Unit 1 Understanding Sentence Basics

UNIT

Understanding Sentence Basics

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Organization

Learning objectives

What is a Sentence?

A Fragment

The Verb Be

Capitalization & Punctuation

Building Better Vocabulary

Editing: Grammar and Sentence Review

Learning Objectives

• To learn how to writing correct simple sentences
• To learn about subjects, verbs, and objects
• To Practice verb Be and prepositions fo place
• To practice correct capitalization and punctuation
• To understand editing and journaling

What is a Sentence?

What Is a Sentence?

• It’s a group of words that expresses a complete thought.

e.g. Joe likes basketball. The weather is cold today.

• Words can go together to make sentences.
• Sentences can go together to make a paragraph.
• Paragraphs can be combined into an essay.

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Grammar for Writing

Parts of a Sentence

• Every sentence has two main parts:
• the subject (S)
• the verb (V)
• Sometimes there is an object and/or other information after the verb.

Grammar for Writing

Subject

• The subject is the person or thing that does the action.
• The subject can be a noun or a pronoun and can be two (or more) nouns/ pronouns.
• However, the nouns / pronouns must share the same verb (s).

e.g. Maria and her sister go to piano class every week.

Grammar for Writing

Verb

The verb tells what the subject is doing. The verb:

• is usually an action word, such as go, speak, write, swim and watch
• sometimes does not have much action, such as be (am, is, are, was, were), like want, and need
• can have two (or more) actions for one subject.

e.g. They create and play beautiful music.

Grammar for Writing

Object

• The object is the thing or person after the main verb.
• The object:
• Receives the action of the verb
• Can be a noun or a pronoun
• Can be two (or more) nouns / pronouns

e.g. Maria’s brother plays guitar and violin.

Grammar for Writing

Other Infomation

• Sentences can contain other information after the verb and the object, such as time words / phrases or place phrases.
• When a sentence has a time word / phrase and a place phrase, the time word / phrase usually comes last.

e.g. Maria and her sister practice the piano at home everyday.

Practice Activity

A Fragment

Grammar for Writing

A Fragment - An Incomplete Sentence

• A sentence without a subject or without a verb is called a Fragment.
• It is a piece of sentence. It is not a complete sentence.

Bora is my brother. Works at ABA bank. (no subject) Bora is my brother. He works at ABA bank. Many people a white car. (no verb)Many people have white car.

A Fragment is a serious mistake in writing. When you write, check each sentence to make sure there is a subject and a verb.

Practice Activity

The Verb Be

Grammar for Writing

The Verb Be

• The verb Be has five main forms: am, is, are, was, and were.
• There are four common sentence pattern for Be.

1. Subject + Be + Adjective.
2. Subject + Be + Noun.
3. Subject + Be + Place Phrase.
4. There + Be + Subject + (Other information: usually place or time)

When you begin the sentence with there, the subject follows the verb Be.

• I am happy.
• I am a student.
• My keys are on the table.
• There is a beautiful painting on the wall.
• There werer two empty plates on the table this morning.

Practice Activity

Grammar for Writing

Prepositions of Place: At, On, and In

Practice Activity

Capitalization & Punctuation

Capitalization and Punctuation in a Sentence

In addition to having a subject and a verb, a correct sentence must have correct capitalizaion and punctuation.

Beginning a Sentence with a Capital letter

• In English, there are two kinds of letters: capital letters and lowercase letters.
• We always begin a sentence with a CAPITAL letter.

the boxes on the table are heavy. The boxes on the table are heavy. where do you live?Where do you live?

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Capitalization and Punctuation in a Sentence

In addition to having a subject and a verb, a correct sentence must have correct capitalizaion and punctuation.

Ending a Sentence with a Perion

• The most common way to end a sentence is with a periond ( . ).

Brazil is a large country (no period) Brazil is a large country. I do not like coffee with sugar (no period)I do not like coffee with sugar.

Capitalization and Punctuation in a Sentence

Capital letters for Proper Nouns

• A Proper noun is a specific person, place, or thing.
• A proper noun always begins with a CAPITAL letter.

Proper Noun

Examples

• A Specific Person

One famous person in history is nelson mandela. One famous person in history is Nelson Mandela.

• A Specific Place

My favorite city is new york city. My favorite city is New York City.

• A Specific Thing

Paco watched the movie slumdog millionaire last night. Paco watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire last night.

• Days and Months

The first sunday of july is an importan day to me. The first Sunday of July is an importan day to me.

• Languages and Countries

In india, the most common languages are hindi and english. In India, the most common languages are Hindi and English.

Capitalization and Punctuation in a Sentence

Ending a Sentence with a Question Mark or Exclamation Point

• Some sentences are questions, and they end with a question mark (?). Writers do not use question mark very often in academic writing.
• Some sentences end with an exclamation point (!) to show emphasis or emotion. When a sentence expresses supprise or strong emotion, it is appropriate to use exclamation point. However, it is rare in formal academic writing.

Building Better Vocabulary

1. Word Associations
2. Using Collocations
3. Parts of Speech

Editing: Grammar and Sentence Review

Let check practice activities.

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Practice Activities

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