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Writing Basic Sentences

“The crocodile broccoli” doesn’t make sense. Something is missing. “The crocodile eats broccoli” sounds better because it has a subject (crocodile) and a verb (eats) and expresses a complete thought.

Making Sense

A group of words that states a complete thought is called a sentence. Sentences surround you. They fill your conversations and your writing. They speak to you from stories and books and help you day to day.

What do you need to know about sentences to use them well? See the next two pages. (Also see pages 350–353.)