Lesson 1 - Understanding Sentences

Tennessee Blueprint 6th Grade
Developing - Correct sentence fragments by supplying the missing sentence elements.

~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^

In this lesson you will learn to rewrite sentence fragments into complete sentences.

What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that has a complete thought. A sentence can stand alone with no other sentences around it and make sense.

Which group of words contains a complete thought?

1. Up on the hill!
2. Edge of the cabbage field.
3. The people were coming down.
4. Auntie Hester!

The main parts of a sentence are the subject and the predicate. The subject tells who does the action, and the predicate contains the verb and tells what the action is.

Tell which part of the sentence (subject or predicate) is missing in each group of words below.

1. Less frightened now that he was surrounded by the townspeople.
2. In the center of the field, where the smell of new cabbages and fresh dirt and chicken manure was strong, those at the front of the crowd of strangers.
3. Mary, Ben, and Wilmer.
4. Crawled up out of a hole.

All sentences begin with capital letters and end with punctuation - period, question mark, or exclamation point.

If you have a group of words that does not contain a complete thought or is missing the subject, verb, or both then you have a sentence fragment.

Understanding sentence fragment errors may help you avoid making them. Here are some common mistakes:

• A detached phrase or clause

  phrase  -  a group of words that adds information to a sentence and does not have a subject or a predicate

  • They stared at everything. Wide-eyed and drop-jawed. (sentence fragment - phrase)
  • The people of Ember had come up into the new world only a few days before. From the dying city. (sentence fragment - phrase)

  clause  -  a group of words that adds information to a sentence and does have a subject and a predicate

  • With a grunt they lifted her. So that she was high enough to see out over the crowd.  (sentence fragment - clause)
  • As the light began to fade from the sky. (sentence fragment - clause)
• Separating an appositive
  • Clary Laine came. The greenhouse worker. (sentence fragment - separated appositive)
  • People came out into the open like Sadge Merrall. The man who had tried to go out into the Unknown Regions. (sentence fragment - separated appositive)
• Dividing up a compound predicate
  • They stared in astonishment. Walked a few steps. Then just stood. (sentence fragment - divided predicate)
  • Two of the guards looked up at us. Lost their balance and fell into the water. (sentence fragment - divided predicate)

Practice

Part A - One group of words in each pair is a fragment. Determine which group is the fragment and rewrite it to form a complete sentence.

1. Mrs. Murdo frowned up at the hot, bright sky.
2. Wiping sweat from her forehead.
   
   _____________________________________________________________________________

   _____________________________________________________________________________
   
    

3. Dumped their load into the river.
4. They grabbed hold of the loaded boats.
   
   _____________________________________________________________________________

   _____________________________________________________________________________
    

5. Looper knelt down and tried to reach them.
6. Pulled in, too.
   
   _____________________________________________________________________________

   _____________________________________________________________________________
    

7. Outside the door of the Pipeworks a huge crowd pushed and shoved to get in.
8. Out across the vast landscape.
   
   _____________________________________________________________________________

   _____________________________________________________________________________
    

9. The citizens of Ember toiling across the hills.
10. I don't know that either.
    
    _____________________________________________________________________________

    _____________________________________________________________________________

Part B - Multiple Choice

1. Choose the sentence that is written correctly.
   1. Later that day. The refugees from Ember came to the road they had seen from afar.
   2. Later that day the refugees from Ember came. To the road they had seen from afar.
   3. Later that day the refugees from Ember came to the road they had seen from afar.
   4. Later that day the refugees from Ember came to the road they had seen. From afar.
       
2. Read this sentence.

   Finally, around the middle of the following day, they trudged up still another hill, and from there they saw a sight that made many of them weep with relief.

   What is the correct way to write this sentence?

   1. Finally, around the middle of the following day. They trudged up still another hill, and from there they saw a sight that made many of them weep with relief.
   2. Finally, around the middle of the following day, they trudged up still another hill. And from there they saw a sight that made many of them weep with relief.
   3. Finally, around the middle of the following day, they trudged up still another hill, and from there. They saw a sight that made many of them weep with relief.
   4. Best as is.

3. Which sentence is written correctly?

   1. Farmed fields lay below them in a wide valley, and beyond the fields was a cluster of low brown buildings.
   2. Farmed fields lay below them in a wide valley. And beyond the fields was a cluster of low brown buildings.
   3. Farmed fields lay below. Them in a wide valley, and beyond the fields was a cluster of low brown buildings.
   4. Farmed fields lay below them in a wide valley, and beyond the fields. Was a cluster of low brown buildings.

4. Which of the following is NOT a complete sentence?

   1. Not today, but someday
   2. Lina was glad to see it.
   3. Night came gradually.
   4. Poppy cried when she was set down on her feet.

5. Choose the sentence that is written correctly.

   1. By then the food they had brought with them.
   2. Lay down on the ground and slept.
   3. They grew faint from the heat.
   4. Which was hard to bear for people used to the constant chill of Ember.

6. Which of the following is NOT a complete sentence?

   1. Almost always, the people who came were roamers.
   2. For a second he thought maybe it was a deer. Several deer.
   3. There must have been a hundred.
   4. The massing of people on the hilltop terrified him.

7. Read this sentence.

   Over the crest of the hill they came and kept coming. Dozens of them, more and more, like a mudslide.

   What is the correct way to write this sentence?

   1. Over the crest of the hill they came. And kept coming, dozens of them, more and more, like a mudslide.
   2. Over the crest of the hill they came and kept coming, dozens of them. More and more, like a mudslide.
   3. Over the crest of the hill they came and kept coming, dozens of them, more and more, like a mudslide.
   4. Best as is.

8. Which sentence is written correctly?

   1. Huddled together looking frightened.
   2. They filled half the cabbage field and were still coming over the hill. Like a swarm of ants.
   3. Led by the boy and the girl.
   4. They shrank back when they saw them.

Part C - There are three sentence fragments in the paragraph below. Draw a line through the fragments. Write a complete sentence for each fragment on the lines below.

     Torren dashed ahead, and got up onto the low wall that bordered his house. From there, he watched the people from the underground go by. Strangely silent. Why weren't they jabbering to each other? They seemed too tired to speak, or too stupid. They stared at everything as if they had never seen a house before, or a tree, or a chicken. In fact, the chickens seemed to frighten them. It took a long time for the whole raggedy crowd to pass Torren's house. When the last person had gone by. They were being led, he knew, to the town center, down by the river. Where there would be water for them to drink. After that, what would happen? What would they eat? Where would they sleep? Not in my room, he thought.

1. _____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^

Answer Key

Which group of words contains a complete thought?
The people were coming down.

Tell which part of the sentence (subject or predicate) is missing in each group of words below.

1. Less frightened now that he was surrounded by the townspeople. (subject)

2. In the center of the field, where the smell of new cabbages and fresh dirt and chicken manure was strong, those at the front of the crowd of strangers. (predicate)

3. Mary, Ben, and Wilmer. (predicate)

4. Crawled up out of a hole. (subject)

Part A

Possible Answers

2.  Mrs. Murdo was wiping sweat from her forehead.

3.  The mayor, guards, and Looper dumped their load into the river.

6.  Looper was pulled in, too.

8.  The people of Ember looked out across the vast landscape.

9.  The citizens of Ember toiling across the hills camp upon a small village.

Part B

1. c
2. d
3. a
4. a
5. c
6. b
7. c
8. d

Part C

Possible Answers

Strangely silent.   -  The people of Ember were strangely silent.

When the last person had gone by.  -  When the last person had gone by, Torren followed after them.

Where there would be water for them to drink.  - They were taken to a place where there would be water for them to drink.