Understanding sentences

“The way you live your life is a sentence in the story of your life. Every day you make the choice whether the sentence ends with a period, question mark or exclamation sign.”

– Dr Steve Maraboli

HI THERE, students! Before I begin the main part of this lesson, please complete the multiple-choice activity below. The answers will be given at the end of the lesson. No peeking!

INSTRUCTION:

1. Can you ask Mary’s mother to assist you?” Ricardo asked? No error.

A B C D

2. “It’s very important that you tell the truth, the lawyer urged his client. No error A B C D

3. “Who’s willing to climb that mountain?” the guide asked. No error A B C D

4. If you don’t ask him, you will never know what he thinks. No error A B C D

5. Mr Miller watched the movie terminator and thought it was pretty awesome. No error A B C D

6. Merlene is a good athlete, she has helped to put her country’s name on the map. No error A B C D

7. Christmas eve falls on the 24th of December and many parties are usually held. No error A B C D

8. There is no way i am going to miss the opportunity to see Prime Minister Andrew Holness. No error A B C D

9. Sarah love’s to read mystery novels; her sister loves to watch classic movies. No error A B C D

10. Frank thinks its very important for us, to assist our neighbours in times of distress. No error A B C D

Now, let’s focus on sentences! In the English A examination, you will be required to complete several written tasks. Your ability to produce quality writing depends on the content you produce. Your sentences are a key part of your content. For this lesson, I will be revising the different aspects of sentences. Let’s begin!

WHAT IS A SENTENCE?

This is a group of words which expresses a complete thought. A sentence also contains a subject and a predicate.

Subject – This is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing, being something or being spoken about. A sentence may also have a compound subject (a subject containing two or more simple subjects joined by ‘and’ or ‘or’).

Predicate – The predicate is the part of the sentence that makes a statement about the subject. The predicate usually tells us what the subject is doing or what is happening to the subject. A sentence can also have a compound predicate (two or more verbs that are joined by a conjunction and a compound subject (Mary and John).

PARTS OF A SENTENCE

■ Phrase: This is a group of words that do not include the subject-verb pairing that is necessary to make a clause. Examples: Walking down the road, the nice neighbour, felt very excited.

■ Clause: This is a combination of words within a sentence that comprises a subject and a predicate. It may or may not express a complete thought. Examples: While he walked down the road; or He walked down the road.

TWO TYPES OF CLAUSES

■ Independent Clause: Also known as the main clause, it can stand alone. Example: He opened the door.

■ Dependent Clause: Also known as a subordinate clause, it cannot function as a complete sentence. Example: after he opened the door

PART OF SPEECH

This is one of the nine main categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences. The main parts of speech are: nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns and adverbs.

KINDS OF SENTENCES

■ Declarative (Gives a statement) – My sister is in the room.

■ Interrogative (Asks a question) – Do you like to eat pizza?

■ Exclamatory (Expresses strong emotion) – This is the worst day ever!

■ Imperative (Gives a command) – Put the book on the shelf.

TYPES OF SENTENCES

All in all, it is very important for you to know about sentences. This way, you will have a heightened awareness of how to write sentences so you will complete your written tasks satisfactorily.

Activity Alert!

Instruction: Identify whether each sentence below is simple, compound, complex or compound-complex.

1. My sister enjoys hiking but I like swimming.

2. While she examined the menu, Leroy admired her beauty.

3. The dog and cat love to play together.

4. While he drove down the road, he listened to music and his wife read a book.

5. Give me my pen.

6. Tiffany refuses to tell the truth although she will not be punished.

Look out for the answers next week! Take care!

Answers to the multiple-choice activity above: C, B, D, D, B, A, A, B, A, A

Answers for last week’s capitalisation activity: Jessica, I, Japanese, If, India, Hinduism, Mercury, Trevor, Saturday, Fenty, Rihanna, Christmas, Old Harbour High School