Unit 1: Complete and Incomplete Sentences

What is a Sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. To be complete, a sentence must contain two essential parts: a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject does or is). A sentence always begins with a capital letter and ends with an end punctuation mark, such as a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

Example: Ramon ran to the store. (Complete Sentence)

What is a Fragment?

If a group of words does not contain both a subject and a predicate, or if it does not express a complete thought, it is called a sentence fragment. Fragments are incomplete and often leave the reader asking, “Who?” or “What happened?”

Example: Ran to the store. (Fragment – Missing Subject)
Example: The cute littledog. (Fragment – Missing Predicate)

Advanced Note: Clauses
A group of words with a subject and a verb is called a clause. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent clause (or subordinate clause) has a subject anda verb but cannot stand alone because it begins with a connecting word like because, if, or when. A dependent clause standing alone is considered a fragment.

Exercise 1: Sentence or Fragment?

Read the following groups of words. Write S if it is a complete sentence and F if it is a fragment.

  1. Kim took her driver’s test yesterday. ______
  2. She failed. ______
  3. Will take itagain next month. ______
  4. She is extremely disappointed. ______
  5. Practice makes perfect. ______
  6. Making left-hand turns. ______
  7. The animals in the Arctic. ______
  8. The bee flew from flower to flower. ______

Exercise 2: Identify the Missing Part

Decide what is missing from each fragment below. Write Subject, Predicate, or Both.

  1. Ran down the street quickly. ______
  2. The large, gray elephant. ______
  3. In the middle of the night. ______
  4. Enjoyed the delicious pizza. ______
  5. My best friend from school. ______
  6. Was sleeping on the couch. ______
  7. Under the kitchen table. ______
  8. The bright yellow sun. ______

Exercise 3: Fixing Fragments

Turn the following fragments into complete sentences by adding the missing subject or predicate. Write the complete sentence on the line.

  1. The lazy dog ______
  2. ______ flewfrom flower to flower.
  3. Jenny bought ______
  4. ______ paints pictures of animals.
  5. My house during the storm ______
  6. ______ went to the store.
  7. The jugglers at the county fair ______
  8. ______ should stretch before you exercise.

Exercise 4: Unscramble the Sentences

Rearrange the words to form a complete sentence. Remember capitalization and punctuation.

  1. every day / to school / with / we / them / go
  2. my homework / gave / yesterday afternoon / I / to / her
  3. you / before / the movie / saw / they
  4. I / I / my pen / put / it / under / think
  5. the books / Harry / this morning / from / got / us
  6. arm / playing / football / Jim / broke / his
  7. market / at / milk / I / got / the
  8. leader / Thomas / line / is / a / good

Exercise 5: Multiple Choice

Circle the letter of the group of words that is a complete sentence.

  1. A. Davy’s ax and rake.
    B. Was elected to Congress.
    C. Davy could drink the river dry.
  2. A. The pretty girl was Sally.
    B. The President’s law that came.
    C. Liked to dance.
  3. A. Very strong and brave.
    B. He saved the world.
    C. After the comet crashed.
    4. A. The car is red.
    B. The red car.
    C. Driving fast.
  4. A. Under the sea.
    B. Fish swim.
    C. Blue water.
  5. A. Singing loudly.
    B. The choir sang.
    C. The song.
  6. A. My favorite book.
    B.Reading is fun.
    C. Pages of the book.
  7. A. To the moon.
    B. The rocket launched.
    C. Flying high.

Exercise 6: Subject and Predicate Match

Draw a line to match the subject on the left with a predicate on the right to make a sensible sentence.

  1. 1. The little black dog       A. baked us cookies.
  2. 2. The lady across the street       B. chased our car down the street.
  3. 3. My sister Tiana        C. gives tests on Mondays.
  4. 4. That teacher        D. knows how to make jewelry.
  5. 5. The astronaut        E. roared loudly in the cage.
  6. 6. The fierce lion        F. walked on the moon.
  7. 7. A large pizza        G. was delivered to the house.
  8. 8. The old car        H. needsa new engine.
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