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S ENTENC E S

Identifying a sentence
A main clause becomes a sentence once it starts with a
capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or
This is not a sentence because it doesn’t have
exclamation point. All sentences must have a subject and a subject, nor does it make sense, and because
a verb, and make sense without any additional information. the question word what at the beginning indicates
that a question is being asked.

This is not a sentence This is not a sentence
because it does not begin
with a capital letter and because it does not start
end with a period. with a capital letter.

Commands Exclamations
A command is a sentence that gives an order or an An exclamation works in the same way as a statement, but
instruction. Instructions are most effective when they it expresses a strong emotion, such as surprise or horror.
are written in simple sentences. The subject in a command Exclamations always end with an exclamation point.
is implied, rather than present—it is the person who
is receiving the command. Orders usually end with an
exclamation point, while instructions tend to end with
a period.
This sentence gives an order, so it The use of an exclamation point
ends with an exclamation point. instead of a period adds emotion to a
statement, making it seem more dramatic.

The implied subject is the person who
is being told not to open the oven.

The implied subject is This sentence gives a The shortest complete sentence in the
the person who is being polite instruction, so it
asked not to touch the pie. ends with a period. English language is “I am.”

REAL W OR L D
“Careful you must be…” GLO S S A RY
Auxiliary verb A “helping” verb like
When the simple rules of sentence be or have that joins the main verb in
construction are not followed, sentences a sentence to the subject.
become very hard to understand. Main clause A group of words that
The Star Wars character Yoda’s speech contains a subject and a verb and
is a good example. Instead of speaking makes complete sense on its own.
in sentences that follow the subject– Object The person or thing that is
verb–object pattern, Yoda muddles his receiving the action of the verb.
sentences so that the object comes first, Subject The person or thing that is
followed by the subject, and then the performing the action of the verb.
verb. The result is confusing.