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by Becky L. Spivey, M.Ed.
What Is a Sentence?
A sentence is a group of written words expressing
a statement, question, command, or exclamation that
always begins with a capital letter and must end with
an appropriate punctuation mark. A sentence’s purpose
is to provide or request information. When reading
a sentence, the reader distinguishes each word with
patterns of stress, pitch, and pause, giving the sentence
meaning, feeling, and a purpose. We speak using
words, phrases, and sentences, but we don’t necessarily
write the way we speak. There are rules to follow.
Teaching children to write sentences well, in turn, helps
them become better readers and communicators.
Rules of Sentence Building
Use the following rules to introduce or extend sentence building with your
students.
1. Complete sentences have at least two words that make an independent clause,
meaning the two words can stand alone – a noun (person, place, or thing) or
pronoun (a word that takes the place of a noun), a verb (an action word), and ending
punctuation. The first word always begins with a capital letter. These two words in
correct order can stand alone – independently.
I sleep. Dad drives. Babies cry. May I? (I may.) Will they? (They will.)
2. Add a dependent clause – a clause or phrase that cannot stand alone (often referred
to as a fragment) – to extend the sentence’s information.
I sleep in my bed. Dad drives home from school. Babies cry when they’re hungry.
The bold words make a dependent clause (fragment) which cannot stand alone.
Dependent clauses can follow an independent clause as in the previous sentences or
introduce an independent clause, as in, “When they’re hungry, babies cry,” or “In my
bed, I sleep.”
3. Introduce other parts of speech –
- Articles (a, an, the) – identify nouns without describing them [an always comes
before a word beginning with a vowel or vowel sound (an umbrella, an hour)].
The apple... An octopus... A girl...
- Adjectives – describe nouns
I sleep in a soft bed. Dad drives a fast car. Little babies cry a lot.
- Adverbs – describe when, where, or how an action occurs and can appear before or
after the verb.
I sleep soundly in a soft bed. Dad always drives a fast car. Little babies usually cry a lot.
- Conjunctions – link phrases or clauses together with words like for, and, nor, but, or,
yet, so.
I sleep soundly and wake up early. Dad drives a fast car, but he obeys the speed
limit. Little or young babies cry a lot.
I sleep soundly, so I feel good in the morning. Dad drives a fast car, yet he is
careful. Babies cry, for they are hungry.
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