Grammar Rule #1

1. Grammar Rule #1 A sentence must contain at least one subject and one verb, and it must form a complete thought. If it doesn’t do that, then it’s a fragment.

2. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST!with sentences from A.M. Homes’ “Things You Should Know” (p. 553) • “Time passed.” • “I grew older.” • “I grew deaf in one ear.” • “In the newspaper I read that the teacher had died.”

3. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Time passed.”

4. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Time passed.” • Subject? Yes, “time.” • Verb? Yes, “passed.” • Complete thought? Yes; I know what passed. Verdict: It’s a sentence!

5. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “I grew older.”

6. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • I grew older. • Subject? Yes, “I.” • Verb? Yes, “grew.” • Complete thought? Yes; I know who grew older. Verdict: It’s a sentence!

7. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “I grew deaf in one ear.”

8. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “I grew deaf in one ear.” • Subject? Yes, “I.” • Verb? Yes, “grew.” • Complete thought? Yes; I know who grew deaf. Verdict: It’s a sentence!

9. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “In the newspaper I read that the teacher had died.”

10. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “In the newspaper I read that the teacher had died.” • Subject? Yes, “I.” • Verb? Yes, “read.” • Complete thought? Yes; I know who read what. Verdict: It’s a sentence!

11. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST!with our own sentences • “The way I pictured it in my mind pretty much went that way in real life.” • “Also we tried and did our best to incorporate and include the symbolism of the setting in our skit.” • “Though if it wasn’t for this sunny summer day.” • “Instead of just getting paid like after Luciana’s party without her even knowing.” • “While the boy and the father maintain a friendly bond and visit the ski lodge for a yearly Christmas ski trip, they approach Sammy, who gets a new job as the ski lodge bellhop.”

12. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “The way I pictured it in my mind pretty much went that way in real life.”

13. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “The way I pictured it in my mind pretty much went that way in real life.” • Subject? Yes, “I.” • Verb? Yes, “pictured.” • Complete thought? Yes; I know who pictured what. Verdict: It’s a sentence!

14. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Also we tried and did our best to incorporate and include the symbolism of the setting in our skit.”

15. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Also we tried and did our best to incorporate and include the symbolism of the setting in our skit.” • Subject? Yes: “we.” • Verb? Yes: “tried.” • Complete thought? Yes: I know who tried to do what. Verdict: It’s a sentence!

16. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Though if it wasn’t for this sunny summer day.”

17. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Though if it wasn’t for this sunny summer day.” • Subject? Yes: “it.” • Verb? Yes: “wasn’t.” • Complete thought? No: the sentence sets up the first half of a conditional statement (“if…”) but doesn’t finish it (with “then…”). Verdict: It’s a fragment.

18. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Instead of just getting paid like after Luciana’s party without her even knowing.”

19. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “Instead of just getting paid like after Luciana’s party without her even knowing.” • Subject? No: I don’t know who. • Verb? No: I don’t know what’s being done (but I do know that the subject is not getting paid). • Complete thought? No: I don’t know who is doing (or being) what. Verdict: It’s a fragment.

20. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “While the boy and the father maintain a friendly bond and visit the ski lodge for a yearly Christmas ski trip, they approach Sammy, who gets a new job as the ski lodge bellhop.”

21. LET’S DO THE SENTENCE TEST! • “While the boy and the father maintain a friendly bond and visit the ski lodge for a yearly Christmas ski trip, they approach Sammy, who gets a new job as the ski lodge bellhop.” • Subject? Yes: the boy and the father. • Verb? Yes: maintain, visit, and approach. • Complete thought? Yes: I know who is doing what. Verdict: It’s a sentence!