Grammar 101: Complete Sentences

In response to popular demand, we have decided to begin a series of short articles that cover the basics of English grammar. In this article, we will cover the topic of complete sentences.

💁 In order for a sentence to be “complete,” it has to have three characteristics:

1. It must begin with a capital letter.
2. It must end with a period [.], question mark, [?], or exclamation point [!].
3. It must have at least one main clause. (A main clause contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.)

Clearly, the trickiest point is #3. We’ll get into that a little later. First, check out some examples of complete sentences:

• My cat eats tacos for lunch. 😽🌮
• There was an earthquake yesterday!
• Did you forget to do your homework? 📝

If a main clause exists in the sentence, you can add other elements and still maintain a complete sentence:

• Regardless of what he ate for breakfast, my cat eats tacos for lunch.
• To Peter’s surprise, there was an earthquake yesterday!
• I didn’t have to ask Nan, “Did you forget to do your homework?”

Let’s take one sentence and add all kinds of stuff to it — and still maintain a complete sentence:

Here is the protagonist of this series of sentences, our dog Chewie:

• When we took him for a walk, Chewie barked at a squirrel.
• Chewie barked at a squirrel and chased it around the yard.
• Feeling threatened, Chewie barked at a squirrel.
• Chewie barked at a squirrel, causing our easily-irritated neighbors to file a complaint.
• Because he likes the sound of his voice, Chewie barked at a squirrel.
• Chewie barked at a squirrel for hours, after which he took a much-needed nap.
• At the playground, Chewie barked at a squirrel, but when he saw what the squirrel had done to an Ewok, Chewie fled in terror.

⚠️ BEWARE OF FRAGMENTS!

Many statements that sound like complete sentences actually aren’t. The main reason is that they lack a main clause, thereby making them fragments.

Here are some fragments:

• Since the weather is nice
• Burning the cookies to a crisp
• To hand in his essay on time
• Two phones, six laptop computers, four tablets, a digital scanner, and a half-eaten sandwich
• And peeked through the windows, scaring everyone inside

All of the above examples are missing a main clause. The following revisions turn them into complete sentences:

• Since the weather is nice, let’s take a trip to the beach.
• Nan forgot to turn off the oven, burning the cookies to a crisp. 🔥🍪
• Henry ran all the way to class to hand in his essay on time.
• Peter found two phones, six laptop computers, four tablets, a digital scanner, and a half-eaten sandwich beside his desk.
• We arrived at the cafe and peeked through the windows, scaring everyone inside.

👩💬 Next week, we’ll begin our six-part series on pronouns.