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Is this a sentence?. Grammar Mini Lesson. A sentence has a subject and a verb (a doer and an action). He kicked. She ate. We kissed. They laughed. The shortest sentence in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”. A complete sentence is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE. It can stand on its own.
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Is this a sentence? Grammar Mini Lesson
A sentence has a subject and a verb (a doer and an action) • He kicked. • She ate. • We kissed. • They laughed. • The shortest sentence in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”
A complete sentence is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE. It can stand on its own. Do you see the subject? The verb? • My cat has fleas. • I love fast cars. • Rain makes me sleepy.
What happens when you stick 2 independent clauses together? It’s a RUN-ON. INCORRECT: I hate her cat there is always cat hair in the food. INCORRECT: One time she made a pot roast long white hairs were stuck to it our dinner was wearing a mustache.
There are many ways to correct a run-on sentence! • Make 2 sentences: I hate her cat. There is always cat hair in the food. • Add a comma and a coordinating conjunction (a FANBOY): I hate her cat, for there is always cat hair in the food. NOTE: FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
And other ways . . . 4. Add a heavyweight connector: I hate her cat because there is always cat hair in the food. 5. Separate with a semi-colon: I hate her cat; there is always cat hair in the food.
Having problems with a sentence? Hints: • Make sure you have a sentence. • Put the subject and main verb at the beginning of the sentence for a strong tone. If you struggle with sentence structure, keeping the subject and main verb together is important for you.