English
What is a sentence?
Quick answer
A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense on its own. It starts with a capital letter, ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, and usually has a verb.
In one sentence
A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense by itself, beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
Explained
Read The hungry fox. Something is missing: what did the fox do? Now read The hungry fox crept into the farmyard. That makes complete sense, so it is a sentence.
Most sentences have two key parts. The subject is who or what the sentence is about (the hungry fox). The verb tells you what they do or are (crept). If one is missing, the words are usually just a phrase.
Every sentence is marked with punctuation. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (called a period in the US), a question mark or an exclamation mark.
Sentences come in four forms:
| Form | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| statement | tells | The library opens at nine. |
| question | asks | Is the library open? |
| command | instructs | Return your books by Friday. |
| exclamation | shows strong feeling | What a lot of books there are! |
US standards use the names declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory for the same four forms. In England's Year 2 grammar tests, an exclamation sentence specifically begins with What or How.
Sentences can also be short or long. A single-clause sentence has one main clause: The wind howled. A multi-clause sentence joins clauses: The wind howled and the windows rattled because the storm was close. In the US these are often called simple, compound and complex sentences.
book
pencil
notebook
Examples
- Tunde plays the drums. (statement)
- Have you seen my trainers? (question)
- Stir the soup slowly. (command)
- How fast that cheetah runs! (exclamation)
- When the bell rang, everyone rushed outside. (multi-clause)
Common mistakes
- Run-on sentences. I went home I had tea needs a full stop or a joining word: I went home and had tea.
- Fragments. Because it was late. needs a main clause: We left because it was late.
- Commas instead of full stops. It was cold, we went in should be two sentences, or use so.
Quick quiz
Sentences
Check what you know with 4 quick questions.
Question 1 of 4
Which of these is a complete sentence?
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Related topics
Capital letters
Use a capital letter at the start of every sentence, for names (proper nouns), for the word I, and at the start of direct speech and most titles.
Full stops
A full stop (called a period in the US) is the dot that ends a sentence that is a statement or a calm command. It tells the reader the idea is finished.
Question marks
A question mark (?) goes at the end of a sentence that asks a direct question, like Where are my shoes? It replaces the full stop.
Clauses
A clause is a group of words that contains a verb and usually a subject. A main clause makes sense on its own; a subordinate clause needs a main clause to complete it.
Verbs
A verb is a word for an action (run, eat, write) or a state of being (is, seem, know). Almost every sentence has one, and verbs change to show tense.
Conjunctions
A conjunction is a joining word that links words, phrases or clauses, such as and, but, or, so, because, when, if and although.