Sentence or Not a sentence

subject

The huge herd of moose

Not a sentence

Simple sentence The huge herd of moose live near the lake.

predicate

live near the lake.

Not a sentence

Thidwick

Thidwick saw a bingle bug sitting.

saw a bingle bug sitting.

The Bingle bug picked out a nice easy seat.

The Bingle bug picked out a nice easy seat.

subject The moose

predicate went on looking for moose

moss to munch.

The moose went on looking for moose moss to munch.

subject The moose and the bug

predicate trudged quickly through the

woods.

compound subject The moose and the bug trudged quickly

through the woods. simple sentence

subject An hour or so later the bug

He

predicate heard a squeak.

heard the small voice of a tree spider speak.

An hour or so later the bug heard a squeak. He heard the small voice of a tree spider

speak.

Remember that a sentence is a group of words that makes a complete thought. It must contain both a subject and a predicate!

A sentence with one subject/predicate pattern is called a simple sentence.

A sentence with two subject/predicate patterns is called a compound sentence.

Simple sentences

The moose, the bug and the spider talked and ate as they traveled through the woods.

This sentence has one subject predicate pattern and is a simple sentence.

Take another look:

subject The moose, the bug and the

spider

predicate talked and ate as they

traveled through the woods

One complete, compound subject and one complete compound predicate.

It still has the subject / predicate pattern. Still a SIMPLE SENTENCE

Compound sentence

Let’s look at a different pattern: The bug slept, and the spider talked.

This is called a compound sentence because it has two subject / predicate patterns connected with a conjunction.

Look again:

Compound sentence

The bug slept.

and

The spider talked.

The bug slept, and the spider talked. Notice that a comma must be used in front of the

conjunction to connect the two sentences.