FIVE PARTS OF A COMPLETE SENTENCE

Capital Letters The first word of a complete sentence

must start with a capital letter. Even if a sentence has the other four

requirements. It HAS to have a capital letter at the

beginning.

Subject The subject of a complete sentence is who or

what the sentence is about. The subject of a sentence is always a noun or a

pronoun, however, it is important to note that while the subject is always a noun or a pronoun, a noun or pronoun is not always the subject.

Sentence fragments and incomplete sentences can lack subjects, as in the following examples:

• Went to the store.• Drove very quickly.• Under the stairs.

Predicate It is the action or what is going on in the

sentence. It’s always a verb, however it is important

to take note that it will always be a verb. Keep the linking verbs in mind: are, is,

am, was, and were.

Complete thought A sentence is incomplete if it does not

contain a complete thought. “The car drove” is an example of an

incomplete sentence because it does not contain a main idea.

The example contains a subject car , a predicate – drove a capital letter and terminal punctuation but without the complete thought it is not a complete thought.

Terminal Punctuation A complete sentence is not complete

without terminal (ending) punctuation. There are 3 types of terminal

punctuation. Period, Question mark, Exclamation point