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.

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.”

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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.”

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

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!

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.”

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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.”

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!