1. Sentences Pam Clark City Lit
Adapted from Discover Grammar by David Crystal

2. Why do we need sentences?
Why do we need grammar?
To describe the way sentences of a language are constructed.
Why do we need sentences?
To organise our thoughts so that they make sense, to ourselves and to others, in speech and writing.

3. What is a sentence? ! ? . A unit of language that makes sense.
It must follow the rules of grammar.
It must be complete.
Able to stand alone.
feel finished – give full information.
It needs a capital letter and a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. ! ? .

4. Are these sentences? The fast ferry is bigger than the slow ferry.so
bigger than
because Mary said
can be done
I believe the job can be done because Mary said so.

5. Grammar? What for?
The words in a sentence can only be in certain patterns.
The patterns are controlled by grammar.
Grammar controls:
The order that words can appear in.
The endings of some words.

6. What’s wrong with these sentences?
We might didn’t not of gone
The a car saw man.
The clocks is be ready.
What and why did she go?
Sentences can be short or long.
One word or hundreds of words! Sorry!
Try activities A, B and C.

7. Making sentences
Most sentences are regular. They can be broken down into a limited pattern of elements (parts).
My friend
has dropped
a book
on her big toe. I
gave
the keys
to Luke
Jemima
went
to town
yesterday.
Each of the sentences in the table is a clause.
Clauses are made up of elements.

8. Simple and multiple sentences
How are these two sentences different?
A book fell on John’s toe.
A book fell on John’s toe and a book fell on Janet’s toe.
A book fell on John’s toe and a book fell on Janet’s toe.
clause ?
joining word ?
clause ?
Simple sentence
Multiple sentence
clause
Clause + linking word + clause
Try activities D, E and F

9. What’s in a clause? The teacher / called / Jill / a genius / twice.
Try activities G, H and I
The teacher / called / Jill / a genius / twice.
Verb
The most important element in a clause.
Shows actions, sensations, states of being.
Subject
What the clause is going to be about.
Object
Who or what has been directly affected by the verb’s action.
Complement
Extra information about the subject or object.
Adverbial
Extra information about the situation: when, where, how.
She / called / her / it / twice.
The teacher / was calling / my sister / a genius / last week.

10. How do clauses make sentences?
Try activities J and K
The five clause elements are combined to make simple sentences. Grammar only allows for a small number of clause combinations to be allowed.
S + V
Hilary / yawned.
S + V + O
Hilary / opened / the door.
Hilary / was / ready.
S + V + C
S + V + A
Hilary / lived / in London.
S + V + O + O
Hilary / gave / me / a pen.
S + V + O + C
Hilary / got / my shoes / wet.
S + V + O + A
Hilary / put / the box / on the table.

11. What have we learned? A sentence must be complete.
A sentence must have a subject and a verb.
A simple sentence is made up of one clause.
Clauses are made up of elements. Each element must be in the right order so that the clause is grammatical.
To make longer, complex sentences, we combine two or more clauses.