Sentences

A Sentence is simply a set of words. It has a subject and predicate.  

Subject:  The topic of the sentence. It is what the sentence is all about. It contains a common / proper noun (e.g.: he/she/ boy, boys / women/ Tom, Jerry, Chicago, Cat, etc.) 

Predicate: Tells us about what the subject is doing or what the subject is about. It must have a verb. It may/ may not contain an object. 

An object is something that receives the action. E.g.: Jerry is being chased by Tom. 

Note: 

• In the first sentence there is a subject a verb and an object. 
• In the second, third and fourth sentence there is only subject and verb. 
• In the fifth sentence the subject is hidden.  
• There must be a verb. Otherwise, it would not be a sentence. 

A sentence expresses a complete thought.  

Summary  

• The rule of a sentence is it begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop / question mark / exclamation mark. 
• It must always express a complete thought. It should express fragmented thought.   
• It must contain at least one subject (visible/hidden) and one verb. They should be able to convey a complete thought. 

Examples:

Do it / Leave it / Come here / Go there. Here the subject ‘you’ or ‘he/she’ is hidden but verb ‘do’ is visible.   George is driving his car. This sentence starts with a capital letter. It has a subject, verb and object, hence it is a complete sentence. 

Subject – Verb Agreement 

• Every sentence has subject and a suitable verb.  
• There should be an agreement with subjects and verbs in number (singular or plural). 
• This is called subject verb agreement. 

Read the following sentence: 

1. Jake are completing his homework. 
2. The kids loves cake. 

If the subject is plural, use a plural verb.  

If the subject is singular, use a singular verb. 

For example: 

1. Jake is completing his homework. 

 Jake is a subject which is singular. So, use singular form of verb (is). 

2. The kids love cake. 

Here, subject is plural (kids). So, we use the verb love.