, put the stone on
the other end and shift the position of the plank, make
the pig and the stone balance each other, guess the
weight of the stone and you have the weight of the pig.
2. John Smith desperately wanted to be a great actor, he
went to an audition for the part of Abraham Lincoln, he
dressed up to look exactly like the great man, wearing a
hop-hat, a red sash, black frock-coat and big shiny
boots, he made his face up to look like Lincoln, with a big
false nose and a fringe beard, he learned the famous
speech Abraham had made after the Battle of
Gettysburg, but he did not get the part as he was
assassinated on the way home from the audition.
Exercise 8 ANSWERS
1. I am a clever farmer and I don’t believe in wasting
money. I have found an easy way to weigh a pig. There
is no need to buy expensive scales. You take a long plank
and place the plank across a stool. You get a big stone
and put the pig on one end of the plank, put the stone on
the other end and shift the position of the plank. Make
the pig and the stone balance each other. Guess the
weight of the stone and you have the weight of the pig.
2. John Smith desperately wanted to be a great actor. He
went to an audition for the part of Abraham Lincoln. He
dressed up to look exactly like the great man, wearing a
hop-hat, a red sash, black frock-coat and big shiny
boots. He made his face up to look like Lincoln, with a big
false nose and a fringe beard. He learned the famous
speech Abraham had made after the Battle of
Gettysburg, but he did not get the part as he was
assassinated on the way home from the audition.