Sentence Structure

Dee and Kala are waiting in Dr. Pencil’s examination room. They found a simple sentence on the path whilst hiking around Punctuation Point. Worried it might be hurt, Dee and Kala brought it to the doctor to see if it had all the parts of a complete sentence. Let's help them examine sentence structure. You might already know that a sentence is a group of words that make a complete thought. But in order for the sentence to be complete and correct, it needs certain things to be in the right places. This is also called sentence structure. Correct sentence structure has four main parts. Let's use the example sentence, Kala and Dee go on a hike, to see each part. Sentences always begin with a capital letter in the first word. The first word in this sentence is 'Kala’, so the first letter, K, is capitalised. Sentences have a subject that names who or what the sentence is about. Here, 'Kala and Dee' is the subject because it names who the sentence talks about. Sentences also have a verb that tells us about the subject or tells us what the subject is doing. ‘Go' is the verb. The rest of the sentence tells us more about what Kala and Dee are doing. And lastly, sentences end with a punctuation mark like a full stop, exclamation mark or a question mark. This sentence is a statement so it ends with a full stop after the last word, hike. Now, let's examine the sentence that Dee and Kala brought in! Where is my dog? Remember, we need four things for a sentence to be complete. A capital letter in the first word, a subject, a verb and end punctuation! Does this sentence have a capital letter in the first word? It does! ‘Where’ is the first word and the W is capitalised. Does this sentence have a subject? Think carefully, this might be tricky. Yes! 'My dog' is the part of the sentence that names who it is about. How about a verb? It does! 'Is' is a verb and 'Where is' tells us what we want to know about the dog. Finally, does this sentence end with a punctuation mark? No! Dee and Kala's sentence is missing the punctuation mark! Which one belongs at the end: a full stop, an exclamation mark or a question mark? A question mark because this sentence is asking a question. Where is my dog? Oh no, this isn't just a sentence, it's a missing poster! Whilst Dee and Kala realise that someone has lost their pup, let's remember! Today we learnt about the structure of a simple sentence. Every sentence begins with a capital letter in the first word; has a subject; has a verb and ends with a punctuation mark. "I think that's the dog from our sentence!" "She is here!" "Let's call the phone number and tell them the sentence they've been waiting for...." "We found your dog!"