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Complete Sentences

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Complete Sentences
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1.E

Basics on the topic Complete Sentences

How to Identify Complete Sentences and Fragments

A sentence is a word or group of words with a complete thought. Sentences always begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation. A complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate. If a sentence is missing information, like the subject or a predicate, we call it a sentence fragment. We correct sentence fragments by adding the missing information. Complete sentences and fragments worksheets are available to be printed for continued practice.

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Sentence fragments example 25658_SEO_line14.svg

How to Identify Run-On Sentences

If a sentence has too much information, we call it a run-on sentence. We correct it by adding punctuation to separate into two independent thoughts or join the thoughts together with a conjunction. A run on sentences worksheet is available to be printed for continued practice.

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Additional Practice

There is additional practice with complete sentences vs fragments, plus run-on sentences following the video. There are also run-on sentences exercises. Sofatutor also offers run-on sentences and fragments worksheets with answer sheets that can be used for practice and assessment.

Transcript Complete Sentences

Complete Sentences "Koko, can you proofread this letter to my Nana?" "Sure, let me look." "This is a very nice letter, but I see you are missing some complete sentences!" A sentence is a word or group of words that have a complete thought. Sentences ALWAYS begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation. A complete sentence MUST have a subject and a predicate. The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action of the sentence. In the sentence, 'Pip wrote a letter to his Nana', the subject is Pip. The predicate of a sentence tells what the subject is doing or what the subject is. The predicate of this sentence is ' wrote a letter because it tells what Pip did. If a sentence is missing information, like the subject or a predicate, we call it a sentence fragment. We correct sentence fragments by adding the missing information. If a sentence has too much information, we call it a run-on sentence... and correct it by adding punctuation to separate into two independent thoughts... or join the thoughts together with a conjunction. Let's read through Pip's letter and correct the sentence fragments and run-ons. Dear Nana, It's me, Pip! I hope you are doing well! That I miss you. 'That I miss you ' is not a complete thought, so we need to correct it by adding the missing information. We add the subject to the sentence. Since Pip is writing the letter, the subject would be I and we put it here. The predicate is what Pip wanted to do. He wanted to tell his Nana that he missed her, so we'll add the words I wanted to tell you here. The complete sentence says I wanted to tell you that I miss you! Koko and I are living in a treehouse. Koko is my best friend we go everywhere together have so much fun. This is a run-on sentence because there is more than one complete thought that is not connected properly. The first complete thought is 'Koko is my best friend', so we will put punctuation here. Since a new sentence starts here, we now need to capitalize the in we. We go everywhere together AND have so much fun are also two complete thoughts. These two thoughts CAN remain inside the same sentence because they are joined by the conjunction AND. A talented artist and very smart. What does Pip need to do to make this sentence fragment a complete sentence? He needs to add a subject and predicate. Koko is a talented artist and very smart. She is so funny I want to be just like her! How would you correct this run-on sentence? One way to correct this run-on sentence is to add punctuation and make it two different sentences. She is so funny! I want to be just like her! In the comment section, share one of the other ways you could correct this run-on sentence. Write back, Nana! Love, Pip. While Pip sends off his letter, let's review. A sentence is a word or group of words having a complete thought. Sentences begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation. A complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate. If a sentence is missing information, like the subject or a predicate, we call it a sentence fragment. We correct sentence fragments by adding the missing information. If a sentence has too much information, we call it a run-on sentence and correct it by adding punctuation or a conjunction. "Koko, my Nana wrote me back AND sent me a present!" "What is it, Pip?" "Go try it on!" "Look! I look JUST like you!"

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  1. It so good guys Chex it out pup is the best please like and sub to my channel and please favorite this in the comment so yeah this video really helped me cuase I was having trouble with writing complete sentences but this honestly helped me so much now I am writing full essay so thank you for this video

    From Denique, 11 months ago

Complete Sentences exercise

Would you like to apply the knowledge you’ve learned? You can review and practice it with the tasks for the video Complete Sentences .
  • What are the parts of a complete sentence?

    Hints

    A sentence is a group of words that have a complete thought.

    Solution

    A complete sentence must begin with a capital letter, end with a punctuation mark, and have a subject and predicate.

  • Change the sentence fragments to complete sentences.

    Hints

    This example shows a sentence fragment. This sentence is missing a predicate.

    This example shows a complete sentence. This sentence has both a subject and a predicate.

    Solution

    A sentence fragment can be corrected to a complete sentence by adding the missing information.

  • Identify the parts of a complete sentence.

    Hints

    The bolded sentence is a complete sentence.

    A complete sentence has both a subject and a predicate.

    • A subject is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action of the sentence.
    • A predicate tells us what the subject is doing or what the subject is.

    The bolded words in the following examples are subjects.

    • Benny goes camping in the mountains.
    • Amy went rollerblading with her grandpa.

    The bolded words in the following examples are predicates.

    • Benny goes camping in the mountains.
    • Amy went rollerblading with her grandpa.

    Solution

    A complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate. A subject is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action of the sentence. A predicate tells us what the subject is doing or what the subject is.

  • Determine if the sentence is fragment or complete.

    Hints

    A complete sentence needs both a subject and a predicate.

    Are any sentences missing a subject?

    Solution

    A complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate. A sentence fragment is a sentence that is missing information, like the subject or predicate.

  • Identify which option is a complete sentence.

    Hints

    Sentences begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation.

    Solution

    A complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate. A subject is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action of the sentence. A predicate tells us what the subject is doing or what the subject is.

  • Identify what each sentence needs in order to be a complete sentence.

    Hints

    A run-on sentence can be corrected by adding a conjunction, such as "and."

    A run-on sentence can be corrected by adding punctuation.

    Solution

    Predicate

    • Sara wants to take her puppy to the dog park.
    Conjunction
    • CeCe wants to plant a garden, so she bought sunflower, tulip, and rose seeds to grow.
    Capital Letter
    • The family was so excited to celebrate together! It was Grandma's 96th birthday!
    Subject
    • Benny is going kayaking. He will need to bring his sunscreen and sunglasses.
    Punctuation
    • They all yelled, "Surprise!" when Grandma walked into the room.