What Is Sentence? (with example)
What Is Sentence?
A sentence is a group of words that is used to say something, to ask something, or to tell
somebody to do something. It gives enough information for a person to form a complete idea in his mind of the message that is being communicated to him. There are five kinds of sentences as follow:
What Is Sentence?
In simple terms, a sentence is a set of words that contain:
1. a subject (what the sentence is about, the topic of the sentence)
2. a predicate (what is said about the subject)
Look at this simple example:
<----- sentence -----> | ||
subject | predicate | |
verb | ||
You | speak | English. |
The above example sentence is very short. Of course, a sentence can be longer and more complicated, but basically there is always a subject and a predicate. Look at this longer example:
<----- sentence -----> | ||
subject | predicate | |
verb | ||
Ram and Tara | speak | English when they are working. |
Note that the predicate always contains a verb. Sometimes, in fact, the predicate is only a verb:
<----- sentence -----> | ||
subject | predicate | |
verb | ||
Smoke | rises. | |
So we can say that a sentence must contain at least a subject and verb.
There is one apparent exception to this – the imperative. When someone gives a command (the imperative), they usually do not use a subject. They don't say the subject because it is obvious - the subject is YOU! Look at these examples of the imperative, with and without a subject:
<----- sentence -----> | ||
subject | predicate | |
verb | ||
Stop! | ||
Wait | a minute! | |
You | look! | |
Everybody | look! | |
Note that a sentence expresses a complete thought. Here are some examples of complete and incomplete thoughts:
complete thought? | |
He opened the door. | YES |
Come in, please. | |
Do you like coffee? | |
people who work hard | NO |
a fast-moving animal with big ears |
Note also that a sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop* or a question mark or an exclamation mark. Look at these examples:
People need food. |
How are you? |
Look out! |
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