Simple Sentences
Kindergarten · English · Study Guide
Learn what a sentence is and how to build one with a person and an action.
A sentence is a group of words that tells a complete thought. Think of it like a tiny story — it has someone doing something. 'The cat runs.' That is a sentence! We know who (the cat) and what is happening (runs).
Every sentence needs two main things: a naming part and a doing part. The naming part tells us who or what the sentence is about. 'The dog,' 'My mom,' 'A big bird' — these are naming parts. The doing part tells us what they do. 'barks,' 'cooks dinner,' 'flies high' — these are doing parts.
Sentences always start with a capital letter. That means you make the first letter big. And sentences always end with a punctuation mark. A period (.) means the sentence is a plain statement. 'The cat runs.' uses a period.
When you read a book, every sentence is giving you one complete idea. When you write, you are putting your ideas into sentences so other people can understand you. Start practicing by saying simple sentences out loud: 'I like apples.' 'My dog is brown.' 'We go to school.'
Key terms
- sentence
- A group of words that tells a complete thought
- naming part
- The part of a sentence that tells who or what it is about
- doing part
- The part of a sentence that tells what the naming part does
- capital letter
- A big uppercase letter used at the start of every sentence
- period
- A small dot (.) placed at the end of a telling sentence
Flashcards
- sentence
- A group of words that tells one complete thought
- naming part
- Who or what the sentence is about — like 'The cat' or 'My mom'
- doing part
- What the naming part does — like 'runs' or 'sings'
- capital letter
- The big letter that starts every sentence
- period (.)
- The dot that ends a telling sentence
- complete thought
- An idea that makes sense on its own, with someone and something happening
Practice questions
Which of these is a complete sentence?
- The big dog.
- Runs fast.
- The dog runs.
- A very
Show answer
Answer: The dog runs.
A complete sentence needs a naming part (the dog) and a doing part (runs). 'Runs fast' is missing who is running. 'The big dog' is missing the doing part.
Every sentence must start with a capital letter.
Show answer
Answer: True
The first letter of every sentence must be uppercase (capital).
A sentence ends with a ___ mark like a period.
Show answer
Answer: punctuation
Sentences end with punctuation marks — a period, question mark, or exclamation point.
In the sentence 'The bird flies,' what is the naming part?
- flies
- The bird
- bird flies
- The
Show answer
Answer: The bird
The naming part tells us who or what the sentence is about. Here, that is 'The bird.'
'Runs fast and' is a complete sentence.
Show answer
Answer: False
'Runs fast and' is not a complete thought — we do not know who runs, and 'and' leaves us waiting for more.
Fun facts
- The shortest complete sentences in English are just one word: 'Go!' or 'Run!' — the naming part 'you' is understood.
- A sentence must always express a complete thought — 'The big' is not a sentence because we don't know what happened!
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