In order to understand and have full command over English language, you need to know what about its grammar. In English, the most basic element of grammar is a sentence. A language cannot exist or be understood without a sentence.

In today’s article, I will discuss about the basic grammatical element i.e. a sentence. I will discuss what makes up a sentence and what the difference between a complete and incomplete sentence is.

Sentence

A sentence is a group of words that are written together to make sense of something. In other words, a set or group of words that are used to convey something to someone is called a sentence.

Example:

Sara is sleeping peacefully.

Requirements of a sentence

A sentence must meet some requirements to be considered a complete sentence. One thing you should know is that any group of words written together with a capital letter at start and a period at the end does not make up a sentence. A sentence must contain a subject and a verb.

Example:

He is an officer.

Complete Sentence

The above example is that of a complete sentence as it contains the subject i.e. he and a verb is.

A sentence is known to be a complete sentence if it contains a subject and a predicate. A predicate is anything in a sentence except the predicate.

Example:

Mario sells brownies at the stall.

In this example of a complete sentence, Mario is the subject, sells is the verb and sells brownies at the stall is the predicate.

Incomplete Sentence

As I mentioned before, any group of words written together do not constitute a subject. A subject must meet its requirements.

Example:

Brownies at the stall.

Now the above example is that of an incomplete sentence as it is missing the subject. This type of incomplete sentences are also known as phrases.